U-333 Operations
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I u 333 Type VII C Built by Nordseewerke, Emden Keel laid 11.3.40 Launched 14.6.41 Commissioned 25.8.41 Feldpost Nr M 02 500 Sunk 31.7.44 WSW of Bishop Rock (49°39'N 07°28'W) Served with 5 U-Flottille, Ki91 August - December 1941 (ab) 3 U-Flottille, La Pall ice December 1941 - 31. 7 .44 (fb) Commanded-by KL Peier Erich Cremer August 1941 - October 1942 and June 1943 - June 1944 OL Werner Schwaff November 1942 - May 1943 KL Hans Fiedler June 1944 - 31.7.44 Patrols: 11 Ships sunk: 8 (41,051 grt) + 2 damaged 1. 27.12.41 Left Kiel for the North Atlantic. U 333 passed between the Faroes and the Shetlands on the 31st. After dark on 2.1.42 the tanker SS Algonquin (am 10800t) was sighted. She avoided the four torpedoes fired at her by U 333. After sighting an aircraft that had responded to a call from the tanker, the boat dived and moved off. ~ She continued westwards in very bad weather and eventually reached her allotted attack area. In the early afternoon of the 18th U 333 sighted and sank the SS Caledonian Monarch (br 5851t) from the scattered convoy SC 63, in a two-torpedo attack in the central North Atlantic, W ofRockall. Four days later U 333 sighted a straggler from westbound ON 53 S of Cape Race, the SS Vassilios A Polemis (gr 3429t), and sank her with one torpedo. Cremer passed over medical supplies, biscuits and cigarettes to survivors in the lifeboats and pointed them towards Halifax. On the 24th U 333 sank the MV Ringstad (nw 4765t) from convoy ONS 55, SE of Cape Race and on the 31st she sank a ship which turned out to be the German blockade-runner Spreewald. At the outbreak of war this vessel was off the US Pacific coast. Posing as a Dutch ship, she made for Yokohama and after arriving there she went on to Darien, in Manchuria. After two years idleness Spreewald sailed for Europe in late 1941 with a cargo of strategic materials, rubber, wolfram and quinine. At a rendezvous at sea with the supply ship Kulmerland she embarked 300 British civilians, crews of ships sunk by the German raider Kormoran. Sailing as the Norwegian ship Elg, the Spreewald was to make for a certain position, where she would be met by U 575 and escorted to a Biscay port. On 31.1.42 U 57 5 waited but the Spreewald was in the wrong position and had not sent the pre-arranged radio signal. In complete ignorance of her identity, Cremer sank Spreewald NNE of the Azores on the 31st. On that day U 105 picked up 24 German seamen and 58 British prisoners. Most of the others on board Spreewald were saved, the result of a massive search by 9 boats, including U 333, which went on until 4.2.42. Donitz ordered that no survivor must know that Spreewald had been sunk by a U-boat. U 333 returned to La Pallice 9.2.42 Cremer was court-martialled, charged with disobedience in action, damage to military property and manslaughter. He was acquitted because, against orders, Spreewald was in the wrong position. 2. 30.3.42 T.Jeft La Pallice for operations in US waters. In the late evening of 2.4.42 U 333 was surprised on the surface by an aircraft, which dropped two depth-charges after the boat dived, causing considerable damage. On the 22nd the boat was refuelled by U 459 500 miles NE of Bermuda. A ship was sighted on the 30th, the tanker MV British Prestige (br 7106t). U 333 shadowed her until dusk before attacking. Two torpedoes missed and as Cremer prepared the third, the ship, which had begun to zig-zag, turned towards the boat and rammed and ran over her. Severe damage was done to U 333's bow, conning tower, bridge and casing. Temporary repairs were carried out in the morning of 1.5.42 and U 333 carried on towards Florida, arriving in her attack area on the 4th. In the morning of the 6th the boat torpedoed three ships off Port Salemo, sinking the SS Amazone (nl 1294t) and the tanker SS Halsey (am 7088t) and damaging the tanker SS Java Arrow (am 8327t), which sank to the bottom but was later salvaged. Later on the 6th U 333 was subjected to depth-charge attacks by the two USN patrol craft PC 450 and PC 451 and the destroyer USS Vigilant. The attacks went on for fifteen hours before the three vessels left to carry out convoy duty. The boat surfaced, only to find the destroyer USS Dallas nearby. She obtained a contact and began depth-charge attacks but inflicted no further damage on the boat. Soon afterwards Dallas left the scene to report for escort duty at Charleston. In the morning of the 10th U 333 torpedoed and sank the SS Clan Skene (br 5214t) E of Savannah. The boat then turned for home and reached La Pallice 26.5.42 3. 11.8.42 After a long p.eriod of repairs, U 333 left for operations in the Central Atlantic. She joined Blucher group, which assembled SE of the Azores from the 13th. Next day, before the seven boats of the group had all arrived, northbound SL 118 was reported to be approaching. Contact was made with the convoy on the 17th and U 566 sank a ship in the early evening. During the action on the 18th U 333 was sighted by a Liberator, forcing her to dive. Two of the SL 118 escorts arrived and the boat came under depth-charge attacks, which went on over a two-day period and caused damage to the boat's propeller shaft. Whilst the two escorts were busy U 214 sank two ships and damaged another during the evening of the 18th. In her damaged state, U 333 was unable to catch up with the convoy and she returned to base, reaching La Pallice 24.8.42 4. 1.9.42 Left for operations in the Central Atlantic. U 333 joined Iltis group, with U 87, U 107, U 214, U 406 and U 590. They assembled W of Lisbon from the 4th. Five days later the boats began to move south in line abreast towards the Cape Verde Islands. Between the 12th and 24th they patrolled an area SW of the Canaries but saw no ships. From the 25th the Iltis boats were refuelled by U 460 off the Cape Verde Islands, after which U 214 and U 406 returned north and the other four boats continued south to the Freetown area. U 333 reached her operational area on 6.10.42. In the evening of that day the corvette HMS Crocus left Freetown to search for U-boats. In the early hours of the 7th she made a radar contact and sighted U 333 soon afterwards. The corvette opened fire and before U 333 could retaliate she was rammed twice. The boat was under continuous fire from the corvette's guns. She submerged and went to the bottom as Crocus continued to drop depth-charges. When U 333 surfaced after dark she was able to move away, unobserved by Crocus. U 333 had three men killed, another missing and Cremer and two officers were wounded. Cremer's injuries were severe and in a makeshift operation the Chief Engineer removed a shell splinter from Cremer's chest. The dead men were buried at sea. On the 7th U 333 rendezvoused with U 107. There was a 'captain under instruction' aboard, KL Lorenz Kasch, and he went on to U 333 to take command for the journey home. On or around the 10th U 333 met U 459 for refuelling. A doctor went aboard and Cremer was properly treated. U 333 now headed for base. The boat came under attack in the Bay of Biscay on the 21st by the submarine HMS Graph (formerly U 570) but all four torpedoes fired were avoided. U 333 returned to La Pallice 23.10.42 S. 20.12.42 U 333, with OL Schwaff in command, left for the North Atlantic. She joined Falke group 500 miles W of Ireland, where it was awaiting an ON convoy. The group was sent against ONS 158 and ON 159 but both were re-routed and avoided the boats. Between January 7th and 15th 1943 Falke group swept west wards, searching for convoys. On the 16th it turned north but saw nothing. Three days later Falke and Habicht groups were formed into two new patrol lines, Haudegen and Landsknecht, the latter made up of those boats with less fuel, which included U 333. Landsknecht, augmented by newly-arrived boats, waited W of Ireland but expected convoys were not found. At the end of January some boats began to return to base. U 333 reached La Pallice S.2.43 6. 2.3.43 Left for the North Atlantic. The outward-bound U 333 was attacked in the late evening of the 4th in the Bay of Biscay by a Leigh Light Wellington of 172 Squadron (F/O GD Lundon). The aircraft was shot down and there were no survivors from the crew. During the attack four depth charges were dropped, two of which hit the boat. One exploded, causing some damage, and the other failed to explode. Lundon had sunk U 268 only two weeks before. On the 11th U 333 was one of several boats directed to westbound convoy HX 228, sighted by U 336 on the lOth.U 333 had no success against the convoy but others did and before the operation ended on the 13th four ships and a destroyer had been sunk and t\'10 ships damaged.