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that still moist and stinking garbage on, only to soaked agai n by the icy waters. Life in the torpedo room was a happy one, though. At the beginning of the trips, when all torpedoes were still on board, those "torps" resti ng on the floor of the compartment were covered with large wooden boards evened to the same height as the lower bunks. The little space left was usually absorbed by hammocks in which the torpedo mechanics slept. There were clothes a ll over. One morning, when all the others still slept, I watched the always witty little Schtepke from Cologne, who for that week was our steward, coming into the compartment with a full bucket of oatmeal porridge. As he stooped deep under the hammocks, a woollen sock fell into the hot porridge. Thi nking all were asleep, hequietly fished out the sock and dropped it down between the greasy torpedoes. That morning I passed on my share of breakfast to somebody else. In their free time, the men pl ayed all sorts of card games, especially what they called "Seventeen and Four," and wagered for imaginary money to be spent next shore leave. Sometimes games ended in a free-for-all, using blankets and pi llow wedges as projectiles. Some imitated auto racers, using nautical and ships technical express ions. Others imitated opera stars, preferably women singing in their highest voices. Every newcomer of the crew had to sing three songs over the intercom. The worse he sang, the more he was liked.
Otto Giese' sfirst boat, U-405
Of course, reading hot stuff was a favorite pastime. There was music from all sorts of records all day long, preferably English jazz or Western. This, however, was on ly part of the free time. One must not forget that potatoes had to be peeled and the entire boat had to be kept as clean as possible. Furthermore, lessons and studies had to be attended. There were constant fresh-up maneuvers and alarm diving and trim by the clock, where split-seconds meant the difference between life and death . Real sleep could on ly be found in good weather on the surface or when the boat was submerged. In heavy weather the boat rolled and pitched like mad and the boys were often thrown out of their bunks onto the floorboards and into the bunks on the other side. Sometimes, all the upper bunks unhooked and sailed back and forth on the floor boards li ke torpedoes and the cases ~ _ of vegetables, which had been ~ stored up forward , got loose and -.. . . . _\!3) landed wi th a swoop of coffee 15 from the coffeepot. There was pandemonium, cursing, yelling and constant clatter. Back at our base at Trondheim, we went skiing with skis borrowed from the Norwegian Highland Police against cigarettes and a favorite GerCaptain 's nook Battery II below deck man fullgrain bread, a speChief Warrant Officers' quarters Forward washroom cialty of the German forces Bow compartment and men 's qu arters Four torpedo tubes and spare torpedoes which opened all sorts of below deck Forward hydroplanes doors, even those to the Outer torpedo tube doors sweet Norwegian girls . Also there were often military drills, boat maneuvers,
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23. 24. 25. 26.
27. 28. 29. 30.
SEA HISTORY 67, AUTUMN 1993
lessons, etc. One evening, we were watching a film show in town when suddenly the film stopped; lights went on and a voice said , "All soldiers of fieldpost number M35435 to report immed iately back at base." This was at 2200 hours. Later that night we loaded up the boat with stores and provisions and before the early rays of the sun were up, we had left the fjord. We called shortly at Narvik and headed back into our northern hunting grounds, boxing against heavy seas from the spring storms and with a watch out for floating mines. Soon we were at the pack ice and the sea got calm under the most brilliant Polar sun. The sudden alarm dive-a dive for a destroyer-sent the boat down . Since there was no propeller noise we took a good look at our destroyer and, lo and behold, our destroyer proved to be a miniature iceberg at which we had nearly fired a torpedo. On this trip in the Barents Sea and Kola Bay, we were in contact with a mammoth convoy. But extremely bad weather, constant British destroyers and planes (even Russian bombers!) pressed us constantly down. Running west aro und the North Cape at Hammerfest, fierce mountainous seas as high as at Cape Hom overrode the boat from the stem. For days we stood on the bridge with our heavy belts strapped to the periscope mountings to avoid being washed overboard. It happened on U-boats that the entire bridge watch had been washed away without those down in the boat knowing it. Since then, the officer on watch had to report every half hour through the speaking tube to the 13