October 25, 1934-The keel of Z2 Georg Thiele is laid down in the Deutsche Werke shipyards in Kiel.
August 18, 1935-The Georg Thiele is launched.
February 27, 1937-The Georg Thiele is commissioned and undergoes sea trials. It was discovered that the 1934 class destroyer was unstable in rough seas. This led to reconstruction of the forecastle, and the length of Georg Thiele was extended 30 cm.
April 6, 1938-Z2 Georg Thiele, Z3 Max Schultz, Z4 Richard Beitzen enter Ulvik after passing though Hardangerfjord.
August 19, 1938-The Georg Thiele passes in review in front of Admiral Raeder, and Adolf Hitler and Hungarian Regent Admiral Horthy inspected the fleet shortly afterwards. Afterwards, Georg Thiele takes part in maneuvers until August 30.
March 23, 1939-The Georg Thiele was ordered to return the refugees from Memel into Lithuania after Germany ordered the repeal of the Memel Statute, arriving on May 24.
April 18,1939-The Georg Thiele takes part in a fleet operation along with several of Germany’s pocket battleships.
May 15, 1939-The Georg Thiele returns to Germany after completing the fleet exercise, and visiting several foreign ports.
August 26, 1939-The Georg Thiele engages in practice exercises while in the western Baltic, at Bornholm.
August 27, 1939-The Georg Thiele tows the wreckage of Z3 Max Schultz, which collided with a torpedo boat while guarding the Sund, which prevented exit to the North Sea. Georg Thiele arrived in Swinemünde the next day.
September 1, 1939-The Georg Thiele is patrolling the western Baltic throughout the invasion of Poland.
September 3, 1939-The Georg Thiele takes part in building up the West Wall in the Skagerrak from September 3 until September 20.
January 1940-The Georg Thiele enters repairs at Wilhelmshaven
April 6, 1940-Troops embark on the Georg Thiele, which is part of Kriegsschiffgruppe 1 (Warship Group 1), for Operation Weserübung.
April 9, 1940-The Georg Thiele disembarks the troops at Narvik.
April 10, 1940-The Georg Thiele and Z11 Bernd Von Arnim engage 5 British destroyers, disabling two before being driven off. During the attack, Georg Thiele received seven hits before leaving. The destroyer anchored briefly to control fires before returning to Narvik.
April 13, 1940-The Georg Thiele runs aground after expending all ammunition in the Second Battle of Narvik. British ships fired on the destroyer, and the stern broke off, while the keel can still be seen aground today.
Statistics:
Armament:
