SM UB 33

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German EmpireGerman Empire (Reichskriegsflagge)
SM UB 33
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Type:

UB II

Shipyard:

Blohm & Voss , Hamburg

Construction contract:

July 22, 1915

Launch:

4th December 1915

Commissioning:

April 22, 1916

Commanders:
  • April 22, 1916 - December 2, 1916:
    Oblt.zS Herbert Lefholz
  • February 1, 1917 - March 21, 1917:
    Oblt.zS Waldemar von Fischer
  • March 22, 1917 - September 16, 1917:
    Oblt.zS Karl Ruprecht
  • September 17, 1917 - April 11, 1918:
    Oblt.zS Fritz Gregor
Flotilla:
  • June 22, 1916 - October 24, 1917 Underground Flotilla Courland
  • October 24, 1917 - April 11, 1918 Submarine Flotilla Flanders
Calls:

17 patrols

Sinkings:

13 ships total tonnage 5,357 GRT

Whereabouts: Hit by a mine ( 50 ° 56 ′  N , 1 ° 17 ′  E ) on April 11, 1918 (28 dead).

SM UB 33 was a German submarine of the Imperial Navy , which it used during the First World War . The prefix SM stands for His Majesty .

Calls

UB 33 was commissioned from Blohm & Voss in Hamburg on July 22, 1915 . The boat was launched on December 4, 1915 from the pile and was on 22 April 1916 under the command of Lieutenant asked Herbert Lefholz into service.

UB 33 was in service from June 22, 1916 to October 24, 1917 with the U- Flotilla Courland and from October 24, 1917 to April 11, 1918 with the U-Flotilla Flanders .

In the course of 17 patrols, the boat was able to sink a total of 13 ships (5,357  GRT ), damage 2 ships (6,513 GRT) and raise 3 ships (1,527 GRT) as prizes .

Whereabouts

On April 11, 1918, UB 33 was on its march back to Zeebrugge when it came across a mine at the Dover Barrier while diving away from British patrol vehicles . A detonation was observed by the British fishing trawler Ocean Roamer southwest of the Varne sandbank at around 6 p.m. and parts of the wreckage and an oil slick were subsequently seen. There were no survivors.

On May 21, 1918 divers found the wreck of UB 33 on the position 50 ° 56 '  N , 1 ° 17'  O . In the tower hatch was the body of the commander, Lieutenant Gregor, who had apparently tried to leave the submarine at the last moment. He was buried on land. In the submarine, the divers found a watertight steel box with secret documents from the German submarines.

Due to its location at a shallow depth in a busy zone of the English Channel and the six torpedoes still on board  - two of them in the forward torpedo tubes - the wreck of UB 33 poses a significant threat to shipping.

literature

  • Harald Bendert: The submarines of the Imperial Navy 1914–1918. Mittler & Sohn Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-8132-0713-7 .
  • Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .

Web links

See also