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</script> </div> <div align="center"> <h3><a href="/boats/">List of all U-boats</a></h3><h1>U-133</h1> </div> <div align="center"> <table class="table_subtle width650"><tr> <td class="width100"><h3>Type</h3></td><td class="width95" align="center" class="seperator"><h3><a href="/types/viic.htm" class="header">VIIC</a></h3></td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Ordered</td><td class="seperator">7 Aug 1939</td><td><br/></td></tr> <tr><td>Laid down</td><td class="seperator">21 Aug 1940</td> <td class="seperator"><a href="/technical/shipyards/vegesack.htm">Bremer Vulkan-Vegesacker Werft, Bremen-Vegesack</a> (werk 12)</td></tr> <tr><td>Launched</td><td class="seperator">28 Apr 1941</td><td><br/></td></tr> <tr><td>Commissioned</td><td class="seperator">5 Jul 1941</td><td class="seperator">Oblt. Hermann Hesse</td></tr> <tr><td>Commanders</td> <td colspan="2" class="seperator"><table class="table-clean"><tr><td class="width85 right">5 Jul 1941</td><td> - </td><td class="width90 right">1 Mar 1942</td><td>  </td><td>Kptlt. <a href="/men/commanders/474.html"> Hermann Hesse</a></td></tr><tr><td class="width85 right">2 Mar 1942</td><td> - </td><td class="width90 right">14 Mar 1942</td><td>  </td><td>Kptlt. <a href="/men/commanders/834.html"> Eberhard Mohr</a></td></tr></table></td></tr> <tr><td>Career<br><a href="/boats/patrols/u133.html">3 patrols</a></td><td colspan="2" class="seperator"><table class="table-clean"><tr><td class="right">5 Jul 1941</td><td>-</td><td class="right">30 Sep 1941</td><td>  <a href="/flotillas/7flo.htm">7. Flottille</a> (training)<br></td></tr><tr><td class="right">1 Oct 1941</td><td>-</td><td class="right">31 Dec 1941</td><td>  <a href="/flotillas/7flo.htm">7. Flottille</a> (active service)<br></td></tr><tr><td class="right">1 Jan 1942</td><td>-</td><td class="right">14 Mar 1942</td><td>  <a href="/flotillas/23flo.htm">23. Flottille</a> (active service)<br></td></tr></table></td></tr> <tr><td>Successes</td><td colspan="2" class="seperator">1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,920 tons</td></tr> <tr><td class="width100">Fate</td> <td colspan="2" class="width400 seperator"> <p>Sunk on 14 March 1942 in the <a href="/maps/mediterranean.htm">Mediterranean Sea</a> south of Salamis, in position 37.50N, 23.35E, by a German mine. 45 dead (all hands lost).</p> </td></tr> <tr><td>Loss position</td> <td colspan="3"> <style media="screen" type="text/css"> #mapFate {width:510px; height: 270px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px;} </style> <div id="mapFate" align="center"></div> <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"> var mymap = L.map('mapFate').setView([38.5, 23.35], 4) L.tileLayer('/map-tiles/{z}/{x}/{y}.png', { attribution: 'map 漏 OpenStreetMap contributors | ship info by uboat.net', maxZoom: 10, }).addTo(mymap); var iconFate = L.icon({ iconUrl: '/media/maps/googlemarkers/orange_Marker.png', iconSize: [20, 34], iconAnchor: [10, 34], }); var marker = L.marker([37.83, 23.58], {icon: iconFate}).addTo(mymap).bindPopup('<strong>U-133</strong>. Sunk on 14 March 1942 in the <a href=\"/maps/mediterranean.htm\">Mediterranean Sea</a> south of Salamis, in position 37.50N, 23.35E, by a German mine.'); </script> </td> </tr> </table>  <p class="np"><a href="/boats/successes/u133.html">See the 1 ships hit by U-133</a> - <a href="/boats/patrols/u133.html">View the 3 war patrols</a><br></p> </div> <p>At 1700 hours on 14 March 1942 <a href="/boats/u133.htm">U-133</a> left her base at Salamis, Greece. Only about two hours later she hit a mine, broke in two and sank immediately with all hands. The commander of the <a href="/flotillas/23flo.htm">23rd Flotilla</a> stated after the incident that <a href="/boats/u133.htm">U-133</a> had left the mandatory way that led through the German defensive mine barrages. <p>The wreck was discovered on 20 January at a depth of 78 meters by Greek diver Kostas Thoctarides which had already discovered the wreck of the British submarine <i><a href=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3401.html>HMS Perseus</a></i> off the west coast of Greece on 26 December 1997. Since then he discovered more submarine wrecks in the Aegean which had been missing without a trace such as <i><a href=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3488.html>HMS Triumph</a></i> (found on 26 May 2023 and it's discovery was announced on 7 June 2023) and <i><a href=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3503.html>HMS Trooper</a></i> (found on 2 June 2024 and it's discovery was announced on 6 October 2024). He also found the wrecks of the Greek submarine <i><a href=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/9902.html>RHS Katonis</a></i> (found on 28 April 2018), Italian submarine <i><a href=https://uboat.net/italian_submarines/boats/71>Jantina</a></i> (found on 3 November 2021) and the World War One French submarine <i>Flor茅al</i> (found on 13 December 2023).</p> <h3>Wolfpack operations</h3> <p>U-133 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career: <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/15.html">Stosstrupp</a> (30 Oct 1941 - 4 Nov 1941) <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/16.html">Raubritter</a> (5 Nov 1941 - 17 Nov 1941) <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/18.html">St枚rtebecker</a> (17 Nov 1941 - 22 Nov 1941) </p> <h3>Attacks on this boat and other events</h3> <div class="content_box"> <p><strong>17 Jan 1942</strong><br/>Depth charging by the British destroyer <a href=/allies/warships/ship/4425.html>HMS Maori</a> (Cdr R.E. Courage, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN) caused minor damage. <p>U-133 had just torpedoed and sunk the British destroyer <a href=/allies/warships/ship/4464.html>HMS Gurkha</a> (Cdr. C.N. Lentaigne, DSO, RN) escorting convoy <a href="/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=MW 8B">MW 8B</a>.</p></p> <p>1 recorded attack on this boat.</p> </div> <h3>General notes on this boat</h3><p> <b>Myth involving this boat</b><br> 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 <strong>destroy the Hoover Dam</strong>. The article is from the USS Shaw's newsletter. The article states that <a href="/boats/u133.htm">U-133</a>, 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. <p>This is only a cute story, she never would have made it that far (see map showing its approximate path from <a href="/flotillas/bases/saint_nazaire.htm">St. Nazaire</a>, a suitable base, to the target) as its fuel supply would never have allowed this (not even close, the <a href="/types/viic.htm">type VIIC</a> 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. <p> <img src="http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gcmap?PATH=47.17N2.12W-42N21W-10S30W-59S70W-31.10N115.12W-36.1N114.44W&MAP-STYLE=popup"></p> <h3>Men lost from U-boats</h3> <p>Unlike <a href="/men/men_lost.htm">many other U-boats</a>, 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.</p> <h3>U-boat Emblems</h3> <p>We have 1 <strong>emblem</strong> entry for this boat. See the emblem page <a href="/special/emblems/u133.html">for this boat</a> or view emblems individually below.</p> <table><tr> <td class="width95"><a href="/special/emblems/emblem319.html"><img src="/media/boats/emblems/emblem_missing.gif" class="width80" alt="" /><br>Animal with Stick</a></td> </tr></table><br> <div align="center"> <h3>Media links</h3> <table> <tr> <td class="width140"><p><a href="/books/item/2388"><img src="/media/books/covers/english/184832118X.jpg" alt="" /> <br>U-Boat Attack Logs</a><br>Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor</p><div class="left"><br> <img src="/media/images/flags/small/flag-uk_s.gif" alt="" /> <a href="/about/scripts/amazon_co_uk.php?book=184832118X&path=/boats/u133.htm">amazon.co.uk</a> <br>(拢 38.25)</div></td> <td class="width140"><p><a href="/books/item/525"><img src="/media/books/covers/english/german_u-boat_losses.jpg" alt="" /> <br>German U-Boat Losses During World War II</a><br>Niestle, Axel</p></td> <td class="width140"><p><a href="/books/item/267"><img src="/media/books/covers/english/u-boat_operations2.jpg" alt="" /> <br>U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 1</a><br>Wynn, Kenneth</p></td> <td class="width140"><p><a href="/books/item/537"><img src="/media/books/covers/english/hitlers_uboat_war.jpg" alt="" /> <br>Hitler's U-boat War</a><br>Blair, Clay</p></td></tr> </table> </div> <br><br>  <p class='center'><br/>As an Amazon Associate uboat.net earns a commission from qualifying purchases.</p> <div class="adSeperator"></div> <div id="ga_contentFooter728" align="center"> <script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1101670507446460" data-ad-slot="7580936821"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </div><br> </div>  <div id="footer"> <div id="footer_navcontainer"> <ul id="footer_navlist"> <li><a href="/" title="Front page">Front page</a></li> <li><a href="/about/" title="About uboat.net">About</a></li> <li><a href="/about/contact.htm" title="Contact us">Contact us</a></li> <li><a href="/special/faq.htm" title="Frequently Asked Questions">FAQ</a></li> <li><a href="/glossary.htm" title="Glossary pages">Glossary</a></li> <li><a href="/new.htm" title="What's new at uboat.net">What's new</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="footer_copyright">  © 1995 - 2025 Guðmundur Helgason </div> </div>  </div>  </body></html>