Monopoli

We are out at sea again. Every time we cruise before Monopoli the Commander looks with interest and yearning over to the fuel storage tanks. During the night after we had charged the battery, we try to get very close. Slowly and quietly we approach to within a hundred meters. No guard is visible or maybe he is asleep. The tanks are within grasp and nothing moves. "They must feel pretty secure out there." whispers the Commander to the Second. Then we slowly move away again.

That was the second time we tried this maneuver now and nothing suspicious showed. We did figure for sometime that the Commander is working out some kind of plan, but what could it be? We change course to Southeast and then come back again. While I was sitting at the steering wheel I overheard the two talking about an explosion.

When it got dark we moved out to sea to charge the battery again. Around 2:00 hours we see land and go into battle mode. We come very close to shore. "Aha," says the Commander, "Now they are changing the sentry near the oil tanks." We sit and wait quietly. There is no sound except that of the waves softly splashing against the sea wall. No ship or torpedo boat and no motorboats are visible far and wide. Neither is the sentry. He must have a large area to walk that we could not see him. Either that or he was asleep somewhere.

In the meantime, The Torpedo-Master had received the order and was preparing an Ekrasit cartridge. Now we knew where we stood. The tanks are to be blown up. Soon everything was ready and three men climb up the sea wall and disappear toward the tanks. A short time later we see the flash of the safety fuse and the men are rushing back. We were approximately twenty meters from the wall and waited for them. Then three splashes as they jumped into the water. Short signals from a flashlight gave them direction and they were here in an instant. As soon as they are safely inside, the boat dives.

Suddenly, a loud detonation and a huge fireball rises toward the sky from the tanks. The fuel storage was burning. As we kept going we all looked through the periscope one after the other to enjoy the view of the gruesome-pretty show. Now things started to get busy out there from all directions. We went down to thirty meters and headed Northeast. When we arrived at the station they told us that the storage tanks at Monopoli had been blown up…apparently by "saboteurs."