Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 29)

Successes
10 ships sunk, total tonnage 19,261 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 3,670 GRT

Born	27 Jan 1908		Halle an der Saale
Died	12 Feb 1940	(32)	Firth of Clyde

Ranks

1 Apr 1929	Offiziersanwärter
1 Jan 1931	Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1933	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1933	Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1935	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Aug 1938	Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

30 Sep 1939	Iron Cross 2nd Class
27 Nov 1939	U-boat War Badge 1939
1939	Iron Cross 1st Class

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-4	30 Sep 1937	28 Oct 1938	No war patrols
U-33	29 Oct 1938	12 Feb 1940 (+)	3 patrols (78 days)

Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky joined the Kriegsmarine in 29. He served as a Watch officer (WO) on the U-20 from Feb 1936 to Sept 1937 when he took command of the small "duck" U-4 on 30 Sept 1937.

von Dresky left the U-4 on 28 Oct 1938 and the following day took command of the larger Type VIIA boat U-33. On his first 2 patrols he sank 10 small ships (19,261 tons) and destroyed another one for 3,670 tons.

For his third patrol he was sent to the Firth of Clyde lay 8 TMC mines at the British Naval base there - a highly dangerous task. When he nosed his boat into the Firth she was detected by the British minesweeper HMS Gleaner but Desky mistook her for a cruiser and thought she would pass him and head for open waters. He thus laid his boat on the bottom at 183 feet. Gleaner dropped 6 depth charges onto the boat, surprising the Germans, and caused severe leaks, followed by 5 more charges further damaging the boat. Dresky, believing the attacker to be a destroyer, ordered the boat to surface and then scuttle, distributing the Engima wheels to some of his men to throw into the sea away from the boat. As the waters were freezing only 17 men survived the sinking, 25 died of exposure, shock and hypothermia, including Commander von Dresky (Blair, 1996).

Sources

Blair, C. (1996). Hitler’s U-boat War. The Hunters, 1939-1942.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-33	19 Aug 1939	Wilhelmshaven	28 Sep 1939	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 1,	41 days
2.	U-33	29 Oct 1939	Wilhelmshaven	26 Nov 1939	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 2,	29 days
3.	U-33	5 Feb 1940	Wilhelmshaven	12 Feb 1940	Sunk	Patrol 3,	8 days
3 patrols, 78 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons
7 Sep 1939	U-33	Olivegrove	4,060	br
16 Sep 1939	U-33	Arkleside	1,567	br
24 Sep 1939	U-33	Caldew	287	br
20 Nov 1939	U-33	Thomas Hankins	276	br
20 Nov 1939	U-33	Delphine	250	br
20 Nov 1939	U-33	Sea Sweeper	329	br
21 Nov 1939	U-33	Sulby	287	br
21 Nov 1939	U-33	William Humphries	276	br
23 Nov 1939	U-33	Borkum (t.)	3,670	dt
25 Dec 1939	U-33	Stanholme [Mine]	2,473	br

16 Jan 1940	U-33	Inverdargle [Mine]	9,456	br
			22,931
11 ships sunk (22,931 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost). [Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine laid by said U-boat.