Latest News «
Submit News «


Articles «
Comics «
Journal Entries «
Squad Reviews «
Rat Profiles «


Infantry Bootcamp «
Creating A Squad «
Maps & Radio «
FAQ «
Dictionary «


Official Forums «
Chat Room «


Previews «
Screenshots «
Book Listing «
Equipment Specs «
Links «


Feedback «
Site Info «
Link to Us «

Benning's Last Battle
By Specterx

Lieutenant Harry Nichols, USN, stood next to the helmsman in the wheelhouse of the destroyer U.S.S. Benning. The Benning, making a speed of fifteen knots, was moving uneasily through the choppy North Atlantic seas, looking for a German U-boat to be its second victim of the night. At 2:00 a.m., the Benning's radar operator announced a surface contact, bearing 180 degrees. Nichols instantly sprang into action.
"Flank speed!"

Waves began to wash over the Benning's highest masts, the destroyer's top speed of twenty-seven knots intensifying the effect of the twenty-foot waves that night. Three portholes in the wheelhouse, each thirty-two feet above sea level, were soon smashed by the force of the seas, and black water began splashing in. Nichols made a mental note to himself to have that fixed, but it was a minor problem and could wait.

The radar operator reported that contact with the target had been lost. Nichols, assuming that it had submerged, ordered the sonar system turned on. After only a few pings, Sonarman Jones reported in:
"Submerged contact, bearing one-eight-zero!"

Benning reduced speed and moved in slowly. Jones kept in contact with the submarine, and reported every change in bearing, which was then compensated for by the helmsman. The "talkers" on the bridge-The men who had direct radio links to the engine room and weapons-informed the crew what was happening.

As the destroyer closed in, Chief Torpedoman Franklin loaded a number of the barrel-like depth charges onto the racks mounted in the after topside section of the ship. Nichols gave the order to drop as soon as the destroyer moved over her target, but instead of slowly rolling off one at a time, the bombs began flying off the stern; the depth charge releasing mechanism had malfunctioned. The charges did, however, force the submarine to surface, and this was detected on the sonar. Nichols believed that the submarine would come up behind him and to his right, so he ordered the four-inch guns mounted on the Benning to be aimed towards the starboard quarter. However, the German captain had turned around underwater before surfacing, and the real battle was just beginning.

The first one to see the submarine was Fire Controlman First Class Roberts. When the submarine popped up to port and astern, Roberts forgot his formed naval vocabulary and shouted, "There it is! Portside aft!"

Realizing that he could turn his ship around faster than the gun crews could traverse his weapons, Nichols ordered a hard turn to starboard in order to bring his ship around and broadside of the U-boat. He also had the searchlights turned on, which illuminated the submarine, but also provided the Germans with a target.

The Benning opened fire first, with the Number Four gun getting a shot off halfway through the destroyer's circling turn. It missed. All of the Benning's guns then opened fire. The Benning's crew watched as the Germans scrambled out of their ill-fated sub towards the machine guns. Each crewman was killed almost as soon as he appeared. The Germans never even attempted to man their big deck gun, since the U-boat's decks were awash. In any case, the third salvo from the Benning lifted the gun off the deck and tossed it into the sea.

The destroyer had apparently caught the Germans by surprise, since it was clear that most of them were straight out of their bunks. Many were wearing nothing but underwear pants in the frigid North Atlantic weather.

Soon it was clear that the U-boat was outgunned. The submarine's captain then began to try and outmaneuver Nichols. He swung left and attempted to aim his stern, which held a torpedo tube, at the Benning. Nichols also swung left, gently at first, hoping to stay broadside of the U-boat. However, the submarine turned tightly and was able to fire off a shot from the stern tube, which missed. Nichols ordered left full rudder, which made the German think he was going to try and cut across the circling course, so he straightened out. The Benning turned hard right, and the situation was just what it had been a few moments before.

For the next few minutes the Benning's guns continued pounding the submarine. The electric firing circuit of the forward gun stopped working, so Gun Captain Reynolds fired the gun once by pulling the lanyard, but it broke. Instead of taking the time to find a new piece of rope to make a new lanyard, Reynolds began tripping the firing trigger with his hand. He couldn't get his hand and forearm out of the way in time to avoid the recoil, so both were severely pounded and bruised. Soon the Benning began to pull ahead of the U-boat.

The Benning's crew, like all destroyermen, dreamed of ramming the side of an enemy submarine and sinking it. To this effect, Captain Nichols gave the order to line up the ship to ram the troublesome submarine.
"All hands standby for ram! Helmsman, line her up!"
The helmsmen spun the wheel to the left, and in a few seconds said, "All right sir, the ship is lined up for ram."

The German appeared to be holding his course, seemingly unaware of the danger. It appeared that the two ships would collide.
Suddenly, the German swerved to the left, and a huge wave lifted the Benning's bow. For a few seconds the collision disappointed the crew members. There was no shock, no crunching noise. The wave had lifted the Benning's bow and placed it gently on top of the submarine, just forward of the conning tower. There was almost no damage to either craft, and the men in the Benning's engine room didn't even know a collision had taken place until the order came down to stop all engines.

Disappointment at the collision turned to elation when the Benning's crew saw how they had the German pinned down. Nichols repeated the order "Open fire!" over and over again.

The searchlight bathed the conning tower, and all the guns on the Benning opened up from a range of thirty feet. The Germans, in their mad attempts to man the machine guns, were being cut down by the Benning's crew. Sometimes, bullets from the destroyer would pitch German crewman into the raging sea. One man was hit by a twenty millimeter shell squarely in the chest. His head and arms flew one way, his trunk another.

page 2