Promoted lieutenant, von Tiesenhausen served on the cruiser Nürnberg, taking part in security patrols in Spanish waters in 1937.

Promoted to Oberleutnant zur See on 1 April 1939, he reported for submarine training in October 1939, after the outbreak of World War II.

[1] After sailing from Lorient on 24 September, and making the difficult passage into the Mediterranean Sea, on 10 October the boat engaged three British tank landing craft off Sidi Barrani, Egypt.

[2] Departing Salamis on 12 November 1941, the boat was tasked with landing seven men of the Lehrregiment Brandenburg[3] east of Ras Gibeisa, on a mission to blow up a railway line near the Egyptian coast.

[4] After completing this important task, Von Tiesenhausen was given free movement to patrol and attack Allied targets along the Egyptian coast.