Den
tyske jageren George Thiele var en av ti tyske jagere som endte sine
dager utenfor Narvik i 1940. George Thiele ble kommandert av Korvettenkapitän
Max Ecart Wolff, og ombord befant det seg et mannskap på 323 mann. George
Thiele og de ni andre jagerne var satt opp som Kriegsschiffgruppe 1,
og målet var sikringen av byen Narvik. I aprildagene 1940 raste det
kraftige kamper mellom de tyske og allierte styrkene, og George Thiele
ble til slutt kjørt opp på grunn og senket av egen besetning i Sildvik
den 13 april 1940 etter at de hadde brukt opp all ammunisjon. Vraket
av George Thiele ligger idag helt inne ved land. Vraket hviler på en
maksimal dybde av seksti meter. Vinteren 2005 kollapset baugen som tidligere
kunne ses over vannflaten, men i dypet kan man fortsatt se rester av
denne tyske jageren. Stedet er lett tilgjengelig med bil da vraket ligger
rett ved veien, men dessverre er det ikke lov å dykke på Georg Thiele...
The German destroyer George Thiele was one
of ten German destroyers that ended their days outside Narvik in
1940. George Thiele was commanded by Korvettenkapitän Max Ecart
Wolff, and onboard the ship there were a crew of 323 men. George
Thiele and the nine other destroyers were put together as the Kriegsschiffgruppe
1, and their mission was to secure the city of Narvik. In the days
of April heavy fighting raged between the German and Allied forces,
and George Thiele was eventually driven ashore and sunk by her own
crew in Sildvik on the 13th of April after they had run out of ammunition.
The wreck of George Thiele lies today close up to land. The wreck
rest on a maximum depth of sixty meters. In the winter 2005 the
bow which earlier could bee seen above the surface, but in the deep
ypu can still see the remains of this German destroyer. The site
is easily accessed with a car since the wreck lies close to the
road, but unfortunately it is not allowed to dive on Georg Thiele...
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Dimensions: |
Georg Thiele |
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Steel |
119,0x 11,3x 4,23 m. |
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| 3412 grt |
Kiel ( D )
1934 |
Bremen ( D
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The destroyers of the "Zerstörer
1934" class were the first four destroyers build in Germany after
World War I. Based on the same design principals as the torpedo boats,
those ships showed some serious problems after completion, which was
partly caused by the fast naval construction programs after 1933.
They were very bad seagoing ships, like most other German vessels
they took over a high amount of water during heavy seas, making their
forward artillery unusable. Further they showed a structural weakness
since the hull started to bend in heavy seas and were burdened with
heavy vibrations produced by the engines. Their high pressure turbine
engines caused many problems during operations, which were limited
by the short range of those ships. The idea was to equip the ships
with the newly designed high pressure turbines because this system
seemed to have several advantages about normal turbine systems - at
least on the paper. Test installations on land were very promising,
but when installed on board on the destroyers, the engines rooms got
very crowded making maintenance very difficult. Like all other German
destroyers, they were all equipped for mine laying which was intensively
used during the first months of the war. Most ships of this class
did not survive the second year of the war, two of them were even
sunk by own bombers, but in their few operational months, they did
some successful mining operations near the British coast.
Z 2 Georg Thiele (1939)
Laid down:
Deutsche Werke Kiel, 25.10.1934
Launched: 18.08.1935
Commissioned: 27.02.1937
Part of the 1st destroyer
division at the outbreak of the war, operating in the Baltic Sea near
Danzig, transferred to the North sea after the Polnish campaign. During
in Operation Weserübung the Thiele was part of the Kriegsschiffgruppe
1 heading for Narvik and was scuttled on 13.04.1940 in the Rombakkenfjord
near Narvik after seriously damaged in the first destroyer at Narvik
against British destroyers.
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