U-99 Dec '40 Patrol part 2 - Big Convoy 2-night attack (dramatic account in description)

U-99 finds a large convoy with a heavy escort sinking 4 large merchants over 2 nights while evading detection by the inexperienced escort both nights.

https://uboater658.blogspot.com/2024/...

Google Gemini generated dramatic rendition:

The vastness of the North Atlantic churned under a starless sky, December 1940. Aboard U-99, Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer, a seasoned hunter, gripped the periscope handles, his gaze fixed on the horizon. A massive convoy, its lights a constellation in the darkness, steamed towards its destination, oblivious to the danger lurking beneath the waves.

Kretschmer's eyes narrowed, a predatory glint in their depths. This was a prize, a heavily laden convoy ripe for the taking. He grinned, the thrill of the hunt coursing through his veins.

The first night was a symphony of calculated chaos. U-99, a phantom in the darkness, weaved through the convoy's outer fringes, its torpedoes finding their marks with deadly precision. Two large merchants, their hulls ripped open, slipped beneath the waves, their demise unnoticed by the inexperienced escorts. Kretschmer, his heart pounding, reveled in the success, his crew sharing his exhilaration.

The second night, the U-boat returned, its presence still undetected. The convoy, its formation disrupted by the previous night's losses, presented new opportunities. Kretschmer, a maestro conducting a macabre orchestra, orchestrated two more devastating attacks. Two more merchants, their cargoes lost to the depths, joined their sunken brethren.

The escorts, their confusion palpable, scrambled to respond, their efforts hampered by the darkness and their own inexperience. Kretschmer, ever vigilant, evaded their frantic search, his U-boat a ghost in the night.

As dawn painted the sky with hues of orange and gold, U-99 slipped away, leaving behind a trail of destruction and a convoy in disarray. Kretschmer, his face etched with fatigue but his spirit soaring, logged another triumphant chapter in the Battle of the Atlantic. His U-boat, unscathed, had once again proven its deadly prowess, a testament to its captain's skill and the courage of its crew.