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~/dives/2022/georg-thiele

Georg Thiele

28–29 June 2022 · dives 7 (14:29), 8 (16:58) and 9 (08:15) of Narvik, Norway

0 m10 m20 m30 m40 m50 m0 min10 min20 min30 min40 min50 min25°5°Looking up the Georg Thiele · 8 min · 44.8 mOn the Georg Thiele · 8 min · 44.3 mGoing down · 5 min · 34.2 mThe stern gun · 8 min · 44.3 m
55 min · max 44.8 m depth water temperature photo (click to view)
A rough 3D sketch of how the Z2 Georg Thiele lies, with my dive along her. Drag to turn it, scroll or pinch to zoom.

dive 9 · Wednesday 29 June, 08:15

55 mintime
44.8 mmax depth
6 °Cwater
Airgas
Suunto EON Corecomputer
23.9 °Cair
3 km/h ENEwind
clearsky

The deepest dive of a week diving around Narvik: the Georg Thiele, a German destroyer run aground in Rombaksbotn in the second battle of Narvik, on 13 April 1940. Her bow is still on the shore, above the water, and the rest of her runs down the slope into the fjord. It was my third dive on her: dives 7 and 8, the afternoon before, stayed shallower, to 35 m, with the porthole and its chain in the sun by the bow, a signal lamp and her machinery.

How she came to be here

The Georg Thiele came to Narvik on 9 April 1940 as one of ten destroyers carrying mountain troops for the German invasion of Norway, slipping into the harbour in a snowstorm. The next morning five British destroyers attacked in the first battle of Narvik. She and the Bernd von Arnim caught them as they withdrew down the Ofotfjord, and the Thiele probably torpedoed HMS Hunter, which sank. She was hit seven times in return, losing her forward gun and her fire control, with 13 of her crew killed.

Three days later, on 13 April, the British came back with the battleship Warspite and nine destroyers. Still under repair, with four guns and six torpedoes, she was one of the German destroyers that ran out of ammunition and fell back into the Rombaksfjord. She held the narrows at Straumen while the others were scuttled further in, and her torpedo blew the bow off HMS Eskimo. British fire set her alight, and her captain, Max-Eckart Wolff, ran her aground here so that her crew could get off. Fourteen of them were killed that day. All ten German destroyers sent to Narvik were lost in the two battles, and the Thiele later broke in two and capsized where she lay.

We went down to the stern first, 44.8 m by her propeller, and worked back up the wreck towards the bow. Looking up from down there, she rises away into the green towards the surface. On the way back up, John put his torch along one of her stern guns.

It was 55 minutes on air, in 6 °C water at the bottom, on a morning when the air on the boat was already 24 °C. The evening before, we’d seen that same bow from the boat.

waterline12543torpedoesbreak?Show the photoAShow the photoBShow the photoCShow the photoDShow the photoEShow the photoFShow the photoGShow the photoHShow the photoA44.8 m · my deepest, by the stern, looking up to the bow · dive 9Show the photoB34 m · going down · dive 9Show the photoC~44 m · John on gun 3, likely · dive 9Show the photoD24 m · a signal lamp, its louvres broken · dive 8Show the photoE17 m · torch on the machinery · dive 8Show the photoF14 m · under the torch · dive 8Show the photoG~1.5 m · sun on the plating by the bow · dive 7Show the photoHthe bow, above water today, from the boatstern ~52 m · break position assumed · yellow: dive 9, placed by its time · pale: placed by depth along the hulldepth as she lies40 m30 m20 m10 m0 · surface
The Z2 Georg Thiele as built, upright and to scale.
How the sketch is built

Known

  • A Type 1934 destroyer, 119 m long with an 11.3 m beam and a 4.2 m draught.
  • She was run aground in Rombaksbotn on 13 April 1940 in the second battle of Narvik, and later broke in two and capsized.
  • Her bow is on the shore, above the water. The stern is at about 52 m and the propeller shafts at about 40 m.
  • The hull is lying on its side.

Assumed

  • One straight hull at about 25° down the slope, so the bow clears the water and the stern sits at 52 m.
  • She lies on her starboard side, with her port side facing up. No source says which side, so it could be either.
  • The bow points straight at the shore, as no source gives her heading. Where she broke isn't known.
  • My track follows the wreck. The camera's clock ran about 90 seconds behind the dive computer's, which puts the stern shot at my deepest point, where I took it.
  • Photos from my other dives on her (dives 7 and 8, the day before) are placed by depth alone, along the top of the hull.
  • The profile is drawn from the published layout, not from a plan.
Inside her superstructureInside the Georg Thiele's superstructure, the light coming in through her window frames. video · 1080p · 25.1 s#norway#wreck
Looking up the Georg Thiele from down by her propeller, in black and white, the wreck rising towards the bow at the surface.
Looking up the Georg ThieleLooking up the Georg Thiele from down by her propeller, in black and white, the wreck rising towards the bow at the surface.f/2 · 1/60s · ISO 1000 · 10mm · Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark IIdive 9 · Georg Thiele · 44.8 m · 6 °C#black and white#georg thiele#norway#wreck#canon powershot g9 x mark ii#fantasea fg9x#inon s200#weefine smart focus 5000~/trips/2022/norway
The bow of the German destroyer Georg Thiele, run aground in Rombaksbotn in the battle of Narvik in April 1940 and still above the water.
Georg ThieleThe bow of the German destroyer Georg Thiele, run aground in Rombaksbotn in the battle of Narvik in April 1940 and still above the water.f/1.8 · 1/320s · ISO 32 · 4mm · Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max#fjord#georg thiele#norway#wreck#apple iphone 11 pro max~/trips/2022/norway
John with his torch along one of the Georg Thiele's stern guns.
On the Georg ThieleJohn with his torch along one of the Georg Thiele's stern guns.f/2 · 1/50s · ISO 1000 · 10mm · Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark IIdive 9 · Georg Thiele · 44.3 m · 6 °C#diver#georg thiele#gun#norway#wreck#canon powershot g9 x mark ii#fantasea fg9x#inon s200#weefine smart focus 5000~/trips/2022/norway
The Georg Thiele's hull plating in the shallows by her bow, the sun rippling over it and kelp below.
Sunlight on the bowThe Georg Thiele's hull plating in the shallows by her bow, the sun rippling over it and kelp below.f/2.8 · 1/1000s · ISO 320 · 10mm · Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II#norway#wreck#canon powershot g9 x mark ii
A porthole on the hull plating in the shallows, a rusted chain hanging alongside.
Porthole and chainA porthole on the hull plating in the shallows, a rusted chain hanging alongside.f/2.8 · 1/400s · ISO 320 · 10mm · Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II#norway#wreck#canon powershot g9 x mark ii
A signal lamp on the wreck, furred with growth, its louvres broken.
Signal lampA signal lamp on the wreck, furred with growth, its louvres broken.f/2.8 · 1/60s · ISO 320 · 10mm · Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II#norway#signal lamp#wreck#canon powershot g9 x mark ii
A diver with a torch along machinery on the wreck.
Torch on the machineryA diver with a torch along machinery on the wreck.f/2.8 · 1/60s · ISO 320 · 10mm · Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II#diver#norway#wreck#canon powershot g9 x mark ii
Fittings and a pipe lit orange by the torch.
Under the torchFittings and a pipe lit orange by the torch.f/2.8 · 1/320s · ISO 320 · 10mm · Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II#norway#wreck#canon powershot g9 x mark ii
A lattice structure on the way down the wreck, a diver alongside.
Going downA lattice structure on the way down the wreck, a diver alongside.f/2 · 1/50s · ISO 1000 · 10mm · Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II#diver#norway#wreck#canon powershot g9 x mark ii
The barrel of the stern gun, furred with growth, near my deepest point.
The stern gunThe barrel of the stern gun, furred with growth, near my deepest point.f/2 · 1/50s · ISO 1000 · 10mm · Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II#gun#norway#wreck#canon powershot g9 x mark ii

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Sources: German destroyer Z2 Georg Thiele, Wikipedia · Type 1934 destroyers, Wikipedia · Second Battle of Narvik, Wikipedia · Narvik: Georg Thiele, Submerged · Georg Thiele, SSI dive site · The shipwreck Z2 Georg Thiele, Visit Narvik