I was a lieutenant on U-35, in the second submarine flotilla, and together with U-28, we were the first to go into the Atlantic, to Ponta Delgada in the Azores. As was customary, the boat went out for practice maneuvers in the Bay of Lübeck before departure." After continuous ups and downs on that cold December day, Kretschmer and the captain went up on the conning tower, where Otto lit up a cigar to indicate that the crew needed a rest. "I thought maybe he would let me smoke it to the end, but I looked at his eyes and thought, 'No, he will not.'" To delay any more dives, Otto announced he was going down onto the deck to get the water out of the gun and promptly descended the ladder, with cigar still clamped between his teeth.
"I was on the foredeck, adjusting the gun, when PSSSSSSH he was diving. Then up came the green sea, and I ran to the conning tower and tried to climb the periscope, hoping that I could be seen in the optics. But of course it was too oily, and I couldn't get up." Still clinging to the periscope, Otto surged downward with U-35. "When the water was dark green I let loose and popped up again."
In the impending darkness, without a life vest, Otto began to think he could not long survive in the frigid water. "It was December, and I had on heavy clothing - my leather suit with rubber at wrists and ankles - so it kept in some air to help me float. Also I had seaboots, and they held au; but in the end I had to paddle like a dog because the air was disappearing."
As Kretschmer wondered whether he could hold out, U-35 came from nowhere and threw Otto a life ring, but he was so numb with cold he could not climb aboard. "They pulled me out, pushed me up onto the conning tower, and then I said to the captain, 'Reporting back on board, sir.' He said, 'Thank you, thank you very much. Please go down.' No apology."
"When I got down I took off all my wet things and drank a good deal of rum - you see, there was no heating in the boat. I lay down on the bunk and vigorously exercised my arms and legs, and then I asked for hot water bottles to put on myself so I could get warm again. Otherwise I would have died there on the bunk."

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