4 a.m.
At the moment we are on the bottom waiting to come up and charge to-night , and lay our mines at dawn to-morrow . * * * * * On the bottom in 28 metres and feeling none too comfortable , as there would appear to be about a dozen destroyers overhead . Last night , or rather early this morning , I participated in one of the most extraordinary incidents that I have ever heard of . It was pitch-black dark when I took over at 4 a.m. , and a fresh breeze had raised a lumpy sea , which covered the bridge with spray . We were charging 400 amps on each , with the intention of laying one mine directly there was sufficient light to get a fix from some of the buoys which the English stick down all over the place here in the most convenient manner possible . If only one could believe they never shifted them . Alten says it never occurs to an Englishman to do a thing like that , but I 'm not so sure .