| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-331 |
| Ordered: | 23 September 1939 |
| Builder: | Nordseewerke, Emden |
| Yard number: | 203 |
| Laid down: | 26 January 1940 |
| Launched: | 20 December 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 31 March 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 17 November 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type VIIC submarine |
| Displacement: | 769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Draft: | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke M6V 40/46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × electric motors, totalling 750 shp (560 kW) and max rpm: 296. |
| Speed: | 17.7 knots (20.4 mph; 32.8 km/h) surfaced 7.6 knots (8.7 mph; 14.1 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 15,170 km (8,190 nmi) at 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced 150 km (81 nmi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft) |
| Complement: | 44–52 officers & ratings |
| Armament: | • 4 × 533 mm (21 in) bow torpedo tubes • 14 × G7e torpedoes or 26 TMA mines • 1 × C35 88mm gun/L45 deck gun (220 rounds) • Various AA guns |
| Service record[1][2] | |
| Part of: | 1st U-boat Flotilla (31 March–14 October 1941) 23rd U-boat Flotilla (15 October 1941–14 April 1942) 29th U-boat Flotilla (15 April–17 November 1942) |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen (31 March 1941–17 November 1942) |
| Operations: | 1st patrol: 2 July–19 August 1941 2nd patrol: 24 September–11 October 1941 3rd patrol: 12 November–3 December 1941 4th patrol: 14 January–28 February 1942 5th patrol: 4–19 April 1942 6th patrol: 9–21 May 1942 7th patrol: 25 May–15 June 1942 8th patrol: 5–10 August 1942 9th patrol: 12 August–19 September 1942 10th patrol: 7–17 November 1942 |
| Victories: | 1 auxiliary warship sunk (9,135 GRT) 1 warship sunk (31,100 GRT) 1 warship damaged (372 GRT) |
German submarine U-331 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II.
The submarine was laid down on 26 January 1940 at the Nordseewerke yard at Emden, launched on 20 December 1940, and commissioned on 31 March 1941 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Freiherr Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen.
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U-331's first patrol took her from Kiel on 2 July 1941, out into the mid-Atlantic, before arriving at Lorient, France on 19 August.[3]
She sailed from Lorient on 24 September and headed into the Mediterranean Sea. There on 10 October she engaged three British tank landing craft off Sidi Barrani, Egypt. After missing with a torpedo, she engaged with her deck gun, slightly damaging HMS TLC-18 (A 18), before breaking off the attack after being hit by 40 mm shells, which wounded two men (one fatally) and damaged the conning tower. She arrived at Salamis, Greece, the next day, 11 October.[4]
Sailing from Salamis on 12 November 1941, U-331 returned to the Egyptian coast. On 17 November she landed seven men of the Lehrregiment Brandenburg[5] east of Ras Gibeisa, on a mission to blow up a railway line near the coast, which failed.[6] On 25 November 1941, north of Sidi Barrani, U-331 fired three torpedoes into the British Queen Elizabeth-class battleship HMS Barham. As the ship rolled over, her magazines exploded and she quickly sank[7] with the loss of 861 men, while 395 were rescued.[8] U-331 returned to Salamis on 3 December, where her commander von Tiesenhausen was subsequently promoted to Kapitänleutnant and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.[9]
U-331 left Salamis on 14 January 1942 for another patrol off the Egyptian coast, this time with no success, she then sailed for La Spezia, Italy, arriving on 28 February.[10]
Her next patrol was the reverse of the previous one, she left La Spezia on 4 April, patrolled the enemy coast, then returned to Salamis on 19 April.[11]
Her next four patrols were similarly uneventful, operating from Messina, Sicily, and then La Spezia again, from May to September 1942, patrolling the North African coast without success.
U-331 departed La Spezia on her final voyage on 7 November 1942 to attack the massed ships of "Operation Torch".[12] Two days later, on 9 November, U-331 sighted the American 8,600 ton troopship USS Leedstown (AP-73) off Algiers. The Leedstown had landed troops on the night of 7/8 November, and the next day has been hit by an aerial torpedo from a Ju 88 torpedo bomber of III./KG 26 destroying her steering gear and flooding the after section. U-331 fired a spread of four torpedoes at the ship hitting her with two. Leedstown settled by the bow with a heavy starboard list, and was abandoned, finally sinking two hours later.[13]
On 13 November U-331 was attacked by an escort ship and was slightly damaged when she dove too deep and hit the sea bed.[12]
U-331 was sunk on 17 November, north of Algiers in position .[1] She had been badly damaged after being attacked by a Lockheed Hudson bomber of No. 500 Squadron RAF, with the forward hatch jammed open, preventing the submarine from diving, and she signalled surrender to the Hudson.[14] The destroyer HMS Wilton was ordered to seize the submarine, but an airstrike of three Fairey Albacore torpedo-bombers from 820 Naval Air Squadron escorted by two Grumman Wildcat fighters of 893 Naval Air Squadron was launched from the British aircraft carrier HMS Formidable against the damaged submarine.[14] Unaware of any surrender signals, the Wilcats strafed U-331 which was then sunk by a torpedo dropped from one of the Albacores.[15] Of her crew 32 were killed and 17 survived including her commander.[16]
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