- German submarine U-33 (1936)
Unterseeboot 33 (also known as U-33) was a Type VIIA
U-boat of theKriegsmarine .Her keel was laid down
September 1 1935 byGermaniawerft ,Kiel . She was launched onJune 11 1936 and commissioned onJuly 25 1936 withOttoheinrich Junker in command. OnNovember 22 1936 Junker was relieved byKurt Freiwald , and onOctober 29 1938 Kapitänleutnant Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky took over and commanded the boat until her loss.From the survivors, rotors from the Kriegsmarine's
Enigma machine were captured, the wirings of which were at that time unknown to British codebreakers atBletchley Park .Career
In just 3 patrols, "U-33" sank 10 ships for a total of GRT|19,261|metric.
* OnNovember 20 ,1939 she sank 3 British steam trawlers nearTory Island with about five rounds from the deck gun : At 10:30 am, theSS Thomas Hankins 14 miles northwest ofTory , at 4:00 pm theSS Delphine 18 miles north-northeast of Tory and at 5:05 pm theSS Sea Sweeper 25 miles west-northwest of Tory. The crew of "Thomas Hankins" under Master M. Hankins was rescued by another trawler 10 hours later in a lifeboat and landed inNorthern Ireland . They reported that they had been shelled without warning. The second shell went through the bows and the fifth through the boiler, causing the trawler to sink in about 25 minutes.Fate
In February
1940 , then captained by Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky, the "U-33" had been ordered to lay mines in theFirth of Clyde ,Scotland . However, MinesweeperHMS Gleaner [ [http://www.halcyon-class.co.uk/gleaner/gleaner_1940.htm HMS Gleaner 1940 Halcyon Class Minesweeper ] ] , captained by Lt.-Commander Hugh Price, detected the U-boat onFebruary 12 , 1940 and droppeddepth charge s over a period of several hours. Eventually, the damaged "U-33" was forced to surface and the crew abandoned the ship, which sank soon after. 25 men died while 17 survived. Before the ship was abandoned, the U-boat's secret Enigma rotors were distributed amongst a few of the crew, who were instructed to release them into the sea to avoid capture. This was not done, however, and as a result the British captured three rotors, including two rotors (VI and VII) used only by the Kriegsmarine for which the wiring was then unknown.ee also
*
List of shipwrecks in 1940 References
* David Kahn, "Seizing the Enigma", 1991, pp. 104-112.
* Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, "Enigma: The Battle for the Code", 2000, pp. 67-77, ISBN 0-7538-1130-8External links
* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u33.htm uboat.net webpage for "U-33"]
* [http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/boat.cgi?boat=33 ubootwaffe.net webpage about "U-33"]
* [http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/dieboote/u0033.html u-boot-archiv.de webpage for "U-33"]
* [http://www.m.a.christie.btinternet.co.uk/uboata.htm webpage about the sinking of "U-33"]
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