U-Boat Captains Saw Destroyer Radar Range — Then Knew Surface Attacks Were Finished

U-Boat Captains Saw Destroyer Radar Range — Then Knew Surface Attacks Were Finished

March fourteenth, nineteen forty-three. Kapitänleutnant Werner Henke stands on the conning tower of U-five one five, eight miles west of convoy HX-two two nine. Through his Zeiss binoculars, he watches forty-three merchant ships crawling across the Atlantic like a herd of slow, fat cattle. Six destroyers circle the convoy. Standard British escort pattern. Henke has done this ninety-seven times before. He knows exactly how this works.

Wait until full darkness. Surface attack. Fire torpedoes from beyond visual range. The destroyers cannot see him. Their radar operates on wavelengths too long to detect his low profile against the sea. By the time they realize they are under attack, he will be six miles away, reloading. Except this time, something impossible happens.

At 9:47 p. m. , still eight miles from the convoy, HMS Hesperus turns. Not a random course change. A direct turn toward U-five one five's exact position. Henke watches through his binoculars as the destroyer's bow swings onto an intercept course. He lowers the binoculars.

Checks his position again. Eight miles. Total darkness. No moon. Sea state three, enough chop to hide his silhouette completely. The destroyer should not know he exists. HMS Hesperus increases speed.

Twenty-eight knots. Closing fast. Henke makes the only decision that makes sense. He crash-dives. Forty-five seconds later, U-five one five is at periscope depth, silent running. Henke raises the scope for three seconds. Just long enough to see HMS Hesperus's bow wave, now five miles away and still coming directly at him.

The British destroyer passes overhead six minutes later. Depth charges fall in a perfect pattern, bracketing U-five one five's position with mathematical precision. The explosions crack lightbulbs, shatter gauges, and tear a seam in the pressure hull. Seawater sprays into the control room. Henke goes deep, two hundred fifty meters, beyond the destroyer's sonar range. When he surfaces three hours later, thirty miles away, he radios Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote headquarters in Lorient. His message is six words.

"They saw us at eight miles. " The response comes back within an hour. "Impossible. Radar range maximum four miles. " Henke's reply: "Tell that to my torn hull.

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