German submarine U-331

U-331
History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-331
Ordered	23 September 1939
Builder	Nordseewerke, Emden
Yard number	203
Laid down	26 January 1940
Launched	20 December 1940
Commissioned	31 March 1941
Fate	Sunk on 17 November 1942
General characteristics
Class and type	Type VIIC submarine
Displacement	769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Length	67.10 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull
Beam	6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Installed power	2,800–3,200 PS (2,100–2,400 kW; 2,800–3,200 bhp) (diesels) 750 PS (550 kW; 740 shp) (electric)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged
Range	8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement	4 officers, 40–56 enlisted
Armament	4 × 53.3 cm (21 in) bow torpedo tubes 1 x stern torpedo tube 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun (220 rounds) 1 x 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 AA gun
Service record[1][2]
Part of:	1st U-boat Flotilla 31 March – 14 October 1941 23rd U-boat Flotilla 15 October 1941 – 14 April 1942 29th U-boat Flotilla 15 April – 17 November 1942
Identification codes:	M 37 182
Commanders:	Kptlt. Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen 31 March 1941 – 17 November 1942
Operations:	10 patrols: 1st patrol: 2 July – 19 August 1941 2nd patrol: 24 September – 11 October 1941 3rd patrol: 12 November – 3 December 1941 4th patrol: 14 January – 28 February 1942 5th patrol: 4 – 19 April 1942 6th patrol: 9 – 21 May 1942 7th patrol: 25 May – 15 June 1942 8th patrol: 5 – 10 August 1942 9th patrol: 12 August – 19 September 1942 10th patrol: 7 – 17 November 1942
Victories:	1 warship sunk (31,100 tons) 1 auxiliary warship sunk (9,135 GRT) 1 warship damaged (372 tons)

German submarine U-331 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II, famous for sinking the battleship HMS Barham.

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 Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen. She was tracked by the RAF and crippled before being destroyed by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm on 17 November 1942 with the loss of most of her crew.