German destroyer Z2 Georg Thiele The German destroyer Z2 " Georg Thiele " was a Type 1934 destroyer built for the German " Kriegsmarine " in the mid - 1930s . She was named after Lieutenant Commander ( " Korvettenkapitan " ) Georg Thiele who commanded the Seventh Half Flotilla of torpedo boats in the Battle off Texel in October 1914 . At the beginning of World War II , the ship was initially deployed to blockade the Polish coast , but she was quickly transferred to the German Bight to lay minefields in German waters . During the early stages of the Norwegian Campaign , " Georg Thiele " fought in both naval Battles of Narvik and had to be beached to allow her crew to abandon ship safely after she had been severely damaged by British fire . Design and description . " Georg Thiele " had an overall length of and was long at the waterline . The ship had a beam of , and a maximum draft of . She displaced at standard load and at deep load . The Wagner geared steam turbines were designed to produce which would propel the ship at . Steam was provided to the turbines by six high - pressure Wagner boilers with superheater s . " Georg Thiele " carried a maximum of of fuel oil which was intended to give a range of at , but the ship proved top - heavy in service and 30 % of the fuel had to be retained as ballast low in the ship . The effective range proved to be only at . The ship carried five 12 . 7 cm SK C / 34 guns in single mounts with gun shield s , two each superimposed , fore and aft . The fifth gun was carried on top of the rear deckhouse . Her anti - aircraft armament consisted of four 3 . 7 cm SK C / 30 guns in two twin mounts abreast the rear funnel and six 2 cm C / 30 guns in single mounts . The ship carried eight above - water torpedo tube s in two power - operated mounts . Four depth charge throwers were mounted on the sides of the rear deckhouse and they were supplemented by six racks for individual depth charges on the sides of the stern . Enough depth charges were carried for either two or four patterns of 16 charges each . Mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 60 mines . A system of passive hydrophone s designated as ' GHG ' ( " Gruppenhorchgerät " ) was fitted to detect submarine s . The crew numbered 10 officers and 315 men , plus an additional four officers and 19 enlisted men if serving as a flotilla flagship . Service history . The ship was ordered on 7 July 1934 and laid down at Deutsche Werke , Kiel , on 25 October 1934 as yard number K243 . She was launched on 18 August 1935 and completed on 27 February 1937 . " Georg Thiele " was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Division on 1 December 1937 and made a port visit to Ulvik , Norway in April 1938 , together with her sisters Z3 " Max Schultz " and Z4 " Richard Beitzen " . Upon her return she was taken in hand by Deutsche Werke to have her bow rebuilt to reduce the amount of water that came over the bow in head seas . This increased her length by . The ship participated in the 22 August Fleet Review for Adolf Hitler and Miklós Horthy , Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary , and the following fleet exercise . In December , " Georg Thiele " , together with her sisters Z3 " Leberecht Maass " , " Max Schultz " , and " Richard Beitzen " , sailed to the area of Iceland to evaluate their seaworthiness in a North Atlantic winter with their new bows . On 23 – 24 March 1939 , the ship was one of the destroyers that escorted Hitler aboard the pocket battleship to occupy Memel . She participated in the Spring fleet exercise in the western Mediterranean and made several visits to Spanish and Moroccan ports in April and May . Days before the outbreak of World War II , in the early morning hours of 27 August 1939 , " Max Schultz " accidentally collided with and sank the torpedo boat " Tiger " near Bornholm . " Max Schultz " s bow was severely damaged and she had to be towed , stern - first , by " Georg Thiele " until two tugboats arrived and took over the tow to Swinemünde . When World War II began , " Georg Thiele " was initially deployed in the Baltic to operate against the Polish Navy and to enforce a blockade of Poland , but she was soon transferred to the German Bight where she joined her sisters in laying defensive minefields . The ship began a refit in late 1939 that was completed in early April 1940 . Norwegian Campaign . " Georg Thiele " was allocated to Group 1 for the Norwegian portion of Operation Weserübung in April 1940 . The group ' s task was to transport the 139th Mountain Infantry Regiment ( " 139 . Gebirgsjäger Regiment " ) and the headquarters of the 3rd Mountain Division ( " 3 . Gebirgs - Division " ) to seize Narvik . The ships began loading troops on 6 April and set sail the next day . The German destroyers reached the Ofotfjord on the morning of 9 April and Commodore Friedrich Bonte took his flagship " Wilhelm Heidkamp " , " Georg Thiele " and " Bernd von Arnim " down the fjord to Narvik . A heavy snowstorm allowed " Thiele " and " von Arnim " to enter the harbor without challenge and tie up at a pier . The mountain troops immediately began disembarking , but the ships were spotted by the coast defense ship a few minutes later . The latter ship immediately opened fire and was able to fire approximately 13 shells at range before " von Arnim " sank the Norwegian ship with torpedoes . None of the Norwegian shells hit either of the two German destroyers due to the darkness and falling snow , despite the short range . " Thiele " and " von Arnim " were the first to refuel from the single tanker that had made it safely to Narvik and later moved to the Ballangenfjord , a southern arm of the Ofotfjord , closer to the entrance . Shortly before dawn on 10 April , the five destroyers of the British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla 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 Herjansfjord 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 a salvo of three torpedoes fired by one of the destroyers in Narvik , but " Thiele " and " von Arnim " had also been alerted and were coming up to engage the British . The two German destroyers crossed the T of the British flotilla and were able to fire full broadsides at a range of only . They first engaged the British flagship , , and badly damaged her . Both of her forward guns were knocked out and the forward superstructure was set afire . " Hardy " was forced to beach herself lest she sink , and the German ships switched their fire to , 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 placed in the lead and she was quickly set on fire by the German ships . " Thiele " probably also hit her with a torpedo and she was rammed from behind by when the latter ship lost steering control . " Hotspur " was able to disengage , but " Hunter " capsized shortly afterward . The three remaining British ships were able to escape from the Germans under the cover of a smoke screen . " Georg Thiele " had been badly damaged by the British ships as she ' d been hit seven times that knocked her forward gun and her fire - control equipment , flooded one magazine , started fires , and killed thirteen crewmen . On the night of 12 / 13 April , Commander Erich Bey , the senior surviving German officer , received word to expect an attack the following day by British capital ship s escorted by a large number of destroyers and supported by carrier aircraft . " Thiele " had only four guns ready and six remaining torpedoes by this time . The battleship and nine destroyers duly appeared on 13 April , although earlier than Commander Bey had expected , and caught the Germans out of position . The five operable destroyers , including " Thiele " , charged out of Narvik harbor and engaged the British ships . Although no hits were scored , they did inflict splinter damage on several of the destroyers . Lack of ammunition forced the German ships to retreat to the Rombaksfjorden ( 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 with Z18 " Hans Lüdemann " to give the remaining two destroyers time to scuttle themselves at the head of the fjord . The pursuing British destroyers initially engaged the latter ship until it exhausted its ammo and retreated to the head of the fjord itself and then switched their attentions to " Thiele " . The German ship struck the first blow when one of her torpedoes blew the bow off , but the return fire from the British ships started several fires and damaged her so heavily that " Korvettenkapitän " Max - Eckart Wolff , the ship ' s captain , ordered her run aground to allow her crew to abandon ship safely . Fourteen men had been killed during the battle and another 28 wounded . 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 the " Marine - Regiment Berger " during the land battle . He was awarded the Iron Cross First Class on 12 May 1940 and the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross the following August for his leadership of Z2 at Narvik . The ship later broke in two and capsized . Parts of the bow of " Georg Thiele " remain visible above the water in Rombaksbotten to this day .