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interest and takes another deep gulp from the bottle. Then he wants to know if it was a torpedo or an underwater cannon that sank him. He has heard that such things exist. I am astonished at his naïveté and ask him if he has lost any men. “Yes, a young man who was operating the engine. What did he, an innocent one, do to deserve being killed in the war? “Who will take responsibility for the whole thing before God someday? Damn war!” I pity the old man and do not take offense at his indignation. But I must break off the conversation because floodlights from Cerigo are searching the water, and the usual destroyers are coming closer. They must have heard the explosion. The captain is given the course to the next harbor on the map. On a reach, with the fresh aft wind, he could be at Crete with his two boats by the next morning. He expresses thanks and wants to leave the ship. A high sea comes alongside; he misses the moment to jump into his dinghy, a wave lifts it up high, the bow of our U-boat dives deeply into the water, and the old captain vanishes for a moment in the dark waves. One man, who had tied himself to the cannon, quickly reaches over, fortunately catches him, and helps him into his dinghy. Only the round hat dances on the waves. Twenty-Six.Salute to Africa Near the North African coast U-14 pursues a steamer. During the night we had torpedoed the ship; but he has kept enough buoyancy to continue on, his stern deep in the water. It has taken hours for us to finally get within range, because one of our engines is damaged, and we can continue with the other one only with difficulty. Now the sinking steamer has reached Derna, a small harbor in the Cyrenica. SALUTETO AFRICA 111 So close to firing, I won’t let him escape anymore. Here in the harbor he cannot give me the slip again. U-14 comes ever closer. On land everything seems to have died out. There is hardly a settlement to see because the white dunes that lie before the city completely conceal everything. Suddenly we are fired on. The battery is invisible, but, according to the shell splashes, it must have three guns. We shoot at random over the concealing dunes without being able to see the impact of our shots. Only one signal or radio station is visible on a knoll and we fire our cannon at this. Then another battery, halfway up the mountain behind the city, enters the fray, and right after a third one is noticeable on the mountain ridge with very obvious smoke. I bless the impatience of the artillerymen who once again could not wait. Well, that could have been a lovely situation in the harbor. They would have had easy play with us. As it is, their shots fall short. They are shooting short of the target and aren’t even trying to adjust their aim so that their shots are always equally short as we slowly withdraw. The men come up, one after another: “Sir, may I shoot once, too?” and the cannon is shared by all in the ranks so that the men can have their fun. Then we discontinue firing. The invisible batteries cannot be struck and it makes no sense to destroy houses. Twenty-Seven.One Comes,the Other Goes U-14 has been at sea for thirty days. The last torpedo has been fired and the fuel is running low, as is the fresh water. We must return home, repair all the minor damage, take on new torpedoes and fuel oil, and get ready for the next trip. And now suddenly the sea comes to life, as if it were bewitched. 112 ONE COMES,THE OTHER GOES ...

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