Talk:P.A.N.Z.E.R./@comment-10905876-20150811171733/@comment-10905876-20150816054035

OOC: Grand post of destruction! The end is at hand! Long post inbound btw.

IC:

-Bridge of the Nassau-

-In German - Officer: "Kapitan we are exiting the river and entering the North Sea."

Gruber: "Good, prepare to bring her up to full speed."

Officer: "Jawohl Kapitan."

Gruber took in the scene, his ship, the Nassau, was finally back to sea. It was a joyous occasion, he hadn't been headed out for a long voyage for some time, and it was good to be back. He took in a deep breath, soon the smell of land would be gone, replaced only by the smell of the sea and the ship herself.

-Forecastle deck-

-In English-

Carter: "Looks like we're coming out of the river. Everyone stand ready."

He pulls out a the detonators, and presses the first one. Deep in the bowels of the ship, several explosions reverberate through the hull as the steering gear is destroyed. A few minor compartments flood, and all but one of the rudders is made useless. On the bridge, the shock of the blast is immediately noticed:

-In German-

Gruber: "What was that? Report!"

Officer: "I do not know Herr Kapitan."

Other officer: "Kapitan, we have flooding in -flooded compartments-."

Gruber: "Go to emergency stations, sound yellow alert. Hard to port, there's an island dead ahead."

Helmsman: "She won't answer the helm Kapitan!"

Gruber: "Reverse port engines, and try to get her to turn!"

The ship careens towards the island, engines still increasing speed as the ship barrels forward. The one operational rudder begins to move the ship, though it is not enough to steer her clear. Suddenly, a huge jolt runs through the ship, and a horrifying scraping and tearing sound is heard. The ship begins to list to starboard, and alarms ring on the bridge. The ship continues forward though, obviously not aground yet.

-Bridge-

Gruber: "Damage report! Now!"

Officer: "Still coming in Kapitan. Looks like we hit a rock outcropping, we have moderate flooding, but we won't sink."

Gruber: "All stop engines. Damage control crews to the steering gear rooms! Get our rudders operable again. Damn, this will put us back in drydock for months!"

-Forecastle deck-

-English-

Carter: "Whoa, we must have hit something."

Dawson: "But we haven't stopped yet, we must have hit an outcropping of rock. Let's not detonate yet."

Carter: "No, this will be perfect, it's shallow enough that there is hope of salvaging the ship, but deep enough to make things difficult."

He hits the second detonator, setting off the scuttling charges and sending a signal to hamburg. Deep inside the ship, the charges blast large holes in the bottom of the ship, adding to the already substantial flooding. The ship shudders from the detonations, and the bow starts to dip downwards as compartments flood with water. The engine room and other sections also flood, and men in those compartments scramble towards hatches to escape the inrush of water.

The OSA agents head towards a container with a motorized inflatable boat ready to be deployed. They prepare the raft, drop it in the water, and climb down in to it. Once all four are aboard, they fire up the engine, and motor away at high speed.

-Bridge-

-In German-

Officer: "Kapitan! Kapitan! Major flooding across the ship!"

Gruber: "What?! How can that be! We didn't hit anything."

Officer: "Sir, it appears that the scuttling charges went off. Kapitan, the ship is sinking."

Gruber: "How dare you! You dare accuse me of trying to sink my own ship! GET OUT! NOW!"

Officer: "Herr Kapitan, I did not say that. Sir!..."

Gruber lunges at the officer, clawing at his throat and trying to strangle him. The officer manages to get clear, but the enraged captain follows him, drawing his Luger in the process.

Lower in the superstructure, a panicked Hans Schultz runs aimlessly about the lower parts of the bridge tower. He eventually blunders his way to the bridge, just as the captain is losing it. He stumbles out of the way, tripping over some pice of gear, and landing on a control console. As he does, he sets off the abandon ship alarm, initiating the evacuation of the ship. The alarm also brings captain Gruber to his senses, and he stops chasing the officer. He turns to his radio officer:

Gruber: "Send a distress signal, tell them we are sinking and need immediate assistance."

Radio officer: "Jawohl Kapitan."

The ship is now developing a severe list, and the bow is getting low in the water. Men are trying to get off, but there is difficulty in deploying the inflatable rafts. Many of the men have jumped in the water, but are having difficulty staying afloat due to the suction of the sinking ship. Near the bridge, Schultz has gotten down to the forecastle deck, and is bumbling his way towards the side, at a complete loss of what to do. As he blunders along, he runs in to a rack of inflatable rafts, sending dozens of them tumbling in to the sea where they inflate. Many of the men in the water swim towards the rafts, and climb inside. Schultz then loses his balance, and pulls down a dozen more rafts as he falls over the side of the ship.

The Nassau is quickly settling in the water, with the bow almost submerged. Then, another explosion, as a charge goes off late. The bow plunges below the surface, and an inrush of water pours in through open hatches. The bow then buries itself in the bottom of the seabed, providing some stability for the sinking ship. Over the next half hour, the stern settles, leaving the superstructure jutting above the water like a strange steel island.

Rescue craft arrive, and a large percentage of the crew are saved, with most of the casualties resulting from the initial impact and flooding. Many of the bridge crew testify to Schultz as giving the order to abandon ship while the captain was unable to, and also credit him for heroically throwing life rafts in to the water. Kapitan Zur See Gruber however, is nowhere to be found until a raft nears the bridge. There, Gruber is found in a state of shock, murmuring "Mein schiff" over and over in a mourning tone.

-Hamburg-

It is a normal day at the Blohm and Voss shipyards. After the excitement of the Nassau departing, things have returned to a normal day of work. Then, the day is shattered by a series of explosions across the yard.

At three slipways, explosions rip the concrete ramps apart, leaving jagged protrusions sticking up. Then, the ships on them start to slide downward as the blocks hiding them in place also explode. The ships hit the jagged concrete, and are torn open with huge gashes in their hulls. They then enter the water, and begin to sink. With bulkheads installed, the flooding slows, however a lack of watertight doors means that the ships still slowly sink.

At Graving Dock 13, the nearly completed Scharnhorst has had her sides blown open. Then, the doors of the dock are blown open, and a massive torrent of water and debris floods in to the dock. Pieces of the doors slam in to the battlecruiser's hull, and the holes are widened by the rush of water and debris. Construction of other ships are also set back, and overall chaos engulfs the shipyard....

-North Sea-

A lone German inflatable boat motors along at high speed. Soon it stops, and a signal is broadcast. A few minuets later, the submarine IKN Dallas surfaces, and the four OSA operatives board the sub for a trip home....

OOC: and we have our grand finale!