German submarine U-33 (1936)

Type VIIA submarine

Service

Kriegsmarine as U-3325 July 1936 — 12 February 1940164 days of the war

Type VIIA submarine Particulars

Name: U-33
Pennant / hull number: 1936
Builder: Germaniawerft, Kiel
Ordered: 25 March 1935
Laid down: 1 September 1935
Launched: 11 June 1936
Commissioned: 25 July 1936
Fate: Sunk, 12 February 1940 (1940)
Status: Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced: 616 long tons (626 t)
Displacement, submerged: 733 long tons (745 t)
Length: 64.51 m (211.6 ft) OA
Beam: 5.85 m (19.2 ft)
Draught: 4.37 m (14.3 ft)
Speed: 17 knots (31.5 km/h, 19.6 mph)
Range: 6,200 nmi (11,482 km)
Main gun: 88 mm (3.5 in)

U-33 was a Type VIIA submarine, operated by the Kriegsmarine. She carried the pennant number 1936. Her keel was laid at Germaniawerft, Kiel on 1 September 1935. Launched on 11 June 1936, she entered service on 25 July 1936.

Her class ran to 21 ships. The class followed the Type UB III, Vetehinen class and was succeeded by the Type XXI (Late-war replacement).

The boat displaced 616 long tons surfaced and 733 long tons submerged. She measured 64.5 m (212 ft) long with a beam of 5.8 m (19 ft). Her designed speed was 17 knots.

Her main battery was one 88 mm (3.5 in) guns.

She was in commission for 164 days of the Second World War.

She was sunk on 12 February 1940, at 55°25′N 5°07′W. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Propulsion: 2 shafts
2 × diesel engines
2 × electric motors
Power: 2100 - 2310 PS (diesels)
750 PS (electric)
Armament: 5 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern)
11 × torpedoes or 22 TMA mines
1 × 8.8 cm deck gun (220 rounds)
1 × 2 cm AA gun

Sister ships

Sources

Facts harvested from German submarine U-33 (1936) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
Photograph: Unknown author — Self-scanned (historisches Foto vom Flohmarkt) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons