浪漫烛光 www.langmanzg.com

In the afternoon of February 16,1945 a lone minisub leaves the port of IJmuiden. In its turret stands Hans Wachsmuth(汉斯-瓦克斯穆特), inside the sub sits his assistant Ehrhard Feine(厄哈-德菲因). They are on their way to the Belgian harbour of Oostende, their mission is to torpedo the sluices in order to block the harbor for months. But they never reach Oostende. Off shore the British Navy awaits them. They open fire as soon as the Seehund is caught in their searchlights. Within six seconds the U 5097 dives to 30 meters. The sound of propellers closes in and Wachsmuth hears how the enemy tries to find his position using sonar. The destroyers drop dozens of depth charges. De explosive power of the charges threw the sub meters away Wachsmuth puts his vessel at the bottom of the North Sea. The Kommandant and his Leitend Ingenieur speak nor move, afraid that every sound can give them away. The stream is so strong that the boat continuously scrapes the bottom of the sea, hitting rocks every now and then. A flood of depth charges follows every time they start the engine. This continues a day and a night The air quality onboard is decreasing and to save oxygen they use a breath filtering devise with chalk cartridges. Just now and then they turn on the ventilation machine. As they near the evening they hear how the enemy ships leave. They wait for another 30 minutes and then they slowly surface. When they finally, after 48 hours, hit the waves they hear how diesel engines are started and they realize they fell into a trap. The wave of depth charges is more intense then ever before and every wave comes closer then the last. Everything that’s not secured is thrown through the vessel. Instruments and food tins are thrown out of their holders. An enormous explosion nearby. They light goes out and by the shining of a torch Wachsmuth sees how water seeps into the sub. That last explosion made a fine crack, between the diesel- and the electro engine. It seems to be their final hour: complete darkness, leakage and depth charges exploding to their right and left side.