List of all U-boats

U-133

Type

VIIC

 
Ordered7 Aug 1939
Laid down21 Aug 1940 Bremer Vulkan-Vegesacker Werft, Bremen-Vegesack (werk 12)
Launched28 Apr 1941
Commissioned5 Jul 1941Oblt. Hermann Hesse
Commanders
5 Jul 1941 - 1 Mar 1942  Kptlt. Hermann Hesse
2 Mar 1942 - 14 Mar 1942  Kptlt. Eberhard Mohr
Career
3 patrols
5 Jul 1941-30 Sep 1941  7. Flottille (training)
1 Oct 1941-31 Dec 1941  7. Flottille (active service)
1 Jan 1942-14 Mar 1942  23. Flottille (active service)
Successes1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,920 tons
Fate

Sunk on 14 March 1942 in the Mediterranean Sea south of Salamis, in position 37.50N, 23.35E, by a German mine. 45 dead (all hands lost).

Loss position

See the 1 ships hit by U-133 - View the 3 war patrols

At 1700hrs on 14 March 1942 U-133 left her base at Salamis, Greece. Only 2 hours later she hit a mine, broke in two and sank immediately with all hands. The commander of the 23rd Flotilla stated after the incident that U-133 had left the mandatory way that led through the German defensive mine barrages.

(Special thanks to Telis Zervoudis for great assistance in clearing this long time uncertain fate.)

Wolfpack operations

U-133 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   Stosstrupp (30 Oct 1941 - 4 Nov 1941)
   Raubritter (5 Nov 1941 - 17 Nov 1941)
   Störtebecker (17 Nov 1941 - 22 Nov 1941)

Attacks on this boat and other events

17 Jan 1942
Depth charging by the British destroyer HMS Maori (Cdr R.E. Courage, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN) caused minor damage.

U-133 had just torpedoed and sunk the British destroyer HMS Gurkha (Cdr. C.N. Lentaigne, DSO, RN) escorting convoy MW 8B.

1 recorded attack on this boat.

General notes on this boat

Myth involving this boat
There is a great U-boat myth that involves this boat. According to an article from 1996 her last mission was to travel up the Colorado River from Baja California and destroy the Hoover Dam. The article is from the USS Shaw's newsletter. The article states that U-133, piloted by Captain Peter Pfau along with 54 sailors made it to as far as Laughlin, Nevada before sandbars made them abort their mission and scuttle the sub.

This is only a cute story, she never would have made it that far (see map showing its approximate path from St. Nazaire, a suitable base, to the target) as its fuel supply would never have allowed this (not even close, the type VIIC could make it to the US east coast by filling up part of its water tanks with fuel but even then it was stretching it). There was also no U-boat commander named Pfau. Had such an unsual and daring raid been attempted during the war, people would talk and we would know about it by now.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-133 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.

U-boat Emblems

We have 1 emblem entry for this boat. See the emblem page for this boat or view emblems individually below.


Animal with Stick

Media links


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


German U-Boat Losses During World War II

Niestle, Axel


U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 1

Wynn, Kenneth


Hitler's U-boat War

Blair, Clay




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