The last von Braun rocketman died in the United States. Barons von Forstner

Per Fabian Lagerkvist Barabbas Fragments Barabbas himself wondered why he was stuck in Jerusalem, where he had nothing to do. He wandered the streets for no good. But in the mountains, they probably expected him, did not understand where he had gone. Why did he stay in the city? Barabbas himself is not

Biography

Before the revolution, the Tiesenhausen were in the tsarist service. Hans Didrich joined the fleet on September 26, 1934 as a cadet. On April 1, 1937 he was promoted to lieutenant.

The Second World War

In December 1939 he was transferred to the submarine fleet and appointed second mate on U-23, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Otto Kretschmer. Von Tiesenhausen shared Kretschmer's views on the tactics of using submarines, implying daring unexpected breakthroughs to secure targets with their subsequent sinking from a short distance.

Tiesenhausen participated in three combat patrols, during which the boat sank five ships and a destroyer.

From July 1940, the first assistant commander of the U-93. Made two trips on it.

On March 31, 1941, he was appointed commander of U-331, where he made 10 military campaigns (having spent a total of 242 days at sea).

On November 25, 1941, he sank in the Tobruk region ( North Africa) English battleship Barham with three torpedoes. Despite the heavy damage that the boat received, attacked by escort ships, Tiesenhausen managed to escape the pursuit and return to base.

On December 7, 1941, he was awarded the 1st Class Iron Cross, and on January 27, 1942 - the Knight's Cross. For "Barham" Benito Mussolini awarded Tiesenhausen with Italy's highest military award - the Gold Medal for Bravery.

In total, during the war, Tiesenhausen sank 2 ships with a total tonnage of 40 235 brt and damaged 1 ship with a displacement of 372 brt.

On November 17, 1942, the U-331 was sunk. Tiesenhausen and 15 other surviving team members were captured. Originally held in a POW camp in the UK, and then 3 years in Canada. In 1947 he returned to Germany and worked as a carpenter. In the fall of 1951 he moved permanently to Canada. Lived in Vancouver, worked as an interior design and photographer.

Awards

• Iron Cross 2nd Class (January 30, 1940)
• Submariner's badge (February 26, 1940)
• Medal "In Commemoration of March 22, 1939" ("Memel Medal") (June 25, 1940)
• Medal "In Commemoration of October 1, 1938" ("Sudeten Medal") (September 6, 1940)
• Iron Cross 1st Class (7 December 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (27 September 1942)
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht (November 26, 1941, January 27, 1942)

Notes (edit)

Links

• Biography and combat path on the website uboat.net (eng.)

Tiesenhausen (German Tiesenhausen) is a German surname.

Tiesenhausen are a county and baronial family in the Russian Empire.

Baron Tyzenhausen, Anton Ivanovich (1752-1830) - chief of the Narva garrison regiment, retired infantry general.

Tizengauzen (Tizengauz), Anthony (1733-1785) - political and public figure of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Baron Tyzenhausen, Bogdan Karlovich (1786-1854) - Knight of St. George; major general; participant Patriotic War 1812 and Foreign campaigns 1813-1814.

Tiesenhausen, Vasily Gustavovich von - Georgievsky cavalier.

Count Tyzenhausen, Viktor Alexandrovich (1842-1907) - Chief Prosecutor of the Civil Cassation Department of the Senate, Senator, Privy Councilor.

Tiesenhausen, Vladimir:

Baron Tiesenhausen, Hans Didrich von (1913-2000) - German submarine officer.

Baron Tiesenhausen, Heinrich Yulievich (1843-1914) - member State Council, chamberlain.

Tiesenhausen, Gerhard von (1878-1917) - architect, author of about 45 houses in Riga.

Tiesenhausen, Gustav Ivanovich - George Knight.

Tizengauzen, Daria Fedorovna (married Fikelmon; 1804-1863) - granddaughter of Field Marshal Kutuzov, daughter of E.M. Khitrovo, mistress of a literary salon.

Baron Tizengauzen, Dmitry Orestovich (1872-1937) - Orenburg and Vyatka vice-governor.

Tiesenhausen, Eugene:

Countess Tyzenhausen, Ekaterina Fedorovna (1803-1888) - granddaughter of Field Marshal M.I.Kutuzov, chamber-maid of honor.

Tizengauzen, Elizaveta Mikhailovna (better known under the name Khitrovo; 1783-1839) - daughter of M.I.Kutuzov, mistress of the famous St. Petersburg salon.

Count Tiesenhausen, Ivan Andreevich (? -1815) - Chief Hofmeister; Chevalier of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky.

Tiesenhausen, Karl Egorovich (1802-1887) - Knight of St. George; Lieutenant General, participant in the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829

Tizengauzen, Nikolai Alexandrovich - Georgievsky Knight; major general; Kherson provincial leader of the nobility.

Baron Tyzenhausen, Nikolai Ottovich (1827-1891) - Privy Councilor, Prosecutor of the Petrograd Court of Justice, Senator.

Count Tiesenhausen, Pavel Ivanovich (1774-1864) - actual privy councilor, senator.

Baron Tiesenhausen, Pavel Ottovich (1834-1886) - Privy Councilor, Senator.

Count Tizengauzen, Pyotr Pavlovich (1815-1860) - classmate and friend of M. Yu. Lermontov, participant in the Caucasian War.

Tiesenhausen, Roman Romanovich - Knight of St. George.

Tiesenhausen, Sofia (better known by the name Choiseul-Gufier; 1790-1878) - Russian-Polish-Lithuanian aristocrat.

Count Tizengausen, Fyodor Ivanovich (1782-1805) - adjutant wing in the retinue of His Imperial Majesty of the Russian Imperial Army.

Tizengauzen, Faddey Yakovlevich - Knight of St. George.

Tizengauzen, Emmanuel Pavlovich (1881-1940) - Russian explorer of the Arctic.

Baron Tiesenhausen, Yakov Khristoforovich - Knight of St. George (Prime Major; No. 317; November 26, 1780 - for length of service).

Tiesenhausen N

Tiesenhausen N

Tiesenhausen N

Tiesenhausen N

Tiesenhausen N

Tiesenhausen N

Tiesenhausen Adam Johann

Tiesenhausen Adolf

Tiesenhausen Alexander

Tizengauzen Alexander Nikolaevich

Tizengauzen Alexander Ottokarovich

Tiesenhausen Alfred Alfr.

Tiesenhausen Alfred Alfredovich

Tizengauzen Anatoly Pavlovich

Tizengauzen Andrey Ivanovich

Tiesenhausen Anna

Tiesenhausen Anna-Magdalena-Juliana

Tizengauzen Anton Ivanovich

Tiesenhausen Berndt-Heinrich

Tiesenhausen Bertha

Tiesenhausen Anthony

Tiesenhausen Boris

Tizengauzen V.F.

Tizengauzen Vasily Gustavovich

Vasily Tizengauzen

Tizengauzen Vasily Karlovich

Tizengauzen Vasily Petrovich

Tizengauzen Vladimir Georgievich

Tizengauzen Vladimir Gustavovich

Tizengauzen Vladimir Petrovich

Tiesenhausen G.B.

Tizengauzen G. Yu.

Tiesenhausen Gastfsr

Tiesenhausen Heinrich

Tiesenhausen Heinrich

Tiesenhausen Heinrich-Berendt

Tiesenhausen Georg

Tiesenhausen Georg-Johann

Tiesenhausen Georg-Kaspar

Tizengauzen Georgy Sergeevich

Tizengauzen German Germanovich

Tiesenhausen Hermann Engelbrecht

Tiesenhausen Gotthard-Jan Janovic-Gotardovich

Tiesenhausen Gustav Adolf

Tiesenhausen Dietloff

Ever since the days of the Kaiser's fleet, German aristocrats did not hesitate to serve on submarines. A career as a submarine attracted barons and counts, many of whom became commanders of submarines. A similar situation could be observed in the ranks of the Kriegsmarine submariners. As in the days of the Kaiser, among them there were many offspring of aristocratic families with the prefix "von", some of whom became famous and became underwater aces. It is rather problematic to list all the aristocrats who served with Dönitz within the framework of the article, so the story is about the most prominent of them.

Barons von Forstner

In the history of the German submarine, this aristocratic family left its special mark, since as many as three barons von Forstner commanded submarines in both world wars. During the First World War, Georg-Günther Freiherr von Forstner commanded the submarine U 28 for two years and sank 24 ships with a total tonnage of 54,587 brt. It was the U 28 that was the very boat that became known as the "sunk by the truck," and von Forstner was its first commanding officer. Georg-Gunther's brother was General of Infantry Ernst Freiherr von Forstner, Knight Commander of the Order of the Pur-la-Merite. His sons Siegfried and Wolfgang-Friedrich subsequently followed in their uncle's footsteps, becoming Kriegsmarine submarine officers.

Baron Siegfried von Forstner - Commander of U 402, Knight's Cross (http://uboatarchive.net)

Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner was born on September 19, 1910. On April 1, 1930, he began service in the Reichsmarine. After completing his studies and training on October 1, 1934, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant zur zee. From April 1 to July 31, 1940, the Baron studied at the Scuba Diving School in Neustadt and completed the courses for submarine commanders in Memel. From October 11, 1940 to April 16, 1941, he commanded the training boat U 59 in the Baltic.

On April 17, 1941, Siegfried von Forstner was appointed commander of the completed submarine U 402 of the VIIC series, which entered service on May 21 of the same year. Later, he made eight trips to the Atlantic on it, where he distinguished himself in attacks on the SC-107 and SC-118 convoys. Von Forstner sank 14 vessels at 70,434 grt (including the Soviet ship Ashgabat) and a US Navy patrol ship, and damaged three vessels at 28,682 grt. For his successes, on February 9, 1943, he was awarded the Knight's Cross. On October 13, Siegfried von Forstner was killed in the Atlantic with his boat sunk by planes from the USS Card.

Wolfgang-Friedrich Freiherr von Forstner was born on October 3, 1916. On April 1, 1937, he began service in the Kriegsmarine. After completing his studies and training on August 1, 1939, he, like his brother, was awarded the rank of lieutenant zur zee. From September 1939 to February 1942 he served in the Luftwaffe naval aviation units.

U 402 returned from a campaign during which Siegfried von Forstner was awarded the Knight's Cross. The numbers of the tonnage declared by von Forstner are inscribed on the boat's wheelhouse. Photo taken on February 23, 1943 (http://uboatarchive.net)

In March 1942, von Forstner went to serve in the submarine, and after completing his training in September of the same year, he was appointed as a watch officer on the U 572 combat submarine, on which he made two trips to the Atlantic. In March 1943, von Forstner was appointed commander of the completed submarine of the VIIC U 472 series, which entered service on May 26 of the same year. After six months of training in the Baltic, the boat was assigned to the 11th Combat Submarine Flotilla, operating from Norwegian bases in the waters of the Arctic.

Submarine U 472 made two cruises to the Barents and Norwegian Seas to act against Arctic convoys. She was sunk on 4 March of the same year in the Barents Sea by the British destroyer HMS Onslaught and the Suardfish aircraft from the escort aircraft carrier HMS Chaser. The boat commander was taken prisoner with part of his crew. In November 1947, von Forstner was released and sent to Germany. After the formation of the Bundesmarine, Wolfgang-Friedrich continued his naval career, rising to the rank of frigatten captain. The youngest of the submarine brothers died on September 24, 1999 in Hamburg.

Baron von Schlippenbach

Egon Reiner Freiherr von Schlippenbach was born on April 10, 1914. On April 1, 1934, he began service in the Reichsmarine. After completing his studies and training on April 1, 1937, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant zur zee. Until September 1938, von Schlippenbach served as an artillery officer on the battleship Schleswig-Holstein, and then taught artillery science at schools of naval artillery and diving for a year.

Baron Egon Rainer von Schlippenbach, commanding officer of U 453, on the day he was awarded the Knight's Cross.

In October 1939, von Schlippenbach was appointed watch officer on U 18, on which he made four military campaigns. From April to September 1940, he underwent training in torpedo firing and communications courses in Mürvik and training in the 1st training submarine division in Neustadt with a month-long practice as a watch officer at training U 3. On November 23 of the same year, von Schlippenbach was appointed watch officer at U 101 , on which he made two trips to the Atlantic. On March 14, 1941, he was sent to a commanding course in Memel, with the subsequent appointment as a commander on a training boat U 121.

On July 9, 1941, he was appointed commander of U 453, on which he made 14 campaigns, 13 of which were in the Mediterranean. The boat sunk four ships with a total tonnage of 15 850 brt and a British minesweeper, damaged two ships with a total tonnage of 16 610 tons and a British destroyer. For his successes, von Schlippenbach was awarded the Knight's Cross on November 19, 1943.

Commander U 453 is also known for being the only German submarine commander to torpedo a hospital ship without seeing the latter's markings. According to unverified reports, upon the return of U 453 to the base for this attack, von Schlippenbach was brought to trial by a military tribunal, but was able to acquit himself.

Hospital ship "Somersetshire" torpedoed by U 453 von Schlippenbach on April 7, 1942 (http://greatwarnurses.blogspot.com)

On December 7, 1943, von Schlippenbach was transferred to the reserve of the 29th Submarine Flotilla, and then was appointed staff officer of the commander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarine. On July 15, 1944, he was transferred to the position of teaching officer at the Schleswig Naval Academy, where he also commanded a company of cadets. On March 23, 1945, von Schlippenbach became a staff officer of the 1st Marine Division, with which he surrendered to the Americans on May 9.

After his release from captivity, the Baron returned to Germany and in 1956 continued his career as a naval officer in the Bundesmarine. Baron von Schlippenbach retired with the rank of Captain zur See in September 1972. The former submariner died on May 11, 1979 in Kiel.

Baron von Tiesenhausen

Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen was born on February 22, 1913 in Riga. On April 1, 1934, he began service in the Reichsmarine. After completing his studies and training on April 1, 1937, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant zur zee. After completing anti-aircraft gunner courses at the Coastal Artillery School in Wilhelmshaven, he served on the light cruiser Nürnberg. In March 1938, the Baron was transferred to Pillau to serve in the Kriegsmarine coastal artillery units. In October-December 1939, von Tiesenhausen studied at the Diving School in Kiel, after which on December 23 of the same year he was appointed officer of the watch on U 23, commanded by Otto Kretschmer.

Baron Hans-Dietrich von Tiesenhausen, commander of U 331

Together with Kretschmer, von Tiesenhausen made three campaigns, and then, after the latter left U 23, another campaign with another commander. On May 6, 1940, the Baron was sent to a month-long torpedo training course at Mürvik, and then transferred to the headquarters of the 1st Submarine Flotilla in Kiel. On July 30, 1940, von Tiesenhausen was appointed as the first watch officer on the new boat U 93 of the VIIC series, on which he made two voyages to the Atlantic.

In January 1941, von Tiesenhausen was sent to the submarine commander's courses in Memel, after which he was assigned to the VIIC U 331 series boat, which was being completed, which entered service on March 31 of the same year. From July 1941 to September 1942, von Tiesenhausen made nine trips on U 331, the lion's share of which fell on the Mediterranean Sea. There he achieved outstanding success when on 25 November 1941 he attacked a British squadron and sank the battleship Barham. For this attack, von Tiesenhausen was awarded the Knight's Cross on January 27, 1942.

The next, tenth, campaign was the last for U 331: on November 17, 1942, off the coast of Algeria, she was attacked and seriously damaged by British aircraft, and then finished off by a torpedo from one of the Albacores from the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable. Together with most of his crew, von Tiesenhausen was captured and sent first to England and then to Canada.

Nasal torpedo tubes U 331 von Tiesenhausen with a figure in the form of a silhouette of the sunken battleship Barham (http://www.torpedo-los.narod.ru)

In 1947 he was released and returned to war-torn Germany. The former underwater ace was forced to work as a carpenter and make furniture. Not finding himself in this capacity, von Tiesenhausen emigrated to Canada. There he lived near Vancouver, working as an interior designer and improving his hobby as a naturalist photographer. The Barham winner passed away on August 17, 2000 in Vancouver.

Count von Soden-Fraunhofen

Ulrich Graf von Soden-Fraunhofen was born on August 2, 1913 in Friedrichshafen. On April 3, 1936, he began service in the Kriegsmarine. After completing his studies and training on October 1, 1938, the count was awarded the rank of lieutenant zur zee. Since the beginning of the war, he served on minesweepers, including as an adjutant to the commander of the 16th minesweeper flotilla. In July 1940, he became commander of the 40th minesweeper flotilla, and in November was transferred to the same position in the 12th minesweeper flotilla.

In April 1941, von Soden-Fraunhofen parted ways with the minesweepers and began training at the Scuba Diving School. In October, he was appointed watch officer on U 552 by Erich Topp, with whom he took part in two expeditions to the Atlantic when Topp sank the US destroyer USS Reuben James. In March 1942, von Soden-Fraunhofen was sent to a course for submarine commanders in Memel and on May 25 of the same year he received a brand new "seven" U 624 from the shipyard, becoming its commander.

After completing a training course and tests in the Baltic, U 624 left Kiel on its first campaign on October 10, 1942. It lasted 56 days, and during this time the offspring of the Bavarian aristocrats flashed a real talent of the commander: attacking the convoys НХ-212 and ONS-144, U 624 sank four ships with a total tonnage of 34,734 GRT and damaged another one at 5,432 GRT.

The "educator" of underwater aristocrats is the commander of U 552 Erich Topp. During his command of the boat, Baron Ulrich von Soden-Fraunhofen and Baron Walter von Freiberg-Eisenberg-Almendingen served as watch officers on it, who later became commanders of combat submarines (https://commons.wikimedia.org)

U 624's casualties included the 16,966 grt Norwegian whaling base Kosmos II, which was used by the Allies as a tanker. This huge vessel, carrying 21,000 tons of oil and three LCT-class landing craft, was torpedoed and damaged by U 606 in the early morning of 28 October 1942. The floating base reduced its speed and followed the convoy for almost a day, until a torpedo with U 624 broke it in half. The floating base was included in the twenty largest ships sunk by German submarines in the Battle of the Atlantic.

U 624 began its second and last campaign on January 7, 1943. This time, von Soden-Fraunhofen succeeded again: on January 25, he successfully attacked the SC-117 convoy and sank one ship at 5112 brt, but then his luck turned away from the count. The aggressive and successful commander died along with the entire crew when on 7 February 1943 U 624 was sunk by the British Flying Fortress of 220 Squadron RAF. Ulrich von Soden-Fraunhofen was a capable submariner and had all the qualities to do better and become a real underwater ace, but fortunately for the Allies, they managed to eliminate him before German radio could trumpet the award of the Knight's Cross to the commander of U 624.

In conclusion, it should be noted that about two dozen barons and counts commanded submarines in the Kriegsmarine submarine, but their high birth did not give them any privileges, so they pulled the submariner's strap on an equal footing with everyone else. About half of them died in the Atlantic, while the rest survived the war. Some of the former aristocratic submariners came to serve in the German Navy, continuing the tradition of the Barons von Forstner and Lothar von Arnaud de la Periere.

Literature:

1. Blair C. Hitler "s U-boat War. The Hunters, 1939-1942 - Random House, 1996
2. Blair C. Hitler's U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942-1945 - Random House, 1998
3. Busch R., Roll H.-J. German U-boat Commanders of World War II - Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1999
4. Busch R., Roll H.-J. Der U-boot-Krieg 1939-1945. Deutsche Uboot-Erfolge von September 1939 bis Mai 1945. Band 3 - Hamburg-Berlin-Bonn, Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn, 2001
5. Niestlé A. German U-Boat Losses during World War II: Details of Destruction - Frontline Books, 2014
6. Paterson L. U-Boats in the Mediterranean: 1941-1944 - Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2007
7. Wynn K. U-Boat Operations of the Second World War. Vol.1–2 - Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998
8. http://www.uboat.net
9. http://www.uboatarchive.net
10. http://historisches-marinearchiv.de

Baron Hans Didrich von Tiesenhausen(German Hans Diedrich von Tiesenhausen; 22 February 1913, Riga, Russian empire- August 17, 2000, Vancouver, Canada) - Eastsee Baron from the Tiesenhausen family, submarine officer, lieutenant commander of the Kriegsmarine (January 1, 1942).

Biography

Before the revolution, the Tiesenhausen were in the tsarist service. Hans Didrich joined the fleet on September 26, 1934 as a cadet. On April 1, 1937 he was promoted to lieutenant.

The Second World War

In December 1939 he was transferred to the submarine fleet and appointed second mate on U-23, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Otto Kretschmer. Von Tiesenhausen shared Kretschmer's views on the tactics of using submarines, implying daring unexpected breakthroughs to secure targets with their subsequent sinking from a short distance.

Tiesenhausen participated in three combat patrols, during which the boat sank five ships and a destroyer.

From July 1940, the first assistant commander of the U-93. Made two trips on it.

On March 31, 1941, he was appointed commander of U-331, where he made 10 military campaigns (having spent a total of 242 days at sea).

On November 25, 1941, he sank the English battleship Barham in the Tobruk region (North Africa) with three torpedoes. Despite the heavy damage that the boat received, attacked by escort ships, Tiesenhausen managed to escape the pursuit and return to base.

On December 7, 1941, he was awarded the 1st Class Iron Cross, and on January 27, 1942 - the Knight's Cross. For "Barham" Benito Mussolini awarded Tiesenhausen with Italy's highest military award - the Gold Medal for Bravery.

In total, during the war, Tiesenhausen sank 2 ships with a total tonnage of 40 235 brt and damaged 1 ship with a displacement of 372 brt.

On November 17, 1942, the U-331 was sunk. Tiesenhausen and 15 other surviving team members were captured. Originally held in a POW camp in the UK, and then 3 years in Canada. In 1947 he returned to Germany and worked as a carpenter. In the fall of 1951 he moved permanently to Canada. Lived in Vancouver, worked as an interior design and photographer.

Awards

• Iron Cross 2nd Class (January 30, 1940)
• Submariner's badge (February 26, 1940)
• Medal "In Commemoration of March 22, 1939" ("Memel Medal") (June 25, 1940)
• Medal "In Commemoration of October 1, 1938" ("Sudeten Medal") (September 6, 1940)
• Iron Cross 1st Class (7 December 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (27 September 1942)
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht (November 26, 1941, January 27, 1942)