The Diary of a U-boat CommanderWith an Introduction and Explanatory Notes by Etienne
 "We hit her aft for the second time...." 

 "The track met our ram" 

 "In the flash I caught a glimpse of his conning tower" 

 "The 1,000 kilogrammes of metal crashed down" 

 "Good-bye! Steer west for America!" 

 "It is a snug anchorage, and here I intend to remain" 

 "A trapdoor near her bows fell down, the White Ensign was broken at the fore, and a 4-inch gun opened fire from the embrasure that was revealed on her side" 

 "I sighted two convoys, but there were destroyers there...." 

 "... when there was a blinding flash and the air seemed filled with moaning fragments" 

 "When I put up my periscope at 9 a.m. the horizon seemed to be ringed with patrols" 

INTRODUCTION

 "I would ask you a favour," said the German captain, as we sat in the cabin of a U-boat which had just been added to the long line of bedraggled captives which stretched themselves for a mile or more in Harwich Harbour, in November, 1918. 

 I made no reply; I had just granted him a favour by allowing him to leave the upper deck of the submarine, in order that he might await the motor launch in some sort of privacy; why should he ask for more? 

 Undeterred by my silence, he continued: "I have a great friend, Lieutenant-zu-See Von Schenk, who brought U.122 over last week; he has lost a diary, quite private, he left it in error; can he have it?" 

 I deliberated, felt a certain pity, then remembered the Belgian Prince and other things, and so, looking the German in the face, I said: 

 "I can do nothing." 

 "Please." 

 I shook my head, then, to my astonishment, the German placed his head in his hands and wept, his massive frame (for he was a very big man) shook in irregular spasms; it was a most extraordinary spectacle. 


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