MITTELMEER PATROL 7
INVASION OF PANTELLERIA
U-133 departed La Spezia, Italy, on the evening of 07-JUN-1943 and headed for CN22 southwest of Sicily. We entered the PZ on the evening of 09-JUN-1943 and proceeded south toward the western side of Pantelleria to patrol.
On the morning of 10-JUN-1943, we began to receive multiple radar warnings to the northwest and proceeded to periscope depth. Almost immediately we began picking up two sets of enemy formations – a task force at high speed to the northwest and a slower convoy to the west-northwest. We re-surfaced and began looking for the faster task force with our radio operator at the ready. At 0504, we spotted the task force of 2 Battleships and many destroyers. We immediately send out a contact report to BdU and dove to periscope depth once again.
We contemplated firing 2 torpedoes at both Battleships, but decided that probably would not be enough to stop either one; so we concentrated all 4 forward eels on the lead Battleship – HMS Nelson. We released our eels at 05:24 at 3400 meters and all 4 eels found their mark; HMS Nelson was dead in the water and sinking.
About this time, the first wave of Italian aircraft arrived and engaged the HMS Rodney and her escorts as we backed away and started reloading forward tubes. The Italian aircraft were very aggressive in their attack and damaged the HMS Rodney and sank 4 of her escorts.
With the Task Force moving at 23 knots, there was no way we would have time to reload torpedoes and be able to re-engage HMS Rodney. Furthermore, we were trying to avoid escort destroyers while maneuvering to get set up for the oncoming invasion convoy. All we could do was watch the bombardment of Pantelleria by HMS Rodney and her remaining escorts. It was a fierce exchange of artillery between the British and the defending Italian destroyers with direct hits on both sides. But in the end, the overwhelming fire power of the HMS Rodney silenced the defenders.
As we maneuvered on the incoming convoy, the second wave of Italian bombers made their attack. The Italian JU-88s damaged a few ships but took heavy losses in the exchange. As the Italian attack was ending, U-133 fired a salvo of 4 torpedoes at a Modern Tanker and an Auxiliary Cruiser. Two eels detonated on the tanker and one eel struck the Aux Cruiser astern putting her propulsion out of commission. The fourth eel missed the Aux Cruiser. We also fired our stern torpedo at a Troop Ship, which struck her amidships, but was ineffective at slowing her down or sinking her. At this point, U-133 dove to 130 meters to avoid the destroyers that were converging near our location. U-133 was never detected and the escorts ultimately went back to supporting the invasion fleet.
As the destroyers moved away, be began to make our way back to periscope depth. It was during this time that we heard a ship’s bulkheads imploding – it was the Modern Tanker sinking. When we finally reached periscope depth, we looked around and the invasion fleet was anchoring outside Pantelleria harbor. We decided to slip in at 1 knot to see if we could finish off the Aux Cruiser and sink perhaps a few other ships.
We fired our last 3 internal torpedoes; one each at two Troop Ships and the Aux Cruiser. We sank one Troop Ship and the Aux Cruiser; the last torpedo was a dud and did not detonate on contact. We immediately turned north and descended back to 130 meters before the escorts could detect us and we made good our escape to the northwest.
Approximately 25 kilometers from Pantelleria, we surfaced and signaled our status. In CJ8845, we sighted an enemy Task Force of 4 destroyers heading 125 at 16 knots. Unable to engage, we transmitted a contact report to BdU. About 20 minutes later, we witnessed 4 Italian JU-88s attacking the Task Force. Unfortunately, no destroyers were sunk and the Italians lost 3 of their 4 JU-88s. We made our way towards the area as the Task Force continued on and were able to rescue three aviators.
U-133 made her way back to La Spezia without further incident.
