Submarine-to-submarine

  After the German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper burst into the harbour of the Spanish Canary Islands, the Gneisenau, Scharnhorst and Admiral Hipper ceased fire after a first token salvo as the French warships did not return fire. The captain of the Scharnhorst held a microphone connected by cable to a loudspeaker.

  He stood on the bridge, calm and collected, using a microphone to shout at the French warship: "Brave Frenchmen, listen up! We are the German Navy, I am the captain of the German battleship 'Scharnhorst'. You are now surrounded by us. There is no escape. We know what you have on board your ships. I specifically warn you not to open the sea valves, otherwise we will make you dive into the water yourself to retrieve that thing. Now I give you 5 minutes to consider. If you do not surrender after 5 minutes, we will open fire." The captain of the 'Scharnhorst' continued to hold the microphone in one hand and the binoculars in the other, observing the movements of the French fleet. After he finished speaking, the French warship appeared unusually quiet, with no sailors running around on deck. The cannons of the French warship did not turn towards them either. Suddenly, he noticed that the communication lamp on the French warship lit up, and his own communication soldier shouted loudly at him: "Captain, the French have surrendered!" The captain of the 'Scharnhorst' cursed under his breath: "These French are really useless." He turned around to order the communications officer to contact the German Navy's landing troops and paratroopers, telling them to board the ship with their own sailors to accept the surrender.

  The German naval infantry and paratroopers drove the French officers and sailors to a gathering point on the deck of the French warship, while another group of soldiers entered the French warship with German sailors to inspect its facilities and guard against any remaining French resistance. The wounded German and French soldiers were carried onto the dock on stretchers, while the dead were covered with white cloth. A German naval infantry officer counted his casualties: 10 killed, 92 injured, including 32 seriously injured who needed immediate surgery in Germany, while the rest of the wounded would stay in Spain for treatment before following the temporary command center of Admiral Zhou Tianlei's German fleet back to Germany. This German naval infantry officer did not realize that this arrangement had actually foiled a British conspiracy. However, after the planes carrying the wounded soldiers returned to Germany and Spain, the German sailors began to worry about the captured French warship. They were surprised to find that the special fishing net made by the German naval infantry was so sturdy that it took almost an hour and a half to cut through it underwater, which meant that the French warship could not be towed to the port occupied by the Germans under its own power and had to be towed by a German warship. However, the Germans were able to comfort themselves with the discovery of the communication codes and other materials arranged by the French Navy for this operation, which would allow them to impersonate French warships and deceive the French Navy for several days.

  The two submarines of the 8th Submarine Flotilla also returned according to plan, one went to Bordeaux Port in France and the other went to Brest Port to monitor the activities of French warships. Müller had already gone to Spain with the plane transporting wounded marines due to Zhou Tianlei's arrangement.

  On U-353, Balkhorn was leisurely sitting in his own cabin, savoring the coffee he had made himself. His course was set for Brest, France. The high-powered air conditioner on the submarine blew out cold wind to regulate the temperature inside the boat, making it just right. Balkhorn comfortably drank his coffee in the cool breeze, feeling a bit tired after a series of continuous battles. He thought to himself, "How come I still haven't arranged for a vacation? When can I finally take some time off?" Just then, the alarm light on the bulkhead in front of him suddenly lit up. He hastily grabbed the intercom and quickly asked the duty officer in the command center, "What's going on?" The command center replied, "Report to the captain, we've detected an unidentified underwater target ahead." Balkhorn immediately tensed up, and his fatigue disappeared instantly. He dropped the coffee cup in his hand, stood up, and swiftly walked towards the command center.

  After rushing to the command room, he asked the sonar soldier: "Can you determine which country's submarine it is? As far as I know, there are other squadrons' submarines in this area besides mine. And has the other party noticed our existence?" The sonar soldier replied; "Report to the officer, it should not be our submarine, its propeller noise is different from our ordinary submarine, and it is not a submarine of our squadron. Our squadron's submarine noise is very low and difficult to detect. This submarine is estimated to be a British submarine. The model cannot be distinguished yet. They probably haven't noticed us. Because they seem to be driving along the route to the Strait of Gibraltar, and so far there has been no significant change in direction." "Can you mark out its position, course, and depth?"

  "Report, sir. Not yet, the seawater conditions here are complicated, and the sound waves have reflections underwater. I can't accurately pinpoint its position, course, or depth. I can only give a rough indication that's not suitable for attack. We need to wait until it surfaces." "Alright, I estimate it won't be able to stay underwater longer than us either. Keep tracking it and report its speed at any time. We'll maintain our distance based on its speed so it doesn't discover we're following it. The entire boat will remain in a silent state." Barkhorn ordered. Barkhorn stood tensely at the entrance of the sonar room, giving orders to the engine room to increase or decrease speed according to the sonar operator's reports. Suddenly, the sonar operator whispered: "It's starting to expel water and preparing to surface."

  The sound of the submarine's propeller grew louder in his headphones, and he knew that the submarine was starting to compress air into its ballast tanks, expelling water and reducing its weight. When the submarine's weight was less than its buoyancy, it could surface. The sonar operator exclaimed excitedly: "Captain, it's a British submarine, an O-class ocean-going submarine! I can now give you a fairly accurate bearing, course, and depth!" After seeing the data reported by the sonar operator, Burkhalter loudly ordered: "All hands, go to battle stations! Submarine turn southwest 220, maintain maximum power. Tubes one and three, prepare for firing."

  The alarm lamp on U-353 flashed rapidly, and German sailors jumped out of their bunks and ran to their combat posts. With the low sound of the watertight door closing, U-353 submarine was ready for battle. Meanwhile, on the British submarine on the surface, during its initial underwater cruise, it also heard some faint sounds behind it, and the sonar operator called the captain to come and listen. The captain listened for a long time and thought it was just a whale. He scolded the sonar operator for being too sensitive and waking him up from his sleep. He even threatened to send the sonar operator for retraining after returning to port, telling him not to make a fuss about nothing. After finishing speaking, he went back to his cabin to sleep. The sonar operator swallowed his anger and continued to wear headphones searching for targets under the sea and on the surface.

  In the British submarine, when the battery power was about to be exhausted, they had no choice but to float on the surface and plan to use diesel engines to charge the batteries under the cover of night. At this time, the British submarine's sonar operator suddenly heard two very familiar sounds. He recognized that it was the sound of water being pumped into the torpedo tube before firing. His whole body was instantly covered in goosebumps, and he realized that the strange sound he had heard underwater earlier was not his own nervousness, but a German submarine, and it could be confirmed that it was a new type of German submarine, because if it were an old-style German submarine, he would have noticed it earlier and wouldn't have been accused by the captain of being overly sensitive. He hastily informed the captain, but it was already too late, the German submarine's active sonar had started working, and the powerful sonar waves instantly shattered his eardrums through his headphones that he hadn't had time to take off, he clutched at his ears and fell to the deck screaming. The captain who rushed over could only take on the role of sonar operator himself, and at the same time ordered the entire submarine to enter combat status, changing course and speed in an attempt to evade the German submarine's attack. But after all, the British realized too late, and the Germans didn't give them a chance to correct their mistake. On U-353, the sonar operator confirmed the torpedo firing solution through active sonar.

  "Launch one torpedo, bearing southwest 220, range 800 meters. Launch three torpedoes, bearing southwest 221, range 850 meters. Fire!" U-353 slightly raised its bow and aimed at the British submarine. The torpedo officer pressed the firing button, and two torpedoes shot out of the torpedo tubes, speeding towards the British submarine. The captain of the British submarine put on his headphones and heard a familiar sound - the sound of torpedoes traveling through the water. A look of despair appeared on his face. His hands crossed his chest, and he muttered prayers for God's blessing, hoping to escape the two torpedoes launched by the German U-boat. After launching the torpedoes, Balkhorn immediately ordered the submarine to change course to northwest 200 and reduce speed, trying to avoid a counterattack from the British submarine.

  Although he was very confident in his command ability, after all, it was the first time he had independently commanded a new-style submarine to go into battle, and the opponent was also a submarine. He adopted a cautious approach of not seeking merit but seeking no fault. He didn't think that the first attack could sink the British O-class ocean-going submarine. He hoped to wait for the British O-class ocean-going submarine's counterattack to pass, and then launch a fatal blow against his opponent again. Suddenly, the sonar soldier shouted: "Captain, we sank the British O-class ocean-going submarine! Come listen." As he said that, he connected the sound from the sonar amplifier to the ship's public address system.

  The sound of the British submarine sinking spread throughout the ship, and the sailors, still in a state of combat readiness, did not dare to make a loud noise, but instead patted each other on the shoulder to celebrate. Balckhorn remained calm and composed, and did not become complacent due to his success in sinking the British submarine. He ordered the sonar operator to scan the surrounding waters to check if there were any other British ships in the area. Until the sonar operator repeated the scan three times and confirmed that there were no other British ships in the vicinity, he took out a handkerchief and wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead. He then gave the order to stand down from first-degree combat readiness and began to turn back to their original course, continuing towards their destination - the French port of Brest.

  However, since his submarine had consumed a lot of electricity during the previous maneuver, he decided to surface and observe the enemy situation. If the enemy situation was good, they would proceed on the surface while recharging the submarine's batteries. As they surfaced to periscope depth, he ordered the periscope raised, then pushed his cap back, put his eyes to the periscope, and began observing the activity on the surface. He rotated the periscope 360 degrees, confirming there were no planes or ships in sight. Then he gave the order to surface completely. After the submarine surfaced, he opened the hatch of the conning tower, took up binoculars, and stood on the tower to observe the surroundings, again confirming there was no enemy presence before notifying the crew to open other hatches and let his sailors come up for some fresh air while also recharging the batteries with diesel engines.

  Several German sailors came up to the deck and soon discovered their spoils, with a large amount of oil pollution and some unrecognizable objects floating on the sea surface about 400-500 meters to their right. The sailors knew that these were things from the British submarine they had sunk earlier, and everyone looked very excited. Balckholm handed the telescope to his navigator, asking him to pay close attention to the situation on the sea surface, while he went down to ask the communications officer to report the results to the High Seas Fleet Command. Then he went to write the navigation log of U-353.

  However, what Balkhorn did not know was that the British submarine he had sunk actually belonged to a flotilla of British submarines carrying Britain's 'Commando' special forces. They were on their way to Spain under orders from Admiral Godfrey, head of British naval intelligence, who had negotiated with Zhou Tianlei in Spain, to secretly abduct Zhou Tianlei and his entourage. Balkhorn and the German Marine Corps' decision to send the wounded member of the amphibious reconnaissance unit to Spain for treatment saved Zhou Tianlei and his temporary command post on the German Ocean Fleet.