The sound of metal grinding against metal is a sound no sailor ever wants to hear. But the sound of metal grinding against metal and cannon-fire is a sound that puts every sailor into action, regardless of what they were doing previously. Staring down from the bridge at the large metal object he just rammed and was currently fighting with, Sea Breeze was caught in a trance. Right now, he felt trapped... but he knew that he needed to act. He captained a battleship armed with 14 inch guns... and yet he found himself frozen in fear... something he hadn't felt in a long time.
The questions went along through his head:
"What the buck am I going to do?"
"Is this the end of it all?"
"My crew... I need to save them from this fate."
All of it went through his head in a flash though as he was soon jostled by Sparky and was snapped out of the trance.
"Captain! The Admiral is about 30 minutes out!" The disheveled and panicking radio pony yelled.
"Sparky, I need you to get the camera and photograph that thing we just rammed and radio what it looks like to the Admiral right bucking now! We don't have much damn time!" He yelled above the sounds of gunfire.
It looked a if Sparky was about to say something... but when the kid opened his mouth... no words came out. For a second, he stood there frozen... and then the blood began to dribble down his mouth. Falling to the side, the radio-pony had a wound in his right side and was bleeding profusely from it.
"MEDIC!" Sea Breeze yelled. Almost immediately, the ship's surgeon Steady Hooves rushed towards him and the wounded radiopony and together, they loaded him on a stretcher and carried him inside the ship while gunfire whizzed all around them.
*** *** ***
"Captain! We have damage to the bulkhead! I do not think she will survive 50 meters!" One of the engineers yelled from below. Zimmern was too busy barking orders to the guns crews to hear the rest of what the engineer said. But he had to do something though. It is not every day a merchant ship rams your U-Boat. Apparently, that had only happened once before... with the sister ship of the Titanic of all things. But petty thoughts and facts learned back at the academy were useless now. He needed to act and fast.
Above from his point on the bridge, he could hear yelling in English on the near ancient merchant ship. He heard a mix of accents though... some American, others English. Are the allies that desperate to crew their ships with mixed crews now? he thought. Inwardly... his heart dropped at the useless thought. Dietrich would probably some smart comment to say to that but Dietrich didn't matter. Politics did not matter... his U-Boat mattered. His crew mattered... his leadership capabilities mattered.
He had options though... dive and make a dash... board the merchant ship and seize it... or make a run for it. The later option seemed like the best... but he had to do something to make sure the blasted Merchant ship would not follow and ram them again or follow them and call in some destroyer or aircraft. They had anti-aircraft weaponry... but knowing the allies... they would send their carrier groups again them. Diving was risky... especially with a ship stuck to the hull. So... the next option was chosen... and it could not come at a better time.
"He'rr Captain! The engine room has been breached! The boys below are trying to stop the breach!" Krauss came up and yelled.
Verdammt he thought. He knew he had to act fast and as much as he did not like it... he had to enact plan B.
"Krauss... go find Dietrich and tell him to get some men and firearms... we are going to board this piece of junk." He ordered with a cool voice. His fear could not be known to the crew... For it would lower moral.
"J-jawohl He'rr Captain." Krauss stammered before going to search.
*** *** ***
Sparky was fine... The metal shell went right through his flank but he was going to live. Albeit he would probably be stuck in a wheelchair for a few months. The merchant services find would pay for his medical care though so that was good. However, the situation outside was nowhere near good.
A while back... The sounds of gunfire stopped and a crewpony reported seeing bipedals scurry across the deck of the weird looking metal boat. Apparently, the boat had a sizeable Cannon and a few smaller ones on what looked like it's bridge. The larger one had caused quite a bit of damage though and managed to nearly wipe out the bridge. It probably would have completed the job but it stopped so suddenly right before it fired again. Now... There was complete silence.
The engine room was currently scrambling to make repairs from the ram but it was going to take a while. So for now, the two boats were stuck to each other. Like any good captain, Sea Breeze had ordered his sailors towards the bow armed to the teeth and ready to make due with the enemy until the admiral.
So there he stood on the bridge... Looking down at his seaponies under the lights of the stars and the deck lights with his first officer standing next to him. They both remained silent, each occasionally checking the radio room (that thankfully was not destroyed) to see if the admiral was any closer. The last time they checked was 5 minutes ago... And the silence was getting to them both. Suddenly, as if some deity above heard their pleas for some sort of noise, a voice sounded from below the Lapsis Taylor.
"Achtung, my name is Friedrich Zimmern. Surrender your ship now or face a bloody boarding process." The voice said with a heavy accent.
*** *** ***
Zimmern called out to the crew of the vessel that had rammed them three times now and he got no answer. It was almost like they were asking for a fight to him. There with him on the deck of the U-Boat with him, stood 9 men, plus Dietrich, armed with whatever firearm they could find. The deck and anti aircraft gunners were also present, their high calibre weaponry aimed at the ship, ready to provide whatever support they could.
Zimmern was tired of waiting to board, but his conscious told him to wait... No matter what happened... That and Dietrich's advice. As useless as that man was to the party and the Fuhrer, he was at least useful at sea and in warfare with his experience.
Zimmern was about to call out for a final time but was stopped when he heard a sharp ear-piercing whistling noise coming from above.
*** *** ***
2 Minutes Earlier
Steiner was scared, annoyed, and tired. He was scared because his U-Boat was just rammed, annoyed because said ship was blocking out part of the signal from his hydrophone, and tired because well... He had been at his station for hours without rest.
He was about to fall asleep when something started to make noise. Something very powerful... Was coming closer to their location. Listening in, he could hear what sounded like... 3 large propellers spinning through the sea. He did not hear the sound of cannon fire and water splashing though. He only reacted when somebody yelled "Alarm!" From topside.
*** *** ***
The pressure hull was damaged too heavily. Harry Meir, the Chief Engineer, did not want to report it to Zimmern, but he had no choice. The ship that they rammed into had torn a deep gash when the engines were put to full speed when the shells from whatever battleship fired upon them. He had no choice though as now they needed to escape. He was not ready for what was to happen next though.
*** *** ***
The Lapsis Taylor was saved, albeit damaged and flooding at the forepeak, but still saved. Cheers erupted on the decks as the metal object began to retreat with haste. Suddenly though, the cheers were broken up by the sound of a horn coming from the East.
There, in the foggy sea, a spotlight began to shine from a funnel, followed by a few more shining on the Lapsis Taylor. Soon after, a metal bird was launched from some sort of catapult and flew into the air above the ship. In the midst of the spectacle, nobody saw the lone torpedo streak sailing towards the ship.
*** *** ***
An explosion filled the night sky once again, with the culprit of the attempted ramming being hit by the torpedo. It was a victory, but it was short-lived. Soon, high velocity shells began to rain down around the U-Boat, sailing away as fast as it could.
"Schneller! SCHNELLER!" Zimmern yelled from on top of the conning tower.
It seemed like every second, spouts of water caused by the unknown battleship were thrown into the air around the U-Boat, drenching Zimmern and the crew on top of the deck. The onslaught just wouldn't stop.
His damaged U-Boat was making a break for it. Whether it be some Spanish port or home in Wilhelmshaven. Whatever it was though, it didn't matter. They did their duty to the Fuhrer and their country and there was a humming sound... Wait, humming sound? Zimmern thought.
Looking up above him, he could see the black outline of a floatplane flying above him. It was hard to tell what model it was but judging by the silhouette, the pontoons were both mounted under the main fuselage... Something a German ship would have. But that could not be possible... All German capital ships were laid up in Port or stripped of all forms of weaponry and aircraft. It didn't make sense...
What also didn't make sense to Zimmern was the Flotilla that managed to get close to his U-Boat and surround them in the shadows. That... he was not going to take lightly when the time came.