*****
Ullmann is operating from a dark place in his heart these days. Yet he is aware of it and how it might affect his treatment of his crew, so he tries very hard to temper things and stay focused on building a team effort as they get to know each other and assimilate a few new crewmembers at the same time.
Still, it's a place where he'd just rather not be, if he had a say in it, and of course, he does not.
Eden is finding herself less pleased with her boss as he gives her another assignment. And Ullmann finally comes to know what all of the pre-war preparation in the Caribbean was about.
0_o
*****
The next year and a bit was a happy time for Ilka and Hans-Joachim. Even though there was no escaping the constant reminders that their country was at war, it was a little minimised and hidden from view, living as they did on the northern shore. The place was not exactly a hive of wartime activity and bustle, though one could often see ships of the Kriegsmarine as they steamed past.
Their honeymoon was only slightly abbreviated due to the effects of wartime. Following that, Ilka began to work once more, her agency loving her idea and as they pushed it to their clients, her marketability soared and there was even a little fame for her in it, though she was quick to temper that when she spoke of it.
"It does not matter to me so much," she told Anneliese one evening at dinner, "Once it would have very much, but not now anymore. I am happy like this and I think that I can carry on for a long time – so one day, I will be the face on packages of support stockings, I suppose."
They laughed over it and Ilka said, "So long as I can earn some money, I don't care at all. I have my husband and his wonderful family. I have my daughter and ... " She leaned over in a conspiratorial way, "we have begun to talk of having another child very soon."
Anneliese smiled and then she hinted that she'd met someone herself lately in the crazy wartime world which they lived in. Ilka was intrigued at once and demanded to hear all of the details because she could see that Anneliese was happy and hopeful. She'd learned her own bitter wartime lessons and she knew how her sister-in-law had been shattered by her loss a couple of years before. Anneliese was not the only one with a child and a dead husband.
As they spent the evening together, Anneliese showed Ilka the box of letters, now quite full and looking a little stuffed. "I wanted to mention this to my brother several times now, but he comes so seldom that I have always forgotten them, just happy to see him again. I think that they were written by a past sweetheart of his. I haven't opened a single one in all of this time.
First, the return addresses and stamps showed that they came from England, of all places and then, after a short delay, they began again, but from Trinidad. I had to look in a book to remind myself where it was. I learned about it in school, but who carries that in their heads forever?
The name sounds Chinese, I think, and they still come, but only rarely now, maybe one in three or four months. I don't really know what to do with them."
"Let's ask Hans-Joachim the next time that he comes," Ilka said, "I think that I might know something about them, since he told me about her once, but it is up to him what he wishes to do about them. I would never take that away from him."
And with that, the letters were forgotten once more and, while no one was thinking about them at all ... they stopped coming.
–––––––––––––––-
1941
As his time as a command trainee was coming to an end, Ullmann was promoted to the rank of Kapitänleutnant and he knew that his own time of command approached.
As a general thing, a Kapitänleutnant was at about the level of a British or American Lieutenant, though there was much more responsibility heaped on the shoulders of someone of the rank in the Kriegsmarine. It was the third-lowest officer's rank there, but in fact it was a little closer to a lieutenant commander in the Allied navies. A Kapitänleutnant could and often did command a smaller ship, such as a submarine.
As much as the German language sought to lump words together in order to be specific, 'Kapitänleutnant' could be a mouthful in the heat of action and so there was a bit of a tacit abbreviation used, and a Kapitänleutnant was addressed as 'Herr Kaleun' – pronounced as "Kah-loyn". It simplified things.
Hans-Joachim transferred to the 2nd U-boat flotilla out of the base at Lorient in occupied France and he served on U-66 for three of her nine combat patrols. She was one of the newer Type IX-Cs. From the moment that he saw her, he knew the reason for the posting to this type. He remembered his interview in Berlin long ago.
Most of his classmates and contemporaries found themselves aboard Type XII U-boats, known as the Workhorses of the Wolfpacks.
U-66 was a different breed, a Type IX - made for sustained operations and long patrols where there were most often no available home support facilities. As such, they were a little roomier and more comfortable to live on than the Type VIIs, since wherever you went in one; you were likely going to be there for a while.
His first patrol on U-66 was from Kiel in Germany to Lorient in France by way of the waters off the northern coast of Britain. It marked his move to take up more active command duties in that area of operations. He was now a first officer and second only to the commander.
His next war patrol took him to the Cape Verde islands where U-66 sank four merchantmen in about two weeks.
His third patrol in U-66 saw them off the coast of north-eastern South America and it was mostly uneventful, but on the way back to Lorient from that ...
Ullmann was called to his commanding officer's desk and told of his new routing and orders. He was transferring to 10th U-Boat Flotilla as soon as they got back.
He knew these things sometimes went to a plan which might be seen, and then he also knew that sometimes they made so apparent sense at all, so ...
"Is there a reason?" He asked and his commander smiled.
"Well yes Ullman. It is a matter of timing. You need to be there so that you do not miss the arrival of U-161 there, since that will be your boat after you take command from her present boss. It's not a long walk – only a few pens over, but see that you get there for New Year's Day, since it could be a little embarrassing if you get there late."
As it turned out, U-161 was the late one, arriving on the third. Ullmann wasted no time in getting to know his boat and her crew. As soon as he could, he planned to take the long train ride to see his wife and daughter. But it all came to a crashing halt for him one day a week later and his happiness left him once more.
––––––––––––––––
He'd just made port and after slipping U-161 into her pen and getting her squared away, he almost ran to his shore quarters to shave off the beard that he'd begun to grow while at sea. Fresh water for a good hot shave was seen as a waste - even for the boat commander and besides, a beard also provided a bit of warmth while it was there for the times spent topside in the cold wind and spray.
He'd just gotten shaved and was about done with his shower when there was an urgent knock on the door. Hans-Joachim answered it with a towel wrapped around his waist and he was handed a transcript of a telephone message which almost knocked him down to read.
