German Submarine U-333

German submarine ''U-333'' was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 11 March 1940 at the Nordseewerke yard at Emden, launched on 14 June 1941, and commissioned on 25 August 1941 under the command of '' Kapitänleutnant'' Peter-Erich Cremer. After training with the 5th U-boat Flotilla at Kiel, on 1 January 1942 ''U-333'' was transferred to the 3rd U-boat Flotilla based at La Pallice for front-line service.

The U-boat made 12 combat patrols in the next three years, and sank seven merchant ships totalling , damaged another of 8,327 GRT, and also engaged and damaged the . ''U-333'' was sunk in the English Channel by British warships using a Squid on 31 July 1944.

''U-333'' bore the "three little fishes" emblem on its conning tower.

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-333'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8–27 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to .

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . ''U-333'' was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history

First patrol

''U-333'' sailed from Kiel on 27 December 1941, through the North Sea, and into the Atlantic. On 1 January 1942 the U-boat was attacked by an unidentified enemy aircraft, but was not damaged. ''U-333'' then joined the wolfpack 'Ziethen' on 17 January 1942, and at 20:45 on 22 January, attacked the 3,429 GRT Greek merchant ship ''Vassilios A. Polemis'', a straggler from Convoy ON 53. The ship, hit amidships by a single torpedo, broke in two and sank within ten minutes. The U-boat questioned the 12 survivors from the crew of 33, and gave them bread and cigarettes.

At 15:25 on 24 January, about southeast of Cape Race, ''U-333'' attacked the 4,765 GRT Norwegian merchant ship ''Ringstad'', which had lost contact with Convoy ON 55 after several days of storms. The ship was hit on the starboard side by a single torpedo, and the crew of 43 abandoned ship in three lifeboats. After 20 minutes the ship sank, the U-boat surfaced to question the crew, offered water and food, and gave them a heading to the nearest land before wishing them good luck and leaving. However, in heavy weather two lifeboats containing 30 men were lost, while the third lifeboat was eventually spotted, covered in ice, five days later by an aircraft that brought to their rescue.

The sinking of '

At 16:50 hours on 31 January 1942, north of the Azores ''U-333'' attacked an unescorted and zigzagging 5,083 GRT merchant ship with a single torpedo, which promptly sent out a distress signal '' en clair'' under the name '. Cremer examined the ship from a distance of before ''U-333'' torpedoed the ship again at 18:33, and sank her. Unfortunately, she was in fact the German blockade runner , en route from Dairen in Manchuria to Bordeaux with a cargo of 3,365 tons of rubber, 230 tons of tin, 20 tons of tungsten, and quinine, as well as 86 prisoners from ships that had been sunk by the auxiliary cruiser . Cremer failed to identify her, as she was camouflaged as the Norwegian ship ''Elg'' and was ahead of schedule.

A search for survivors was promptly launched. ''U-333'' and , which was waiting to escort the ship into port and , which was waiting to transfer an injured crewman to the ship, were soon joined by and , which were returning from their patrols, and and , which had just begun theirs.

Late on 2 February, ''U-105'' picked up 25 crewmen and 55 prisoners in three lifeboats and three rafts. Another lifeboat, containing 11 crewmen and 13 prisoners was missing and ''U-105'' searched for a further three days before giving up and setting a course to Lorient. To compound the disaster, when a Dornier Do 24 flying boat was sent out to pick up a severely injured sailor, it crashed in rough seas. ''U-105'' rescued the seven-man crew and sank the aircraft with gunfire. Of the 152 aboard the ', 72 were killed.

After returning from his patrol on 9 February 1942, Cremer was court-martialled, but was found not guilty.

Second patrol

''U-333'' left her new home port of La Pallice on 30 March 1942, and headed across the Atlantic to the coast of Florida. There, on 6 May, she attacked three ships, sinking two. The first was the unescorted 8,327 GRT American tanker ''Java Arrow'', hit by two torpedoes off Vero Beach at 05:43. The attack killed two officers on watch below, the 45 survivors abandoned ship in two lifeboats. They were later picked up by the submarine chaser and a Coast Guard vessel. Four men returned to the ship and dropped the anchor to prevent the ship from going aground. The Master then went to Fort Pierce and returned later with 14 of his crew and the salvage tugs ''Ontario'' and ''Bafshe'' which towed the tanker to Port Everglades. The ship was repaired and returned to service in 1943.

Meanwhile, at 09:35, off Fort Pierce, ''U-333'' hit the unescorted 1,294 GRT Dutch merchant ship ''Amazone'' with a single torpedo on the port side. The ship, en route to New York from Curaçao with a cargo of 926 tons of coffee and oil, sank within two minutes. Fourteen crewmen were lost, while the 11 survivors were picked up by the submarine chaser .

Finally, at 23:25 the unescorted and unarmed 7,088 GRT American tanker ''Halsey'' was hit by two torpedoes off St Lucie Inlet, ripping a hole in the side long. The ship, en route from Corpus Christi, Texas to New York, was laden with of naphtha and of heating oil. The crew of 32 abandoned ship in two lifeboats, almost being asphyxiated by naphtha fumes. An hour later the ''Halsey'' exploded, broke in two, and burst into flames. The lifeboats were soon found by , and towed to land by two fishing vessels.

The next day, 7 May, ''U-333'' was hunted by a convoy escort ship, and badly damaged by depth charges, forcing the U-boat to return to France. However, at 09:05 on 10 May, she attacked the unescorted 5,214 GRT British Clan Line merchant ship ''Clan Skene'' about south-east of Cape Hatteras. The ship, carrying 2,006 tons of chrome ore from Beira in Portuguese East Africa to New York, was hit by two torpedoes and sank. Nine crewmen were killed, while 73 survivors were later picked up by the destroyer . Cremer noted in his ''Kriegstagebücher'' ("War diary") that the sinking of this ship was like ''.. a balm after these terrible depth charges''. ''U-333'' finally arrived back at La Pallice on 26 May.

Third patrol

''U-333''s next patrol was uneventful. Departing La Pallice on 11 August 1942, she joined wolfpack ' Blücher' north-east of the Azores from 14 to 18 August, but had no successes, and returned to port on 24 August after only 14 days at sea.

Fourth patrol

''U-333'' sailed from La Pallice once more on 1 September 1942, and headed south to the coast of West Africa, joining wolfpack 'Iltis' between 6–23 September.

On 6 October the U-boat engaged the British about south-west of Freetown, Sierra Leone. ''Crocus'' detected ''U-333'' by radar, and closed at high speed. The U-boat was rammed twice, and exchanged gunfire at close range before submerging, while the corvette dropped depth charges. The ''U-333'' lay low, later surfacing and making her escape under cover of darkness. Both vessels suffered damage and sustained casualties. On the U-boat three men were killed; '' Bootsmaat'' Heinz Kurze, '' Maschinenobergefreiter'' Erwin Levermann, and the First Watch Officer (second-in-command) ''Oberleutnant zur See'' Bernhard Hermann, while several men were wounded, including the commander Peter-Erich Cremer. Command of ''U-333'' was taken by the Second Watch Officer (third-in-command) ''Leutnant zur See'' Helmut Kandzior, who took the U-boat to a rendezvous with three days later, where ''Kapitänleutnant'' Lorenz Kasch, a Captain under instruction, assumed temporary command. ''U-333'' also received medical assistance from a doctor on the '' Milchkuh'' .

On 21 October the inbound ''U-333'' was attacked by the British submarine about north-north-east of Cape Ortegal, Spain. The British submarine was formerly the German ''U-570'', captured on 27 August 1941, extensively studied, and commissioned into the Royal Navy. ''Graph'', on her first war patrol in British service, fired a spread of four torpedoes at the surfaced U-boat, but lookouts spotted the tracks and ''U-333'' managed to evade them. ''U-333'' arrived back at La Pallice two days later, on 23 October 1942, and Cremer then spent three months in hospital.

Fifth patrol

''Oberleutnant zur See'' Werner Schwaff was appointed temporary commander of ''U-333'' on 22 November 1942, and set sail from La Pallice on his first patrol on 20 December 1942. The U-boat sailed out to patrol the Atlantic south-west of Iceland, joining wolfpacks 'Falke' from 28 December 1942 to 19 January 1943, and 'Landsknecht' from 19 to 28 January 1943. However she had no successes, and eventually returned to base on 5 February 1943 after a patrol lasting 48 days.

Sixth patrol

Two days after departing from La Pallice on 2 March 1943, ''U-333'' was attacked in the Bay of Biscay by a British Wellington Mk.VIII bomber from No. 172 Squadron RAF equipped with a Leigh light. When the aircraft illuminated the U-boat, it was met with a barrage of AA fire. The bomber passed over ''U-333'', and dropped four depth charges before crashing into the sea, killing the crew of six. Two depth charges actually hit ''U-333'', but one broke up without detonating and the other bounced off and caused only light damage.

''U-333'' continued her patrol, returning to the seas south-west of Iceland, and joining wolfpack 'Dränger' on 14 March. There, on 19 March at 21:28, she torpedoed and sank the 5,234 GRT Greek merchant ship ''Carras'', a straggler from Convoy SC 122, which had been hit by a torpedo from earlier. All the crew of 34 survived and were picked up by the British rescue ship ''Zamalek''. ''U-333'' joined wolfpack 'Seewolf' from 21 to 30 March, but had no more successes before returning to La Pallice on 13 April.

''Carras'' would be the last ship sunk by ''U-333'', as the balance of power in the Battle of the Atlantic now swung in favour of the Allies, culminating in Black May (1943).

Seventh patrol

On 18 May 1943 Peter-Erich Cremer, now recovered from his injuries and promoted to the rank of ''Korvettenkapitän'', reassumed command of ''U-333''. On 2 June the U-boat sailed from La Pallice and headed south to the coast of West Africa. However, she had no success, and returned to base on 31 August after 91 days.

Eighth patrol

''U-333''s next patrol began on 21 October 1943, heading out into the Atlantic north-east of the Azores, where she joined wolfpack 'Schill' on the 25th. On 4 November, while shadowing a KMS convoy, bound for Gibraltar from Liverpool, ''U-333'' surfaced in heavy fog, but was forced to dive by a destroyer and heavily depth charged, but managed to escape unharmed.

''U-333'' joined wolfpack 'Schill 1' on 16 November. On the 18th, while attacking the combined convoys SL 139 and MKS 30, the U-boat was rammed by the frigate , losing her periscope. ''U-333'' was then subjected to an attack from warships and an aircraft that lasted for eight hours, before making her
escape. The U-boat returned to La Pallice on 1 December 1943 having had no success.

Ninth and tenth patrol

''U-333'' sailed out on a patrol on 10 February 1944, but returned after only two days on the 12th. The U-boat left again on 14 February and headed into the waters west of Ireland. There, on 21 March, the U-boat was spotted by Allied aircraft which in turn brought in the Royal Navy's renowned U-boat hunters, the 2nd Support Group, under the command of Captain F.J. Walker. Pursued relentlessly, Cremer eventually took ''U-333'' to the bottom and sat on the sea floor at a depth of for 10 hours. Although releasing the U-boat from the grip of the mud was a problem, she eventually freed herself, and once again ''U-333'' escaped. The U-boat returned to base on 20 April 1944, again having had no success.

Eleventh patrol

Departing from La Pallice on 6 June 1944, ''U-333'' fell victim to the increased anti-submarine activity by the Allies after the Normandy landings. On 10 June, while still in the Bay of Biscay, ''U-333'' was attacked by an Australian Sunderland flying boat patrol bomber of No. 10 Squadron RAAF, and suffered some damage, although she managed to repel the aircraft with her flak. The next day ''U-333'' was attacked, again by another Sunderland, this time from No. 228 Squadron RAF. ''U-333'' managed to shoot the aircraft down, but suffered further damage, forcing her to abort her patrol and return to base on 13 June.

Twelfth patrol

On 19 July 1944 Cremer left ''U-333'' in order to commission the new Type XXI ''Elektroboot'' , and ''Kapitänleutnant'' Hans Fiedler was appointed as commander on the 20th. His first, and ''U-333''s final patrol began on 23 July, as she headed into the Western Approaches.

Sinking

''U-333'' was sunk on 31 July 1944, west of the Scilly Isles, in position , by the first use of the Squid anti-submarine mortar from the British Royal Navy sloop and frigate of the 2nd Support Group. All 45 hands were lost.

Wolfpacks

''U-333'' took part in nine wolfpacks, namely:
* Zieten (17 – 22 January 1942)
* Blücher (14 – 18 August 1942)
* Iltis (6 – 23 September 1942)
* Falke (28 December 1942 – 19 January 1943)
* Landsknecht (19 – 28 January 1943)
* Dränger (14 – 20 March 1943)
* Seewolf (21 – 30 March 1943)
* Schill (25 October – 16 November 1943)
* Schill 1 (16 – 19 November 1943)

Summary of raiding history

Between August 1941 and July 1944 ''U-333'' sailed on 12 combat patrols, and sank seven merchant ships totalling , damaged another of , and also engaged and damaged the 925 tons . She also shot down two aircraft.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

*
*
*
*
* Peter Cremer (trans. Fritz Brustat-Naval) :''U 333 : the Story of a U-boat ace'', Triad, London, 1986.
*

External links

*
*

Peter-Erich Cremer, recorded for the documentary series ''The World at War'', describes the action with HMS ''Crocus'' on 6 October 1942

Newsreel of ''U-333'' returning to port badly damaged

{{DEFAULTSORT:U0333
German Type VIIC submarines
U-boats commissioned in 1941
U-boats sunk in 1944
World War II submarines of Germany
World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
U-boats sunk by British warships
U-boats sunk by depth charges
1941 ships
Ships built in Emden
Submarines lost with all hands
Maritime incidents in July 1944