During WWI the Germans proved themselves to be very innovative and technically brilliant at the art of war. One of the things they did was to build very small U-Boats that could be broken down into 5 sections, shipped by rail and then assembled in distant ports. Originally destined to serve on the Belgian coast, several of these U-Boats were sent to Pola in the Adriatic for use by the navy of Austria - Hungary. These tiny vessels were only 90 odd fleet long, they had a crew of 14, just two torpedo tubes, and a single machine gun for defence. With a surface sped of around 7 knots, they were also very slow and crews used to say that if they were detected then the enemy ship could just steam away from them.
Nevertheless, by using tactics such as waiting of off known shipping lanes and outside enemy ports, they went on to assist in the sinking of over 3,000,000 of enemy shipping in the Adriatic and Mediterranean.
The year is 1917, and one of these boats from Pola is on patrol near the Italian coast.
All is well on these smooth and warm seas until ..... Alarm! Alarm! Strange planes are seen approaching.
Quickly manning the machine gun, the Austrians manage to shoot down both antiquated seaplanes.
Unfortunately for the U-Boat crew one of the planes was carrying either a bomb or torpedo that exploded when the plane was shot down. It fell so close to the submarine that it caused damage that prevented the sub from diving. While the crew were evacuated to the deck, the captain seeks a place to anchor and make repairs.
With his submarine submarine anchored near some islands the captain is hoping that no one has seen where he is and reported his position.
The Captain uses the radio to request some air support. Frantically, the crew work on the repairs and soon the boat is able to proceed to deeper and safer waters, but .......
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