Thilo Bode

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)



No ships sunk or damaged.


Born  19 Feb 1918 Bochum
Died  3 Jan 2014(95)München, Germany


Ranks

3 Apr 1936 Offiziersanwärter
10 Sep 1936 Seekadett
1 May 1937 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1938 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1938 Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1940 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1943 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

6 Jun 1939 Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords
1940 Iron Cross 2nd Class
1941 Destroyer War Badge
1943 Wound Badge in Silver
Jul 1943 U-boat War Badge 1939
1943 Iron Cross 1st Class

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-858 30 Sep 1943 14 May 1945   2 patrols (173 days) 

Thilo Bode joined the Kriegsmarine in 1936, and was part of the Olympia Crew. He served in the Spanish Civil War, and spent two years on the destroyer Z 6 Theodor Riedel before joining the U-boat force in 1942.

Oblt. Bode was First Watch Officer (1WO) on U-505 from Sept 1942 to March 1943. He took a one month U-boat Commander course at the 24th (Training) Flotilla during May 1943, after which he continued as 1WO on U-505 until August.

Following U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung), Kptlt. Bode commissioned the large type IXC/40 U-boat U-858 at Bremen on 30 Sept 1943. He took her on two patrols, one of 108 days in the North Atlantic, and one of 68 days off the US East coast. At the end of the second patrol he surrendered his boat to the US Navy at Cape May, New Jersey on 14 May 1945.

Kplt. Thilo Bode died on 3 Jan 2014 (Süddeutsche Zeitung).

Sources

Busch, R & Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Thilo Bode

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-858 12 Jun 1944  Kiel  27 Sep 1944  Farsund  Patrol 1,108 days
2. U-858 28 Sep 1944  Farsund  29 Sep 1944  Marviken   2 days
3. U-858 1 Oct 1944  Marviken  4 Oct 1944  Flensburg   4 days
4. U-858 2 Mar 1945  Kiel  9 Mar 1945  Horten   8 days
5. U-858 11 Mar 1945  Horten  14 May 1945  Lewes, Delaware, USA  Patrol 2,65 days
2 patrols, 173 days at sea


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.

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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