Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)

Successes
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 9,135 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 31,100 tons
1 warship damaged, total tonnage 372 tons

Born	22 Feb 1913		Riga, Latvia
Died	17 Aug 2000	(87)	Vancouver, Canada

Kapitänleutnant Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen wearing his Knights Cross.

Ranks

8 Apr 1934		Offiziersanwärter
26 Sep 1934		Seekadett
1 Jul 1935		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1937		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937		Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jan 1942		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

30 Jan 1940		Iron Cross 2nd Class
26 Feb 1940		U-boat War Badge 1939
7 Dec 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
27 Jan 1942		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-331	31 Mar 1941	17 Nov 1942	10 patrols (242 days)

Freiherr von Tiesenhausen began his U-boat career in December 1939 on U-23, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer. Together they completed three successful patrols and sank five ships with a total of 27,000 tons, as well as one destroyer.

After his fourth patrol on U-23, under Commander Beduhn, he transferred to the new U-93 (Kapitänleutnant Klaus Korth).

In April 1941 Freiherr von Tiesenhausen took command of U-331. He led the boat on nine patrols, and on 25 November, 1941 he scored his greatest success by sinking the British battleship HMS Barham.

He spent time as a prisoner, first in England and then for three years in Canada. In 1947 he returned to Germany and worked as a joiner. During the autumn of 1951 he left Germany and went back to Canada. He lived in the Vancouver area for the rest of his life, working as an interior designer, and achieving some distinction as a nature photographer.

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).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-331	2 Jul 1941	Kiel	19 Aug 1941	Lorient	Patrol 1,	49 days
2.	U-331	24 Sep 1941	Lorient	11 Oct 1941	Salamis	Patrol 2,	18 days
3.	U-331	12 Nov 1941	Salamis	3 Dec 1941	Salamis	Patrol 3,	22 days
4.	U-331	14 Jan 1942	Salamis	28 Feb 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 4,	46 days
5.	U-331	4 Apr 1942	La Spezia	19 Apr 1942	Salamis	Patrol 5,	16 days
6.	U-331	9 May 1942	Salamis	21 May 1942	Messina	Patrol 6,	13 days
7.	U-331	25 May 1942	Messina	15 Jun 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 7,	22 days
8.	U-331	5 Aug 1942	La Spezia	10 Aug 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 8,	6 days
9.	U-331	12 Aug 1942	La Spezia	19 Sep 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 9,	39 days
10.	U-331	7 Nov 1942	La Spezia	17 Nov 1942	Sunk	Patrol 10,	11 days
10 patrols, 242 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
10 Oct 1941	U-331	HMS TLC-18 (A 18) (d.)	372	br
25 Nov 1941	U-331	HMS Barham (04)	31,100	br

9 Nov 1942	U-331	USS Leedstown (AP 73)	9,135	am	Torch
			40,607
2 ships sunk (40,235 tons) and 1 ship damaged (372 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.

About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.