German submarine U-2331

U-Boat Infobox
type=XXIII
fieldpost number=
yard number=
order date=
keel=June 30, 1944
launch=August 22, 1944
commission=September 12, 1944
yard=Deutschewerft, Hamburg
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=Start Date
enddate=End Date
assigned unit=Assigned Unit
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=No Patrols
enddate=
assigned unit=32nd Flotilla
U_Boat Command
startdate=January, 1945
enddate=March, 1945
name=Kptlt. Hans-Walter Pahl
U_Boat Sink
type=Type of Ship Sunk
total=Number of Ships Sunk
tonnage=Gross Registered Tonnage
U_Boat Sink
type=Commercial Vessels
total=None
tonnage=0
U_Boat Sink
type=Military Vessels
total=None
tonnage=0

Unterseeboot 2331 (usually abbreviated to U-2331) was a German Type XXIII submarine built during World War II intended for service against allied shipping in coastal waters. She was a brand new, high technology electric U-boat which was lost when only one month old in a bizarre training accident in the Baltic Sea. Built at Hamburg, she was constructed at speed, as she and her sisters were seen as war winning weapons and thus vitally important to the German war effort.

Completed in September 1944, "U-2331" was under going a fast-track working-up period in the Baltic under her commander Kptlt. Hans-Walter Pahl under the observation of Klaus Vernier, a highly experienced U-boat commander and tactical expert. On the 10 October, just 28 days after her completion, "U-2331" dived and failed to surface in the sea off Hela. Four of the reduced crew (including the captain), escaped the sinking ship but 15 did not, including Vernier.

The Kriegsmarine conducted an investigation into the loss, at which it was revealed that either the captain or Vernier had ordered the submarine to submarge whilst travelling in reverse, thus unbalancing the boat and causing it to sink uncontrollably. A handful of men on the conning tower thus survived as the boat sank under them. The wreck was raised and taken to Gotenhafen, but the time submerged had irreparably damaged the boat's systems, and the remains were scrapped.

References

* Sharpe, Peter, "U-Boat Fact File", Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u2331.htm U-boat.net webpage for "U-2331"]

ee also

*List of U-boats