THE
ADVENTURES
OF THE U-202

PREFACE[v]

I was sitting on the conning towersmoking a cigarette. Then thesplash of a wave soaked it. I tried todraw another puff. It tasted loathsomeand frizzled. Then I becameangry and threw it away.

I can see my reader’s surprised expression.You had expected to read aserious U-boat story and now such aridiculous beginning! But I know whatI am doing. If I had once thrown myselfinto the complicated U-boat systemand used a bunch of technical terms,this story would be shorter and morequickly read through, but you wouldnot have understood half of it.

Seriousness will come, bitter and pitiable[vi]seriousness. In fact, everything isserious which is connected with the lifeon board a submarine and none of it isfunny; although in fact it is the hundredsmall inconveniences and peculiarconditions on a U-boat which makelife on it remarkably characteristic.And in order to bring to the public acloser knowledge concerning the peculiarlife on board a U-boat I am writingthis story. Good—therefore my log-book!Yes, why should I not makeuse of it? To this I also wish to addthat I not only used my own log-bookbut also at many places had use of otherU-boats’ logs in order to present oneor another episode which is worth thewhile relating. Thus, for example, thestory of the many fishing-smacks, whichare spoken of in the chapter called“Rich Spoils,” is borrowed, but the happenings[vii]in the witch kettle, the adventurewith the English bulldog, and alsomost of the other chapters are my ownfeathers with which I have adorned thislittle story. This is the only liberalright of an author which I permit myself.The style of the story from a log-bookis simple and convenient, and onebuys so willingly such stories. See theretwo valid reasons for making use of it.

The Author.

CONTENTS

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