U 533

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U 533
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Type : IX C / 40
Field Post Number : M 50 650
Shipyard: Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg
Construction contract: April 10, 1941
Build number: 351
Keel laying: February 17, 1942
Launch: September 11, 1942
Commissioning: November 25, 1942
Commanders:

November 25, 1942 - October 16, 1943 Lieutenant Captain Helmut Hennig

Calls: 2 activities
Sinkings:

no

Whereabouts: Sunk in the Gulf of Oman on October 16, 1943

U 533 was a German submarine of the type IX C / 40 of the Kriegsmarine , which was used in the Second World War .

history

Construction and commissioning

U 533 was laid on February 17, 1942 at the Deutsche Werft in Hamburg. It was launched on September 11, 1942 and entered service on November 25, 1942. The only commanding officer was Lieutenant Captain Helmut Hennig.

Until April 30, 1943, the boat was part of the 4th U-Flotilla, a training flotilla stationed in Kiel. From May 1, 1943, U 533 was subordinate to the 10th U-Flotilla in Lorient as a front boat . U 533 had the coat of arms of its godfather town Waidhofen an der Ybbs on the tower as the boat coat of arms .

Calls

U 533 undertook two enemy voyages on which no ships were sunk or damaged. The first journey began on April 15, 1943 in Kiel and ended on May 24, 1943 in Lorient.

On July 5, 1943, U 533 left for its second voyage. It was supposed to operate as part of the monsoon group in the Indian Ocean and then call at the Penang base . It had a crew of 53 men on board.

Downfall

The boat was on 16 October 1943 in position 25 ° 28 '  N , 56 ° 50'  O coordinates: 25 ° 28 '0 "  N , 56 ° 50' 0"  O , from a Blenheim surprised bombers of the Royal Air Force and attacked. U 533 tried to dive away, but was hit so badly that it could not be stopped. The I. WO and Private Günther Schmidt, who were in the tower at this time, could still get out through the tower hatch. They drifted to the surface without a diving rescuer , which only the private survived. Günter Schmitt swam to the coast, was captured there by Arab fishermen, then handed over to British soldiers and taken prisoner of war.

The wreck is located in the Gulf of Oman , 25 nautical miles (approx. 40 kilometers) from the Emirate of Fujairah and its coastal town Chaur Fakkan , at a depth of 108 meters and was identified in 2009 by a diving group led by William Leeman.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 , p. 94.
  2. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 , p. 376.
  3. ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 118.
  4. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1999, ISBN 3-8132-0514-2 , p. 156.

literature

  • Downfall before the Orient . In: Spiegel online , December 18, 2009 ( online )
  • Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Maling's German submarines 1939–1945. 4th edition. Koehler, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0826-9 .