German submarine U-331

German submarine U-331 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

The submarine was laid down on 26 January 1940 at the Nordseewerke yard at Emden, launched on 20 December 1940, and commissioned on 31 March 1941 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Freiherr Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen. She would ultimately be tracked by the RAF and crippled before being destroyed by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm in late 1942 with the loss of most of her crew.

1st patrol
U-331's first patrol took her from Kiel in Germany on 2 July 1941, out into the mid-Atlantic, before arriving at Lorient in France on 19 August.

2nd patrol
She sailed from Lorient on 24 September and headed into the Mediterranean Sea. There on 10 October she engaged three British tank landing craft off Sidi Barrani, Egypt. After missing with a torpedo, she engaged with her deck gun, slightly damaging HMS TLC-18 (A 18), before breaking off the attack after being hit by 40 mm shells, which wounded two men (one fatally) and damaged the conning tower. She arrived at Salamis, Greece, the next day, 11 October.

3rd patrol
Sailing from Salamis on 12 November 1941, U-331 returned to the Egyptian coast. On 17 November she landed seven men of the Lehrregiment Brandenburg east of Ras Gibeisa, on a mission to blow up a railway line near the coast, which failed. On 25 November 1941, north of Sidi Barrani, U-331 fired three torpedoes into the British HMS Barham (04). As the ship rolled over, her magazines exploded and she quickly sank with the loss of 861 men, while 395 were rescued. U-331 returned to Salamis on 3 December, where her commander, Freiherr Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen, was subsequently promoted to Kapitänleutnant and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

4th and 5th patrol
U-331 left Salamis on 14 January 1942 for another patrol off the Egyptian coast, this time with no success, she then sailed for La Spezia, Italy, arriving on 28 February.

Her next patrol was the reverse of the previous one, she left La Spezia on 4 April, patrolled the enemy coast, then returned to Salamis on 19 April.

6th to 9th patrol
Her next four patrols were similarly uneventful, operating from Messina, Sicily, and then La Spezia again, from May to September 1942, patrolling the North African coast without success.

10th patrol
U-331 departed La Spezia on her final voyage on 7 November 1942 to attack the massed ships of "Operation Torch". Two days later, on 9 November, U-331 sighted the American 8,600 ton troopship USS Leedstown (AP-73) off Algiers. The Leedstown had landed troops on the night of 7/8 November, and the next day had been hit by an aerial torpedo from a Ju 88 torpedo bomber of III./KG 26 destroying her steering gear and flooding the after section. U-331 fired a spread of four torpedoes at the ship hitting her with two. Leedstown settled by the bow with a heavy starboard list, and was abandoned, finally sinking two hours later.

On 13 November U-331 was attacked by an escort ship and was slightly damaged when she dove too deep and hit the sea bed.

Sinking
U-331 was sunk on 17 November, north of Algiers in position 37.08333°N, 2.45°W. She had been badly damaged after being attacked by a Lockheed Hudson bomber of No. 500 Squadron RAF, with the forward hatch jammed open, preventing the submarine from diving, and she signalled surrender to the Hudson. The destroyer HMS Wilton (L128) was ordered to seize the submarine, but an airstrike by three Fairey Albacore torpedo-bombers from 820 Naval Air Squadron escorted by two Grumman Martlet fighters of 893 Naval Air Squadron was launched from the British aircraft carrier HMS Formidable (67) against the damaged submarine. Unaware of any surrender signals, the Martlet strafed U-331 which was then sunk by a torpedo dropped from one of the Albacores. Of her crew 32 were killed and 17 survived, including her commander.