German submarine U-2331

History
Name	Unterseeboot U-2331
Builder	Deutsche Werft, Hamburg
Laid down	30 June 1944
Launched	22 August 1944
Commissioned	12 September 1944
Fate	Sunk, 10 October 1944
Class and type	Type XXIII submarine
Service record
Part of:	Kriegsmarine: 32. Unterseebootsflottille
Commanders:	Oblt. Hans-Walter Pahl (Sep–Oct 1944)
Operations:	None
Victories:	None

Unterseeboot 2331 (usually abbreviated to U-2331) was a German Type XXIII submarine built during World War II intended for service against allied shipping in coastal waters. She was a brand new, high technology electric U-boat which was lost when only one month old in a bizarre training accident in the Baltic Sea. Built at Hamburg, she was constructed at speed, as she and her sisters were seen as war winning weapons and thus vitally important to the German war effort.

Completed in September 1944, U-2331 was under going a fast-track working-up period in the Baltic under her commander Oblt. Hans-Walter Pahl under the observation of Klaus Vernier, a highly experienced U-boat commander and tactical expert. On 10 October, just 28 days after her completion, U-2331 dived and failed to surface in the sea off Hela. Four of the reduced crew (including the captain), escaped the sinking ship but 15 did not, including Vernier.

The Kriegsmarine conducted an investigation into the loss, at which it was revealed that either the captain or Vernier had ordered the submarine to submerge whilst travelling in reverse, thus unbalancing the boat and causing it to sink uncontrollably. A handful of men on the conning tower thus survived as the boat sank under them. The wreck was raised and taken to Gotenhafen, but the time submerged had irreparably damaged the boat's systems, and the remains were scrapped.

References

• Sharpe, Peter, U-Boat Fact File, Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
• U-boat.net webpage for U-2331

See also

• List of U-boats