 Sister shipZ1 Leberecht Maass | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Germany | |
| Name | Z2 Georg Thiele |
| Namesake | Georg Thiele |
| Ordered | 7 July 1934 |
| Builder | Deutsche Werke,Kiel |
| Laid down | 25 October 1934 |
| Launched | 18 August 1935 |
| Commissioned | 27 February 1937 |
| Identification | Z2 |
| Fate | Beached, 13 April 1940 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class & type | Type 1934-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 2,223long tons (2,259 t) (standard) |
| Length | 119 m (390 ft 5 in)o/a |
| Beam | 11.30 m (37 ft 1 in) |
| Draft | 4.23 m (13 ft 11 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts, 2 × gearedsteam turbines |
| Speed | 36knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
| Range | 1,530 nmi (2,830 km; 1,760 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement | 325 |
| Armament |
|
TheGerman destroyerZ2 Georg Thiele was one of fourType 1934-class destroyers built for the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during the mid-1930s. Completed in 1937, two years before the start ofWorld War II, the ship spent most of her time training although she did participate in theoccupation of Memel in early 1939.
At the beginning of World War II, the ship was initially deployed toblockade the Polish coast, but she was quickly transferred to theGerman Bight to layminefields in German waters. During the early stages of theNorwegian Campaign, in April 1940,Z2 Georg Thiele fought in both navalBattles of Narvik, on 10 and 13 April, and had to bebeached to allow her crew to abandon ship safely after she had been severely damaged by British fire. The ship, having broken up, is now a popular diving site.
Design work on the Type 34-class destroyers began in 1932, around the time thatWeimar Germany renounced the armament limitations of theVersailles Treaty that had endedWorld War I. Initial designs for the new destroyers were for large ships more powerful than the French and Polish destroyers then in service, but the design grew further as theKriegsmarine now expected it to serve as a small cruiser. The design work appears to have been rushed and not well-thought out as the shortforecastle and lack offlare at the bow compromised the ships'seakeeping ability[1] and their stability was inadequate.[2] The only substantial innovative part of the design, the high-pressureboilers, were an over-complicated system that received almost no shipboard testing before being installed in the Type 34s and frequently broke down throughout the life of the ships.[3]
The class had anoverall length of 119 meters (390 ft 5 in) and were 114 meters (374 ft 0 in)long at the waterline. The ships had abeam of 11.30 meters (37 ft 1 in), and a maximumdraft of 4.23 meters (13 ft 11 in). They displaced 2,223 long tons (2,259 t) atstandard load and 3,156 long tons (3,207 t) atdeep load. The two Wagner gearedsteam turbine sets, each driving onepropeller shaft, were designed to produce 70,000 PS (51,000 kW; 69,000 shp) using steam provided by six Wagner boilers. The ships had a designed speed of 36knots (67 km/h; 41 mph), but attained an actual maximum speed of 38.7 knots (71.7 km/h; 44.5 mph).[2] The Type 34s carried a maximum of 752 metric tons (740 long tons) offuel oil which was intended to give a range of 4,400nautical miles (8,100 km; 5,100 mi) at a speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph), but they proved top-heavy in service and 30% of the fuel had to be retained asballast low in the ship;[4] the effective range proved to be only 1,530 nmi (2,830 km; 1,760 mi) at 19 knots.[5] The crew of the Type 34 class ships numbered 10 officers and 315 enlisted men, plus an additional four officers and 19 enlisted men if serving as aflotilla flagship.[2]
The Type 34s carried five12.7-centimeter (5 in) SK C/34 guns in single mounts withgun shields, two eachsuperimposed, fore and aft. The fifth gun was carried on top of the aftsuperstructure. The guns were numbered from one to five from front to rear. Theiranti-aircraft armament consisted of four3.7-centimeter (1.5 in) SK C/30 guns in a pair of twin mounts abreast the rearfunnel and six2-centimeter (0.79 in) C/30 guns in single mounts. The ships carried eight 53.3-centimeter (21 in)torpedo tubes in two power-operated mounts. A pair of reload torpedoes was provided for each mount.[2][6]
Georg Thiele had fourdepth charge throwers mounted on the sides of her rear deckhouse, which were supplemented by six racks for individual depth charges on the sides of the stern, with either 32 or 64 charges carried.[7] Mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck, with a maximum capacity of 60mines.[2] A system of passivehydrophones designated as 'GHG' (Gruppenhorchgerät) was fitted to detectsubmarines.[8]
Z2 Georg Thiele was ordered on 7 July 1934 andlaid down atDeutsche Werke,Kiel, on 25 October 1934 asyard number K243. She waslaunched on 18 August 1935, and completed and commissioned on 27 February 1937.[9] She was named after Georg Thiele, aKorvettenkapitän who commanded the Seventh Half Flotilla oftorpedo boats during World War I. She was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Division on 1 December 1937[10] and made a port visit toUlvik,Norway, in April 1938, together with her sistersZ3 Max Schultz andZ4 Richard Beitzen. She was then handed back to her builders to have her bow rebuilt to fix the damage caused by the large amount of water that came over it inhead seas. This increased her length by .30 meters (1 ft 0 in). She then participated in the 22 AugustFleet Review forAdolf Hitler andMiklós Horthy,Regent of theKingdom of Hungary, and the following fleet exercise.[11] In December,Georg Thiele, together with her sistersZ1 Leberecht Maass,Max Schultz, andRichard Beitzen, sailed to the area ofIceland to evaluate their seaworthiness in aNorth Atlantic winter with their new bows. On 23–24 March 1939, she was one of the destroyers that escorted theheavy cruiserDeutschland, which was transporting Adolf Hitler to announce the occupation of Memel.[10] She participated in the spring fleet exercise in the western Mediterranean and made several visits to Spanish and Moroccan ports in April and May. When World War II began,Georg Thiele was initially deployed in the Baltic to operate against thePolish Navy and to enforce ablockade of Poland, but she was soon transferred to theGerman Bight where she joined hersisters in laying defensive minefields.[12] The ship began a refit in late 1939 that was completed in early April 1940.[10]
Georg Thiele was allocated to Group 1 for the Norwegian portion ofOperation Weserübung in April 1940. The group's task was to transport the 139th Mountain Infantry Regiment (139. Gebirgsjäger Regiment) and the headquarters of the3rd Mountain Division (3. Gebirgs-Division) to seizeNarvik. The ships began loading troops on 6 April and set sail the next day.[13] The German destroyers reached theOfotfjord on the morning of 9 April and CommodoreFriedrich Bonte took hisflagshipWilhelm Heidkamp,Georg Thiele andZ11 Bernd von Arnim down thefjord to Narvik.[14] A heavy snowstorm allowedThiele andvon Arnim to enter the harbor without challenge and tie up at apier. The mountain troops immediately began disembarking, but the ships were spotted by thecoast defense shipNorge a few minutes later. The latter ship immediately opened fire and was able to fire approximately thirteen 21 cm (8.3 in) shells at a range of 600–800 meters (660–870 yd) beforevon Arnim sank the Norwegian ship with torpedoes. In the darkness and falling snow, none of the Norwegian shells hit either of the two destroyers, despite the short range.[15]
Thiele andvon Arnim were the first ships to refuel from the single tanker that had made it safely to Narvik[16] and later moved to the Ballangenfjord, a southern arm of the Ofotfjord, closer to the entrance.[17] Shortly before dawn on 10 April, the five destroyers of the British2nd Destroyer Flotilla,Hardy,Havock,Hunter,Hotspur, andHero, surprised the five German destroyers in Narvik harbor. They torpedoed two destroyers and badly damaged the other three while suffering only minor damage themselves. As they were beginning to withdraw they encountered the three destroyers of the 4th Flotilla which had been alerted in the Herjangsfjord when the British began their attack. The Germans opened fire first, but the gunnery for both sides was not effective due to the mist and the smoke screen laid by the British as they retreated down the Ofotfjord. The German ships had to turn away to avoid asalvo of three torpedoes fired by one of the destroyers in Narvik, butThiele andvon Arnim had also been alerted and were coming up to engage the British.[18]
The two German destroyerscrossed the T of the British flotilla and were able to fire full broadsides at a range of only 4,000 meters (13,000 ft). They first engaged the British flagship,Hardy, and badly damaged her. Both of her forward guns were knocked out and the forward superstructure was set afire.Hardy was forced tobeach herself lest she sink, and the German ships switched their fire toHavock, the next ship in line. Their fire was relatively ineffective, and both sides fired torpedoes without scoring any hits.Havock pulled out and dropped to the rear to fight off any pursuit by the ships of the 4th Flotilla. This placedHunter in the lead and she was quickly set on fire by the German ships.Thiele is believed to have hit her with a torpedo and she was rammed from behind byHotspur when the latter ship lost steering control.Hotspur was able to disengage, butHunter capsized shortly afterwards. The three remaining British ships were able to escape from the Germans under the cover of asmoke screen.[19]Georg Thiele was hit seven times and badly damaged. The British shells knocked out her forward gun and herfire-control equipment, flooded onemagazine, started fires, and killed thirteen crewmen.[20]
On the night of 12/13 April, CommanderErich Bey, the senior surviving German officer, received word to expect an attack the following day by Britishcapital ships escorted by a large number of destroyers and supported by carrier aircraft.Thiele, still under repair, had only four usable guns by this time and six remaining torpedoes.[21] The battleshipWarspite and nine destroyers appeared on 13 April, earlier than Bey had expected, and caught the Germans out of position. The five operable destroyers, includingThiele, charged out of Narvik harbor and engaged the British ships without much success. Lack of ammunition forced the German ships to retreat to theRombaksfjorden (the easternmost branch of the Ofotfjord), east of Narvik, where they might attempt to ambush pursuing British destroyers.Thiele still had some ammunition and torpedoes left, and took up position at the Straumen narrows withZ18 Hans Lüdemann to give the remaining two destroyers time to scuttle themselves at the head of thefjord. The pursuing British destroyers initially engagedLüdemann, until the ship retreated to the head of the fjord after exhausting all of its ammunition. The British destroyers then switched their attentions toThiele. The German ship struck the first blow when one of her torpedoes blew the bow offEskimo, but the return fire from the British ships started several fires and damaged her so heavily thatKorvettenkapitänMax-Eckart Wolff, the ship'scaptain, ordered her run aground to allow her crew to abandon ship safely. Fourteen men were killed during the battle and another 28 wounded.[22]
The surviving crew of the ship took part in the land fighting at Narvik in the following weeks. Wolff served as a battalion commander in theMarine-Regiment Berger, named after its commanderFritz Berger, during the land battle. He was awarded theIron Cross First Class on 12 May 1940 and theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross the following August for his command ofThiele at Narvik.[23] The ship later broke in two and capsized.[24]
Today, the wreck is one of the most popular diving sites in Narvik.[25] It also appeared in documentary seriesAbandoned Engineering, season 2 episode 7Germany's Lost Warship.[26]
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Media from Commons68°24′29.67″N17°48′41.62″E / 68.4082417°N 17.8115611°E /68.4082417; 17.8115611
