Jürgen Thimme

Oberleutnant zur See (Crew 37a)



No ships sunk or damaged.


Born  26 Sep 1917 Berlin
Died  7 Aug 2010(92)Karlsruhe, Germany


Kriegsmarine Crew photo

Ranks

3 Apr 1937 Offiziersanwärter
21 Sep 1937 Seekadett
1 May 1938 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1939 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Aug 1939 Leutnant zur See
1 Sep 1941 Oberleutnant zur See

Decorations

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-276 9 Dec 1942 19 Oct 1943   No war patrols 
U-716 Feb, 1945 9 May 1945   3 patrols (44 days) 

Jürgen Thimme joined the Kriegsmarine in 1937. He was a Watch Officer (WO) in fleet escort F from Aug 1940 to May 1941. From May to Sept 1941 he served as a Watch Officer with the 3rd Minesweeping Flotilla (Busch & Röll, 1999).

He went through U-boat training from Sept 1941 to April 1942 when he was assigned as the First Watch Officer (1WO) on the U-214 (Kptlt. Günther Reeder). Jürgen Thimme left the boat in Oct 1942 after 2 patrols (Busch & Röll, 1999).

In Oct 1942 Thimme began his U-boat Commander training with the 24th (Training) Flotilla from when he began his U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) at Bremen to prepare for his own command. On 9 Dec 1942 Oblt. Jürgen Thimme commissioned the brand new type VIIC boat U-278. In Oct 1943 he left the boat having never gone out on patrol with her (Busch & Röll, 1999).

From Oct 1943 to Nov 1944 Thimme served as a Watch officer with the 8th and 11th Flotillas. Then he was a supernumerary Watch Officer on the U-294 until Jan 1945 (Busch & Röll, 1999).

On 26 Jan 1945 Oblt. Jürgen Thimme took command of the veteran boat U-716 then stationed in Norway. He took the boat out on 3 patrols in the Arctic Ocean (Busch & Röll, 1997). He surrendered his boat at Narvik, Norway on 9 May 1945 (Niestlé, 1998).

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.

Patrol info for Jürgen Thimme

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-716 18 Feb 1945  Harstad  24 Feb 1945  Harstad  Patrol 1,7 days
2. U-716 25 Feb 1945  Harstad  26 Feb 1945  Bogenbucht   2 days
3. U-716 12 Mar 1945  Bogenbucht  9 Apr 1945  Narvik  Patrol 2,29 days
4. U-716 21 Apr 1945  Narvik  28 Apr 1945  Narvik  Patrol 3,8 days
5. U-716 12 May 1945  Narvik  12 May 1945  Skjomenfjord   1 days
6. U-716 15 May 1945  Skjomenfjord  19 May 1945  Loch Eriboll, UK   5 days
3 patrols, 44 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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