Plot summary
Carl Lanser is a passenger aboard the SS Queen of Glasgow, an isolated British cargo liner crossing the Atlantic in 1942, but has no idea of how he got aboard or who he is. Sitting with the captain and several passengers, Lanser dismisses fears of the ship being hunted by a U-boat " wolfpack ", saying only one U-boat would be necessary and it would not bother using a torpedo on the ship. He is unable to explain how he knows any of this and recalls only that he was born in Frankfurt, but says he finds the ship, its crew and passengers oddly familiar. When called to the bridge by the captain, he cannot provide proof of his identity. Still confused, Lanser is sent back to his cabin with a steward, where he finds a Kriegsmarine officer's cap among his possessions with his name written on the inside.
The captain is forced to stop the ship for repairs when the overworked engines break down. Lanser becomes increasingly restless, haunted by an inescapable sense of impending doom. Convinced that everyone aboard the ship will die at 01:15, Lanser panics and runs through the passageways, attempting to raise an alarm. He finds the ship is mysteriously empty. When he finally locates some of the passengers, they silently stare at him as he implores them to abandon ship. At exactly 01:15, a searchlight illuminates the ship and a surfaced U-boat, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Carl Lanser, opens fire with its deck cannon and machine guns. The ship quickly sinks, leaving no survivors.
A bit later, Captain Lanser is at his cabin aboard his U-boat, recording that night's kill. His second-in-command, Lt. Mueller, is deeply troubled by what the U-boat crew has done, not warning the people on board the ship before firing upon them, and wonders "if we are not damned now". Lanser dismissively says he is sure the British Admiralty thinks so, but Mueller clarifies that he meant damned in the eyes of God. Despite Lanser's skepticism and sarcasm, Mueller grows more convinced that their crew could one day answer for their crime by reliving the act for all eternity.
Granted his own private hell as the man who ordered the massacre, Lanser reappears on the deck of the ship and the nightmare repeats itself.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Judgment Night (The Twilight Zone). Paragraphs and formatting adjusted; illustrations, reference markers, block quotations and non-story material omitted.