Sven Thienemann
Oberleutnant zur See der Reserve (entry, Jahrgang X/39)
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| Born | 4 Dec 1912 | Münster, Westphalia | |
| Died | 2006 | (93) |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-682 | 17 Apr 1944 | 11 Mar 1945 | No war patrols |
| U-1271 | Apr, 1945 | 9 May 1945 | No war patrols |
Sven Thienemann joined the Kriegsmarine in 1939. From Nov 1939 to July 1941 he served with the 13th Anti Submarine Flotilla. He was the acting Commander of the 14th Anti Submarine Flotilla from Oct 1940 to July 1942 when he became its formal Commander (Busch & Röll, 1999).
In Jan 1943 he joined the U-boat force (Ubootwaffe) and went through U-boat training until October (Busch & Röll, 1999).
Thienemann went through U-boat Commander training with the 24th (Training) Flotilla from Nov to Dec 1943 when he began his U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) with the 8th (Training) Flotilla to prepare for his first command (Busch & Röll, 1999).
First U-boat Command
On 17 April 1944 Ltnt. Sven Thienemann commissioned the new type VIIC boat U-682 at Hamburg and then took the boat into the Baltic for training (Busch & Röll, 1999). On 11 March 1945 the boat, having never sailed on war patrol, was destroyed by US bombing raid on Hamburg (Niestlé, 1998).
In mid April 1945 Oblt. Thienemann was given command of the U-1271 (Busch & Röll, 1999). On 9 May 1945 he surrendered the boat at Bergen, Norway (Waller & Niestlé, 2010).
Post war career
After the war Sven Thienemann went back to sea and in 1951 left for Peru with a small German whaling fleet. There he met Greek tycoon Greek Aristotle Onassis. In 1954 Sven rebuilt the former Canadian frigate HMCS Stormont (K 327) into the yacht Christina for Onassis and became its first captain. He served with Onassis for two years on his yacht then went to join his family.
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Süddeutsche Zeitung Magzin. Interview with Sven Thienemann.
Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle_Onassis
Patrol info for Sven Thienemann
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | U-682 | 23 Dec 1944 | Kiel | 26 Dec 1944 | Horten | 4 days | ||
| 2. | U-682 | 3 Jan 1945 | Horten | 4 Jan 1945 | Kiel | 2 days | ||
Media links
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