The Men - The Commander listing

Freiherr Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)

Successes
1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 9.135 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 31.100 tons
1 warship damaged for a total of 372 tons

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

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

Ranks

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-331

31 Mar, 1941

17 Nov, 1942

10 patrols (242 days)

Personal information

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 for 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 note as a nature photographer.

Patrol info

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

Ships hit by Freiherr Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
10 Oct, 1941	U-331	HMS TLC-18 (A 18)	372		br		damaged
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
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.