Since 11-25-05
U-233 - Part 1
Since 11-25-05
Taken from Sharkhunters International KTB #188
U-233
- Part 2
(new
12-25-05)
Type: X-B
Built by: Germania Werft (Kiel)
Launched: 8 May, 1943
Commissioned: 22 September 1943
Feldpost Nr.: M59276
Sunk: 5 July 1944
Sunk by: USS BAKER (DE 190)
USS THOMAS (DE 102)
Location sunk: SE of Halifax
Position sunk: 42.16N x 59.49W
(32 men lost)
The only Skipper of U-233 was Kapitänleutnant Hans Steen, born 28 September 1907.
According to German records, he was one of the casualties, and he died with his boat. U-233 was attached to the 4th U-Bootflottille for her working up (sea trials) cruises until May of 1944, when she transferred to the 12th U-Bootflottille based at Bordeaux as a frontboot (combat boat).
Most of the big boats, such as the Type IX-D2; the Type X-B and also the big Italian boats, were based at Bordeaux.
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U-233 was on her first Feindfahrt (war patrol) when she was lost with 31 or 32 men lost; 29 or 30 captured - a discrepancy exists in various reports. U-233 was a mine-laying boat, and she was to lay mines at Halifax, but was spotted on 2 July by planes from USS CARD. The USN task group continued to look for U-233 until they found her again on 5 July and sank her.
U-233 sank no ships nor made any attacks during her short life.
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Here is a report from the now-declassified log of USS SUTTON (DE-102) concerning the incident.
Subject: Action report of Sinking of German Submarine (U-233) on 5 July 1944.
TIME: All times mentioned herein are zone plus 1 hr & 20 min
At 1910 on 5 July 1944, Task Group on base course 066 degrees, speed 12 knots, zigzagging in accordance with plan 12, zigzag Diagram 1940. THOMAS, BOSTWICK and BREEMAN stationed as inner screen about the CARD. BRONSTEIN and BAKER were stationed 090 and 270 relative, respectively, from CARD, distance about 20,000 yards. Sound conditions were sonar medium 40/11C.
* 1910 hours - intercepted TBS transmission from BAKER to C.T.G. 22.10. BAKER had sound contact dead ahead, range 1,500.
* 1913 hours - C.T.G. 22.10 requested ComCortDiv 48 to designate vessel to assist BAKER, and suggested THOMAS. ComCortDiv 48 directed THOMAS to assist BAKER. Set course 330 degrees true, speed 18 knots. Set all depth charges on medium.
* 1916 hours - Increased speed to 20.5 knots. BAKER bearing 328 degrees true, distance 24,000 yards. Lat. 42.40’N; Long 58.50’W. BAKER reported on the TBS that she had received strong hydrophone effects and had fired full pattern of depth charges on initial contact.
* 1918 hours - Prepared Mark 10 projector for firing. Streamed FOXAR gear. BAKER reported she had regained contact and fired second full pattern of depth charges.
NOTE - FOXAR was a group of metal tubes that were trailed astern of an escort ship to make a lot of noise & thereby attract acoustic torpedoes away from the ship.
* 1927 hours - Submarine bow broke water at a sharp angle, bearing 322º true, range 12,000 yards. BAKER immediately opened fire on sub. Submarine now fully surfaced and steadied on course 200º true. Speed 6 knots. THOMAS changed course to 310º true to intercept. Observed several hits by THOMAS, resulting in smoke and flame in vicinity of conning tower.
* 1935 hours - Opened fire with forward 3”/50 gun number two. Initial range 8,000 yards.
* Ceased firing at request of BAKER who was closing sub. Submarine obscured by smoke. THOMAS and BAKER both thought it sinking.
* 1936.5 hours - Smoke cleared and sub seen to have changed course to left, to approximately 130º true, making high speed and using her diesels. BAKER closed target and straddled it with depth charges set on shallow setting, thrown from side throwers.
* 1940 hours - Changed course to 010º true, and decided to ram. Set all depth charges on safe, and housed Sonar gear. Observed automatic weapons flashes from after part of sub’s conning tower and splashes well clear on our port bow.
* 1943 hours - Changed course to 025 degrees true.
* Opened fire with forward 3”/50 guns one and two, using SL radar ranges and visual bearings. Initial range 4,500 yards. All four forward 20mm’s opened fire at 1,800 yards range. Using rapid fire, total ammunition expended until guns had to cease firing when they would no longer bear, was 29 rounds of 3”/50 cal armor piercing, and 640 rounds of 20mm, mixed HET and HEI at ratio of two to one. Estimated percentages of hits 20% from the 3”/50 and 65% from the 20mm.
(NOTE - HET meant High Explosive - Tracer; and HEI means High Explosive - Incendiary.)
* 1945 hours - Slowed to 15 knots.
* 1945 hours - Backed emergency full.
* 1946.5 hours - Rammed sub’s starboard side approx. 20 to 30 feet abaft the conning tower. Sub rolled approx. 70º to port. Some men observed to scramble out of hatches and jump overboard.
* 1947 hours - Stopped all engines. The sub’s bow observed to rise high out of the water, then sinking stern first beneath the THOMAS at angle of about 60º. Sub’s speed at time of ramming estimated to be 12 knots. THOMAS and BAKER assisted by BREEMAN who had arrived on scene, lay to picking up survivors from water. BREEMAN recovered three survivors and transferred them to THOMAS. Total prisoners on board THOMAS including BREEMAN’s was 20 men - three commissioned officers including the Captain, four Petty of Warrant Officers & thirteen enlisted men
NOTE - this is an interesting report, as German records list the Captain as having died on that date.
ANALYSIS AND COMMENT
1. Commanding Officer of the USS BAKER, LCDR Norman C. Hoffman, U.S.N.R. deserves great credit for the accurate manner in which he delivered the two depth charge attacks which forced the submarine to surface, and for the effective manner in which he took the sub under fire after she surfaced.
2. The able assistance and advice of CDR George A. Parkinson, U.S.N.C., ComCortDiv 48, contributed in no small way to the final kill of the U-Boat.
3. From all appearances, the submarine was of the 740 ton class. She was all black with no identifying numerals or insignia. Their armament appeared to consist of one 3 or 4 inch gun on the main deck abaft the conning tower and three mounts of automatic weapons, located on the step or bandstand at the after end of conning tower. Of these 3 mounts, the one on the center line appeared to be a heavier caliber. These guns appeared to be twin mounts. If the motion pictures taken of the action and ramming by THOMAS turn out well, these details will stand out clearly.
NOTE - This boat was a Type X-B, one of the very big mine-laying submarines of 1,763 tons surfaces and 2,177 tons submerged; a far cry from a 740 ton class boat, which would refer to a Type VII-C. It is also not correct that U-233 had no markings - she had a white shield painted on the conning tower with the old chimney sweep of Hamburg carrying his ladder in the shield. As to the armament, while the X-B boats did carry a 4.1 inch gun, it was mounted on the foredeck, not abaft the conning tower. The report on the automatic gun on the centerline being a heavier caliber is correct, as that would be the 3.7cm while the other mounts were 2.0cm guns. I guess this shows how things can be distorted in the heat of battle.
4. As THOMAS approached close aboard to ram, it was observed that the conning tower was smashed, twisted and holed by many shells. The grating forward of the conning tower was smashed in such a way as to indicate that one 3” shell had hit there also.
5. Other than a large diesel oil slick & the survivors in the water, no other evidence remained on the surface after the submarine sank
6. Just prior to the ramming, a man was observed to train one of the guns on THOMAS’ bridge. The impact of collision threw this man over the port side or down the conning tower hatch.
7. It was considered not practical for THOMAS during approach to alter course sufficiently to bring her entire battery to bear on target, and still continue to approach in a manner which would permit expeditious ramming.
8. Gun one was able to get off but four shells due to the flare in the ship’s bow blanking off the range.
9. The only material failure during the action, other than that incurred by the ramming, was that #2 gun momentarily jammed in train during firing. This vessel has had similar trouble with this gun before, and during the last availability at Navy Yard, New York, the Yard was requested to lift it and correct the trouble, which they refused to do, claiming it was not necessary.
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ANNEX “A” of the Log of USS THOMAS (DE-102)
1. The following named prisoners of war, including the three transferred from the U.S.S. BREEMAN (DE104), were picked up by this vessel.
1. Kapitänleutnant Hans STEEN
2. Leutnant (Navigator) Albert BETZIN, 25
3. Leutnant zur See Karl GARTNER, 23
4. Kurt SIMON, 23, Unteroffizier
5. Reuter FRITZ, 20, Obergefreiter
6. Heinrich HUBEL, Stabsbootmann
7. Walter WICKUM, 19, Gefreiter
8. S. Rock, 22, Masch. Mt.
9. Walther SOMMER, 20, Gefreiter
10. Oberfähnrich zur See Merich LENAR, 20
11. H. HEINBERG, 21, Obergefreiter
12. G. REISE, 22, Gefreiter
13. Karl REISNER, 24, Bootsmaat
14. Karl TERP, 23, Masch Ober Mt.
15. Christian INIZNEBURGNER, 21, Obergefreiter
16. Ernst HANSELE, 19, Obergefreiter
17. Hermann SCHNEIDER 19, MaschGefreiter
18. Werner GORBING, 24, Unteroffizier
19. Günter MUDYA, 21, Obergefreiter
20. Ludwig ENGELMANN, 24, Funkmaat
2. As the men were brought on board, they were immediately segregated into three groups - Officers, Petty Officers and Enlisted Men, each man being searched, stripped, placed under a hot shower, and issued a complete kit of survivors clothing. At no time were the men allowed to converse among themselves.
All prisoners were given hot soup, coffee, cigarettes and alcoholic stimulative where necessary. Only two survivors appeared to be injured. The Captain, a stretcher case, appeared to be the most serious, having bad lacerations and shrapnel wounds in the legs. The other injured man was a Petty Officer and had a badly injured hand. Both men were given prompt medical attention and treated by the Division Medical Officer who was on board.
The Captain, while under the influence of morphine, volunteered in English his name as listed above (which checked with his dog tag) and that the sub’s number was 233, and that he had 69 men in his crew.
The Captain further stated that he had been to Boston, Charleston and Halifax before Pearl Harbor, and had lived in Boston for three years, 1933-34-35. He said that he had a friend in Boston whose name was Emil Bremen. He said that he was Captain of this submarine for five years.
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NOTE - Either the Skipper was delirious or was deliberately giving false information, since U-233 was just over one year old from launching to destruction.
One of the Petty Officers (one with the injured hand) stated he had a brother who was in the German Infantry but he was now in a prison camp in (Neymour??) Oklahoma. He said his home was in Königsberg, Germany and that his wife was there until the Americans bombed it and that he no longer had a home.
3. One of the enlisted prisoners who spoke English volunteered the information to a THOMAS crewmember, that he had been on the submarine for three and a half years and that she was on her 5th war cruise.
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It appears there was a lot of dis-information going on; as U-233 was on her 1st war patrol when she was sunk.
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4. Lieut. Gartner spoke English very fluently but did not disclose any information. He appeared to be extremely security conscious.
5. In searching the prisoners as they came on board, two coding wheels, apparently from an electric coding machine, were found on the person of an enlisted man, believed to be Ludwig Engelmann.
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NOTE - Since Engelmann was the Funkmaat (Petty Officer radioman) and had responsibility for coding and decoding messages on the ENIGMA machine, it would be logical that he would have the rotors. He was supposed to drop them into the sea once he left the submarine, but apparently forgot to do this.
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6. After all survivors who could be found were rescued; this vessel was directed alongside the CARD whereupon all prisoners and their personal gear were transferred by breeches buoy.
7. The Coding Wheels were transferred directly to the CARD’s Executive Officer. Personal effects and miscellaneous notes, diaries, etc. taken from the prisoners were also transferred to the CARD. The men’s clothing and several notes and the escape lungs remained on board the THOMAS and will be transferred to the CARD or Naval Intelligence on arrival in port.
8. As mentioned in basic letter, moving pictures of the action were taken and sent to the CARD for development as well as stills of prisoners as they came on board.
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As we said at the outset of this section, the history of U-233 will be a long one and will require several issues of our KTB Magazine. We will continue this history in KTB #189 next month but this issue will be dedicated in large part to the reports of our two “Patrols” in Europe. There will be plenty of U-233 for the next couple issues. Remember – this was not a Type XI that sank in Casco Bay, Maine as reported by one ‘opportunist’.