The story behind the wreck of a World War II German submarine lying just eight miles off the Ayrshire coast has been retold ahead of the 83rd anniversary of the fateful night she contributed to Britain winning the war.
German submarine U-33 was detected by Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Gleaner (J83) while attempting to lay mines in the Firth of Clyde in February 1940.
Attacked by depth charges from HMS Gleaner, the submarine was eventually scuttled in the waters eight miles west of Maidens harbour - but not before revealing some of Germany’s greatest secrets.
On February 5, 1940, under the command of Kapitanleutnant Hans Von Dresky, U-33 left Wilhelmshaven, Germany, on her last voyage.
Her crew of 42 had little idea of their fate and, acting under direct orders from Hitler, they were to lay mines in the Clyde.
At this time, the codebreakers of Bletchley Park were tasked with listening in on German communications, which were found to be unbreakable and aptly named ‘Enigma’.
On the night of February 12, U-33 was cruising slowly up the firth, on the surface.
Patrolling that evening, Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Gleaner (J83), skippered by Lieutenant Commander Hugh Price, got her first hydrophone contact with U-33 at 2.50am.
Immediately the Nazi U-boat commander ordered his crew to action stations and the hunter became the hunted.
In a matter of minutes HMS Gleaner’s guns and depth charges went into action, dropping depth charges over a period of hours.
Von Dresky crash dived U-33 and eventually the damaged submarine was forced to surface, with the crew abandoning the boat.
Three delegated men rushed to grab the cypher cogs from the Enigma machine, desperately stuffing them into their pockets with the intention of scattering them in the sea, under Von Dresky’s orders.
But one crew member failed to do so as his numb frozen hands were unable to reach into his pockets to drop the cypher cogs into the sea.
These were found on him when picked up by HMS Gleaner, and sent on to Bletchley Park, where all German naval messages were decrypted- thus revealing some of Germany’s greatest secrets and unwittingly shortening WW2, some say by years.
Of the 42 crew members of U-33 only 17 survived. The others, including Von Dresky, died of cold-water shock and hypothermia.
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