Chapter 15 "Ring Torpedo"

Norway, Kristiansand, one and a half weeks after leaving Germany on December 4, 1944, Captain Nürnberg and U869 arrived in Kristiansand, a port city in southern Norway.Here they are going to replenish fuel and supplies.Equipped and supplied, the submarine is capable of waging war anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean.Nürnberger's first assignment was to sneak up the coast of Norway and then through the Iceland-Faroe Strait into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.After the submarine arrives in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, it will receive orders for further actions-war orders.Radio contact between the submarine and headquarters is to be minimized.At this time of the war, even the slightest sound from a submarine could be detected by Allied forces.

On December 8, the submarine started its engines and left the submarine base off the coast of Norway.For the next three weeks, the submarine prowled the coast of Norway, headed for the Atlantic Ocean.It sank to the bottom of the ocean without stopping to avoid detection by Allied patrolling planes and ships. On December 29, the headquarters sent the next action plan. U869 is to patrol to position CA53 on Naval Coordinate Map, the center point of which is 110 miles southeast of New York.Nürnberg was given the most important mission a submarine could ever undertake - U869 was sent against the United States.

The submarine moved on.According to regulations, after U869 enters the open sea of ​​the Atlantic Ocean, Nürnberg will send a brief report to the headquarters.Since the headquarters will formulate the next action plan for U869, the latest deadline for the report to be sent is December 29.But they received nothing. On December 30, the headquarters requested U869 to send a report.But they still haven't received it.Headquarters was very "concerned," Headquarters officers wrote in their diaries, but they didn't think that meant U869 had gone missing. On January 1, 1945, the headquarters asked U869 to report its location, and this time they worded it very strongly.But still no reply.Headquarters repeated the request, but the submarine still did not respond.Now the headquarters is in a hurry.

The headquarters didn't know why they couldn't get in touch with U869. There were four possibilities for this situation. First, Nürnberg just didn't want to use radio equipment to avoid being detected by the Allied forces.However, this situation is unlikely to occur, because the captain will not ignore the urgent order of the headquarters.Second, U869's radio equipment was malfunctioning and could not receive or transmit radio signals.Third, the weather—a possible problem in the Atlantic Ocean—has prevented radio reception.Fourth, the submarine has been sunk. In the next few days, the headquarters used the most urgent means to contact U869 and asked it to report its location. Headquarters on 3 January was "very concerned" about U869's silence.At the same time, Allied intelligence studied the intercepted radio signals and made the following conclusion: "It is estimated that a submarine (U869) was ordered to proceed to the sea area 70 miles southeast of New York."

On January 6, the headquarters almost believed that U869 was dead.Under normal circumstances, if the submarine does not contact the headquarters within five days, the submarine is probably missing.Headquarters continues to urgently request a response from U869.The radio system at headquarters must have performed a miracle that day, and U869 finally reported its location.Just when the headquarters officers were glad that U869 had no accident, they were also confused about the location of U869. Location of U869 on naval coordinate map AK63, 600 miles southwest of Iceland. The "submarine," they wrote in their diary, "should be well to the southwest of its present position."It was only then that headquarters probably realized that Nürnberg had made a bold decision, one that probably displeased them.He did not follow the request of the headquarters to use the passage of the Iceland-Faroe Islands Strait-the most direct passage from Norway into the open sea of ​​the Atlantic Ocean-but took the north, made a large circle around Iceland and then sailed southwest from the Denmark Strait .The reason Nürnberg took so long, with so much fuel, and with so many detours, is obvious: The Denmark Strait is the least patrolled spot by Allied aircraft and ships.Although the captain had the power to make such a decision, Headquarters never encouraged such a move, because every day lost on the road meant a day lost in combat.On the other hand, the crew of Nürnberg are very grateful to their captain.This is the most important action he has taken since joining the war, and this action is entirely to protect the safety of the crew.But no one expected it—Neurnberger, his crew, or Headquarters—that Allied codebreakers had intercepted their communications and knew exactly where the sub was.

Nürnberg's detour through the Denmark Strait disrupted headquarters' strategic plans.They estimated that he had used up at least five extra days of fuel for such a long journey, which means that only 14 days out of the submarine's 100-day patrol time can stay in New York waters, which is a very low ratio.Headquarters asked U869 to report the fuel situation.But again they didn't get a reply.Since Nürnberg had shown a willingness to use the radio, and the radio did work some of the time, headquarters could only blame the weather for the lack of U869 reception.The headquarters did not want to wait for U869's fuel report any longer, and they directly issued a new order to divert U869 to Gibraltar to patrol the coast of Africa.Moving the submarine from New York to Africa could increase U869's patrol time.

Headquarters believed that U869 would not send back an acknowledgment of a new order - it would have been too dangerous for Nürnberg to send back a confirmation by radio.Therefore, the headquarters believes that Nürnberg has received a new order and directed U869 to Gibraltar. They estimate that U869 should arrive at the designated location around February 1.If Nürnberg received an order, he would definitely act in accordance with the order-although the captain can choose the course by himself, if they receive a clear order, they cannot make other choices.Whether it was due to equipment failure or weather, what is certain is that U869 did not receive an order to divert to Gibraltar.Nürnberg continued on to New York.

But the Allies had everything under control. A Jan. 17 intelligence read: "The submarine is approaching New York. U869 (Nürnberg) is currently about 180 miles southeast of the Flanders Civilian Air Patrol... The arrival of the submarine is expected in early February New York waters." On January 25th, Allied intelligence agencies continued to monitor the situation: "A submarine is sailing from southern Newfoundland to New York. Due to unclear orders, the specific location of the submarine has not been determined, but the German headquarters believes that the submarine has diverted to Gibraltar."

Then, using the grim language characteristic of war, U.S. intelligence announced their intended action against U869: "The 'Caule' will lay siege to the submarine before it reports North Atlantic weather." The U.S. military will send an anti-submarine fleet to block U869. They clearly know the destination of the submarine. In the meantime, Nürnberg and his crew continued the long journey to New York.Submarines generally have little trouble navigating the high waters of the Atlantic -- anti-submarine fleets often intercept submarines in shallow waters close to shore, where they are difficult to escape or hide.In order to pass the time, the crew may organize a checkers round-robin match like other submarines, or they may organize a limerick contest or a lying contest. If they lose too much in the game, the failed crew may lose a day's food.Or they might keep pets on the submarine—they once kept a fly as a pet on a submarine, and they named the fly "Emma" and watched the fly's every move with great interest every day.

U869 arrived in US waters around early February.Since then, Nürnberg has been ordering the subs to remain submerged all day long, using snorkels to get enough air to run their engines undersea.The US anti-submarine fleet is looking for traces of U869 in full swing.Nürnberg was well aware of the Allied forces' ability to track submarines, and he must be as careful as possible when sailing - the anti-submarine fleet only found an open sea. U869 has been staying in the waters of the United States and is constantly approaching New York.Nürnberg's target could be any enemy ship they found.The crew was nervous to avoid being detected by the Allied Forces to detect the whereabouts of the submarine.In this way, maybe a day has passed, maybe a few days have passed.Finally Nürnberg spotted an enemy ship through the sight of the periscope.At this time, he ordered the crew to take their positions.The crew remained silent.From this point on, all orders must be whispered.

U869 is slowly approaching the target at a speed of two knots per hour. The crew may only hear the sound of sea water outside the boat, the sound of the motor, or the sound of the propeller of the enemy ship in the distance.Other than that, there was no sound.Now U869 is ready to attack.At this point, Nürnberg, Brandt, and the rest of the crew knew very well: They knew the war was lost; they knew the submarine would never return to Germany; Where did U869 end its patrol career. No one knew what Nurnberg was thinking at the time.He raised the periscope.The rest of the crew stuck to their combat posts.A few seconds later, Nurnberg whispered in the U869 cigar-like steel case: "Tube one ready-launch."