Bismarck-class battleship of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine
A recognition drawing of
Tirpitz
prepared by the US Navy
|
History
|
Germany
|
Namesake
| Alfred von Tirpitz
|
Builder
| Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven
|
Laid down
| 2 November 1936
|
Launched
| 1 April 1939
|
Commissioned
| 25 February 1941
|
Fate
| Sunk by
Royal Air Force
bombers on 12 November 1944
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Bismarck
-class
battleship
|
Displacement
| |
Length
| |
Beam
| 36 m (118 ft 1 in)
|
Draft
| 9.30 m (30 ft 6 in) standard
[b]
|
Installed power
| |
Propulsion
| |
Speed
| 30
knots
(56 km/h; 35 mph)
|
Range
| 8,870
nmi
(16,430 km; 10,210 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
|
Complement
|
- 103 officers
- 1,962 enlisted men
[a]
|
Sensors and
processing systems
| FuMO 23
|
Armament
| |
Armour
|
- Belt
: 320 mm (13 in)
- Turrets
: 360 mm (14 in)
- Main deck
: 100 to 120 mm (3.9 to 4.7 in)
- Upper deck: 50 mm (2 in)
|
Aircraft carried
| 4 ×
Arado Ar 196
floatplanes
|
Aviation facilities
| 1 double-ended
catapult
|
Tirpitz
(
German pronunciation:
[?t??p?t?s]
ⓘ
) was the second of two
Bismarck
-class
battleships
built for
Nazi Germany
's
Kriegsmarine
(navy) prior to and during the Second World War. Named after Grand Admiral
Alfred von Tirpitz
, the architect of the
Kaiserliche Marine
(Imperial Navy), the ship was laid down at the
Kriegsmarinewerft
in
Wilhelmshaven
in November 1936 and her
hull
was launched two and a half years later. Work was completed in February 1941, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Like her sister ship,
Bismarck
,
Tirpitz
was armed with a main battery of eight 38-centimetre (15 in)
guns
in four twin
turrets
. After a series of wartime modifications she was 2000 tonnes heavier than
Bismarck
, making her the heaviest battleship ever built by a European navy.
After completing
sea trials
in early 1941,
Tirpitz
briefly served as the centrepiece of the Baltic Fleet, which was intended to prevent a possible break-out attempt by the
Soviet Baltic Fleet
. In early 1942, the ship sailed to Norway to act as a deterrent against an Allied invasion. While stationed in Norway,
Tirpitz
was also intended to be used to intercept Allied convoys to the
Soviet Union
, and two such missions were attempted in 1942. This was the only feasible role for her, since the
St Nazaire Raid
had made operations against the
Atlantic convoy
lanes too risky.
Tirpitz
acted as a
fleet in being
, forcing the British
Royal Navy
to retain significant naval forces in the area to contain the battleship.
In September 1943,
Tirpitz
, along with the battleship
Scharnhorst
,
bombarded Allied positions
on
Spitzbergen
, the only time the ship used her main battery in an offensive role. Shortly thereafter, the ship was damaged in
an attack by British mini-submarines
and subsequently subjected to a series of large-scale air raids. On 12 November 1944, British
Lancaster bombers
equipped with 12,000-pound (5,400 kg)
"Tallboy" bombs
scored two direct hits and a near miss which caused the ship to
capsize
rapidly. A deck fire spread to the ammunition magazine for one of the main battery turrets, which caused a large explosion. Figures for the number of men killed in the attack range from 950 to 1,204. Between 1948 and 1957, the wreck was broken up by a joint Norwegian and German salvage operation.
Design
[
edit
]
The two
Bismarck
-class
battleships
were designed in the mid-1930s by the German
Kriegsmarine
as a counter to French naval expansion, specifically the two
Richelieu
-class battleships
France had started in 1935. Laid down after the signing of the
Anglo-German Naval Agreement
of 1935,
Tirpitz
and her
sister
Bismarck
were nominally within the 35,000-
long-ton
(36,000
t
) limit imposed by the
Washington regime
that governed battleship construction in the
interwar period
. The ships secretly exceeded the figure by a wide margin, though before either vessel was completed, the international treaty system had fallen apart following Japan's withdrawal in 1937, allowing signatories to invoke an "escalator clause" that permitted displacements as high as 45,000 long tons (46,000 t).
Tirpitz
displaced
42,900 t (42,200 long tons)
as built
and 52,600 t (51,800 long tons)
fully loaded
, with a length of 251 m (823 ft 6 in), a
beam
of 36 m (118 ft 1 in) and a maximum
draft
of 10.60 m (34 ft 9 in).
[c]
Her standard crew numbered 103 officers and 1,962 enlisted men; during the war this was increased to 108 officers and 2,500 men. She was powered by three
Brown, Boveri & Cie
geared
steam turbines
, each driving a
screw propeller
, with steam provided by twelve oil-fired Wagner superheated
water-tube boilers
. Her propulsion system developed a total of 163,023
PS
(160,793
shp
; 119,903
kW
) and yielded a maximum speed of 30.8 knots (57.0 km/h; 35.4 mph) on speed trials.
She was armed with eight
38 cm SK C/34
L/52 guns arranged in four twin
gun turrets
: two
superfiring
turrets forward?Anton and Bruno?and two aft?Caesar and Dora.
[d]
Her secondary armament consisted of twelve
15 cm L/55
guns, sixteen
10.5 cm L/65
and sixteen
3.7 cm (1.5 in)
L/83, and initially twelve
2 cm (0.79 in) C/30
anti-aircraft guns. The number of 2 cm guns was eventually increased to 58. After 1942, eight 53.3 cm (21 in) above-water
torpedo tubes
were installed in two quadruple mounts, one mount on each side of the ship.
As built,
Tirpitz
was equipped with Model 23 search radars
[e]
mounted on the forward, foretop, and rear rangefinders. These were later replaced with Model 27 and then Model 26 radars, which had a larger antenna array. A Model 30 radar, known as the
Hohentwiel
, was mounted in 1944 in her topmast, and a Model 213
Wurzburg
fire-control radar was added on her stern 10.5 cm (4.1 in) Flak rangefinders.
The ship's
main belt
was 320 mm (13 in) thick and was covered by a pair of upper and main armoured decks that were 50 mm (2 in) and 100 to 120 mm (3.9 to 4.7 in) thick, respectively. The 38 cm turrets were protected by 360 mm (14 in) thick faces and 220 mm (8.7 in) thick sides.
Service history
[
edit
]
Tirpitz
was ordered as
Ersatz Schleswig-Holstein
as a replacement for the old
pre-dreadnought
Schleswig-Holstein
, under the contract name "G".
The
Kriegsmarinewerft
shipyard in
Wilhelmshaven
was awarded the contract, where the keel was laid on 20 October 1936.
The hull was launched on 1 April 1939; during the elaborate ceremonies, the ship was christened by Ilse von Hassell, the daughter of Admiral
Alfred von Tirpitz
, the ship's namesake.
Adolf von Trotha
, a former admiral in the
Imperial German Navy
, spoke at the ship's launching, which was also attended by
Adolf Hitler
.
[13]
Fitting-out
work was completed by February 1941.
British bombers repeatedly attacked the harbour in which the ship was being built; no bombs struck
Tirpitz
, but the attacks slowed construction work.
Tirpitz
was commissioned into the fleet on 25 February for
sea trials
,
which were conducted in the Baltic.
After sea trials,
Tirpitz
was stationed in
Kiel
and performed intensive training in the Baltic. While the ship was in Kiel, Germany
invaded the Soviet Union
. A temporary Baltic Fleet was created to prevent the breakout of the Soviet fleet based in
Leningrad
.
Tirpitz
was briefly made the
flagship
of the squadron, which consisted of the
heavy cruiser
Admiral Scheer
, the
light cruisers
Koln
,
Nurnberg
,
Leipzig
, and
Emden
, several destroyers, and two
flotillas
of
minesweepers
.
The Baltic Fleet, under the command of
Vice Admiral
Otto Ciliax
,
[13]
patrolled off
Aland
from 23 to 26 September 1941, after which the unit was disbanded and
Tirpitz
resumed training.
During the training period,
Tirpitz
tested her primary and secondary guns on the old
pre-dreadnought battleship
Hessen
,
which had been converted into a radio-controlled
target ship
.
The British
Royal Air Force
(RAF) continued to launch unsuccessful bombing raids on
Tirpitz
while she was stationed in Kiel.
Deployment to Norway
[
edit
]
Grand Admiral
Erich Raeder
, the commander of the
Kriegsmarine
, proposed on 13 November 1941 that
Tirpitz
be deployed to Norway. The ship would be able to attack convoys bound for the Soviet Union, and act as a
fleet in being
to tie down British naval assets and deter an Allied invasion of Norway. Hitler, who had forbidden an Atlantic sortie after the loss of
Bismarck
, agreed to the proposal. The ship was taken into dock for modifications for the deployment. The ship's anti-aircraft battery was strengthened, and the 10.5 cm guns on the superstructure next to the
catapult
were moved outboard to increase their field of fire. The two quadruple 53.3 cm torpedo tube mounts were also installed during this refit.
The ship's commander,
Kapitan zur See
(KzS?Captain at Sea)
Karl Topp
,
pronounced the ship ready for combat operations on 10 January 1942.
The following day,
Tirpitz
left for
Wilhelmshaven
, a move designed to conceal her actual destination.
The ship left Wilhelmshaven at 23:00 on 14 January and made for
Trondheim
.
British military intelligence, which was capable of decrypting the
Enigma
messages sent by the German navy, detected the departure of the vessel, but poor weather in Britain prevented action by the RAF.
Admiral
John Tovey
, the commander in chief of the British
Home Fleet
, was not made aware of
Tirpitz
'
s activities until 17 January, well after the ship had arrived in Norway.
On 16 January, British aerial reconnaissance located the ship in Trondheim.
Tirpitz
then moved to the
Fættenfjord
, just north-east of Trondheim.
The movement was codenamed Operation Polarnacht (Polar Night); the battleship was escorted by the destroyers
Z4 Richard Beitzen
,
Z5 Paul Jakobi
,
Z8 Bruno Heinemann
and
Z29
for the voyage.
[24]
The
Norwegian resistance movement
transmitted the location to London.
She was moored next to a cliff, which protected the ship from air attacks from the southwest. The ship's crew cut down trees and placed them aboard
Tirpitz
to camouflage her.
The crew also frequently hid the entire ship from
aerial reconnaissance
and attacks inside a cloud of artificial fog, created using water and
chlorosulfuric acid
.
[27]
Additional anti-aircraft batteries were installed around the fjord, as were anti-torpedo nets and heavy booms in the entrance to the anchorage.
Tirpitz
was known as the "Lonely Queen of the North" because she was so rarely deployed,
[29]
and life for her crew was very monotonous. Frequent fuel shortages curtailed training and kept the battleship and her escorts moored behind their protective netting. The crew was primarily occupied with maintaining the ship and continuously manning anti-aircraft defences. Sports activities were organised to keep the crew occupied and physically fit.
[30]
Operations against Allied convoys
[
edit
]
Several factors hindered
Tirpitz
'
s freedom of operation in Norway. The most pressing were shortages of fuel and the withdrawal of the German destroyer forces to support
Operation Cerberus
, the movement of the battleships
Scharnhorst
and
Gneisenau
and the heavy cruiser
Prinz Eugen
through the
English Channel
. These caused a planned attack against the outbound
convoy PQ 8
at the end of January to be abandoned.
A planned British air attack at the end of January by four-engined heavy bombers was disrupted by poor weather over the target, which prevented the aircraft from finding the ship.
In early February,
Tirpitz
took part in the deceptions that distracted the British in the run-up to Operation Cerberus. These included steaming out of the fjord and the appearance of preparations for a sortie into the
North Sea
.
Later that month, the ship was reinforced by the heavy cruisers
Admiral Scheer
and
Prinz Eugen
and several destroyers.
Prinz Eugen
had been torpedoed by a British submarine at the entrance to the Fættenfjord, and was temporarily out of action.
In March 1942
Tirpitz
and
Admiral Scheer
, along with the destroyers
Z14 Friedrich Ihn
,
Z5 Paul Jakobi
,
Z7 Hermann Schoemann
and
Z25
and a pair of
torpedo boats
,
[24]
were intended to attack the homebound convoy QP 8 and the outbound
Convoy PQ 12
as part of
Unternehmen Sportpalast
(Operation Sports Palace).
Admiral Scheer
,
with a design speed of 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph),
was too slow to operate with
Tirpitz
and was left in port,
as was the destroyer
Paul Jakobi
. The two torpedo boats were also released from the operation.
[24]
On 5 March,
Luftwaffe
reconnaissance aircraft spotted PQ 12 near
Jan Mayen Island
; the reconnaissance failed to note the battleship
HMS
Duke of York
or the battlecruiser
HMS
Renown
, both of which were escorting the convoy, along with four destroyers.
Unknown to the Germans, Admiral Tovey was providing distant support to the convoys with the battleship
HMS
King George V
, the aircraft carrier
HMS
Victorious
, the heavy cruiser
HMS
Berwick
, and six destroyers. Enigma intercepts again forewarned the British of
Tirpitz
'
s attack, which allowed them to reroute the convoys. Admiral Tovey attempted to pursue
Tirpitz
on 9 March,
but Admiral Otto Ciliax, the commander of the German squadron, had decided to return to port the previous evening. An air attack was launched early on the 9th; twelve
Fairey Albacore
torpedo bombers attacked the ship in three groups, and
Tirpitz
successfully evaded the torpedoes. Only three men were wounded in the attack.
Tirpitz
'
s anti-aircraft gunners shot down two of the British aircraft.
After the conclusion of the attack,
Tirpitz
made for
Vestfjord
, and from there to Trondheim, arriving on the evening of 13 March.
On 30 March, thirty-three
Halifax bombers
attacked the ship; they scored no hits, and five aircraft were shot down.
The RAF launched a pair of unsuccessful strikes in late April. On the night of 27?28 April, thirty-one Halifaxes and twelve
Lancasters
attacked; five of the bombers were shot down. Another raid, composed of twenty-three Halifaxes and eleven Lancasters, took place the following night. Two of the bombers were shot down by the German anti-aircraft defences.
The actions of
Tirpitz
and her escorting destroyers in March used up 8,230 tonnes (8,100 long tons) of
fuel oil
, which greatly reduced the available fuel supply. It took the Germans three months to replenish the fuel spent in the attempt to intercept the two Allied convoys.
Convoy PQ 17
, which left Iceland on 27 June bound for the Soviet Union, was the next convoy targeted by
Tirpitz
and the rest of the German fleet stationed in Norway,
during
Unternehmen Rosselsprung
(
Operation Knight's Move
).
Escorting the convoy were the battleships
Duke of York
and
USS
Washington
and the carrier
Victorious
.
Tirpitz
,
Admiral Hipper
, and six destroyers sortied from Trondheim, while a second task force consisting of
Lutzow
,
Admiral Scheer
, and six destroyers operated from
Narvik
and Bogenfjord.
Lutzow
and three of the destroyers struck uncharted rocks while en route to the rendezvous and had to return to port. Shortly after
Tirpitz
left Norway, the Soviet submarine
K-21
fired two or four torpedoes at the ship, all of which missed.
The Soviets claimed two hits on the battleship.
Swedish intelligence had meanwhile reported the German departures to the
British Admiralty
, which ordered the convoy to disperse. Aware that they had been detected, the Germans aborted the operation and turned over the attack to
U-boats
and the Luftwaffe. The scattered vessels could no longer be protected by the convoy escorts, and the Germans sank 21 of the 34 isolated transports.
Tirpitz
returned to
Altafjord
via the
Lofoten Islands
.
Following
Rosselsprung
, the Germans moved
Tirpitz
to
Bogenfjord
near Narvik. By this time, the ship needed a major overhaul. Hitler had forbidden the ship to make the dangerous return to Germany, and so the overhaul was conducted in Trondheim. On 23 October, the ship left Bogenfjord and returned to Fættenfjord outside Trondheim. The defences of the anchorage were further strengthened; additional anti-aircraft guns were installed, and double anti-torpedo nets were laid around the vessel. The repairs were conducted in limited phases, so
Tirpitz
would remain partially operational for the majority of the overhaul. A
caisson
was built around the stern to allow the replacement of the ship's rudders.
During the repair process, the British attempted to
attack the battleship
with two
Chariot
human torpedoes
, but before they could be launched, rough seas caused them to break away from the fishing vessel which was towing them.
By 28 December, the overhaul had been completed, and
Tirpitz
began sea trials. She conducted gunnery trials on 4 January 1943 in
Trondheim Fjord
.
On 21 February, Topp was promoted to
Rear Admiral
and was replaced by Captain
Hans Meyer
; five days later the battleship
Scharnhorst
was ordered to reinforce the fleet in Norway. Vice Admiral
Oskar Kummetz
was given command of the warships stationed in Norway.
By the time
Scharnhorst
arrived in Norway in March 1943, Allied convoys to the Soviet Union had temporarily ceased. To give the ships an opportunity to work together, Admiral
Karl Donitz
, who had replaced Raeder in the aftermath of the
Battle of the Barents Sea
on 31 December 1942, ordered
an attack
on
Spitzbergen
, which housed a British weather station and refuelling base.
Spitzbergen was defended by a garrison of 152 men from the
Norwegian Armed Forces in exile
.
The two battleships, escorted by ten destroyers, left port on 6 September; in a
ruse de guerre
,
Tirpitz
flew the
white ensign
on the approach to the island the following day.
During the bombardment,
Tirpitz
fired 52 main-battery shells and 82 rounds from her 15 cm secondaries.
This was the first and only time the ship fired her main battery at an enemy surface target.
An assault force destroyed shore installations and captured 74 prisoners.
By 11:00, the battleships had destroyed their targets and headed back to their Norwegian ports.
British attacks on
Tirpitz
[
edit
]
Operation Source
[
edit
]
The British were determined to neutralise
Tirpitz
and remove the threat she posed to the
Allied arctic convoys
. Following the repeated, ineffectual bombing attacks and the failed torpedo attack in October 1942, the British turned to the newly designed
X Craft
midget submarines
.
The planned attack,
Operation Source
, included attacks on
Tirpitz
,
Scharnhorst
, and
Lutzow
.
[54]
The X Craft were towed by large submarines to their destinations, where they could slip under anti-torpedo nets and each drop two powerful two-tonne
mines
onto the sea bed under the target. Ten vessels were assigned to the operation, scheduled for 20?25 September 1943. Only eight of them reached
Kafjord
in Norway for the attack, which began early on 22 September.
Three of the vessels,
X5
,
X6
, and
X7
, successfully breached
Tirpitz
'
s defences, two of which?
X6
and
X7
?managed to lay their mines.
X5
was detected 200 m (660 ft) from the nets and sunk by a combination of gunfire and depth charges.
The mines damaged the ship extensively. The first exploded abreast of turret Caesar, and the second detonated 45 to 55 m (148 to 180 ft) off the port bow.
A fuel oil tank was ruptured, shell plating was torn, a large indentation was formed in the bottom of the ship, and bulkheads in the
double bottom
buckled. Some 1,430 t (1,410 long tons) of water flooded the ship in fuel tanks and void spaces in the double bottom of the port side, which caused a
list
of one to two degrees, which was balanced by counter-flooding on the starboard side. The flooding damaged all of the turbo-generators in generator room No. 2, and all apart from one generator in generator room No. 1 were disabled by broken steam lines or severed power cables. Turret Dora was thrown from its bearings and could not be rotated; this was particularly significant, as there were no heavy-lift cranes in Norway powerful enough to lift the turret and place it back on its bearings.
The ship's two
Arado Ar 196
floatplanes were completely destroyed. Repairs were conducted by the repair ship
Neumark
; historians
William Garzke
and Robert Dulin remarked that the successful repair effort was "one of the most notable feats of naval engineering during the Second World War".
Repairs lasted until 2 April 1944; full speed trials were scheduled for the following day in Altafjord.
Operation Tungsten
[
edit
]
The British were aware that
Neumark
and the repair crews left in March, which intimated
Tirpitz
was nearly operational.
A major air strike?
Operation Tungsten
?involving the fleet carriers
Victorious
and
Furious
and the escort carriers
Emperor
,
Fencer
,
Pursuer
, and
Searcher
,
was set for 4 April 1944, but rescheduled a day earlier when Enigma decrypts revealed that
Tirpitz
was to depart at 05:29 on 3 April for sea trials.
The attack consisted of 40
Barracuda
dive-bombers carrying 500-pound (230 kg), 600-pound (270 kg) and 1,600-pound (730 kg) armour-piercing bombs and 40 escorting fighters in two waves, scoring fifteen direct hits and two near misses.
The aircraft achieved surprise, and only one was lost in the first wave; it took twelve to fourteen minutes for all of
Tirpitz
'
'
s anti-aircraft batteries to be fully manned. The first wave struck at 05:29, as tugs were preparing to assist the ship out of her mooring. The second wave arrived over the target an hour later, shortly after 06:30. Despite the alertness of the German anti-aircraft gunners, only one other bomber was shot down.
The air strikes did not penetrate the main armour but nonetheless caused significant damage to the ship's superstructure and inflicted serious casualties. William Garzke and Robert Dulin report the attack killed 122 men and wounded 316 others,
while Hildebrand, Rohr, & Steinmetz report 132 fatalities and 270 wounded men, including the ship's commander,
KzS
Hans Meyer.
[63]
Two of the 15 cm turrets were destroyed by bombs, and both Ar 196 floatplanes were destroyed. Several of the bomb hits caused serious fires aboard the ship. Concussive shock disabled the starboard turbine engine, and saltwater used to fight the fires reached the boilers and contaminated the feed water. Some 2,000 t (2,000 long tons) of water flooded the ship, primarily through the two holes in the side shell created by shell splinters from near misses. Water used to fight the fires also contributed to the flooding.
Donitz ordered the ship be repaired, regardless of the cost, despite the fact that he understood
Tirpitz
could no longer be used in a surface action because of insufficient fighter support. Repair work began in early May; destroyers ferried important equipment and workers from Kiel to Altafjord over the span of three days. By 2 June, the ship was again able to steam under her own power, and by the end of the month gunnery trials were possible. During the repair process, the 15 cm guns were modified to allow their use against aircraft, and specially fuzed 38 cm shells for barrage anti-aircraft fire were supplied.
Operations Planet, Brawn, Tiger Claw, Mascot and Goodwood
[
edit
]
A series of carrier strikes was planned over the next three months, but bad weather forced their cancellation. A repeat of Operation Tungsten, codenamed Operation Planet, was scheduled for 24 April. Operation Brawn, which was to have been carried out by 27 bombers and 36 fighters from
Victorious
and
Furious
, was to have taken place on 15 May, and Operation Tiger Claw was intended for 28 May.
Formidable
and
Furious
were joined by
Indefatigable
for
Operation Mascot
, which was carried out in bad weather on 17 July by 62 bombers and 30 fighters. In late August the weather improved, allowing the
Goodwood series of attacks
. Operations Goodwood I and II were launched on 22 August; a carrier force consisting of the fleet carriers
Furious
,
Indefatigable
and
Formidable
and the escort carriers
Nabob
and
Trumpeter
launched a total of 38 bombers and 43 escort fighters between the two raids.
The attacks failed to inflict any damage on
Tirpitz
and three of the attacking aircraft were shot down.
Goodwood III followed on 24 August, composed of aircraft from the fleet carriers only. Forty-eight bombers and 29 fighters attacked the ship and scored two hits which caused minor damage.
One, a 1,600-pound bomb, penetrated the upper and lower armour decks and came to rest in the No. 4 switchboard room. Its fuze had been damaged and the bomb did not detonate. The second, a 500-pound (230 kg) bomb, exploded causing superficial damage. Six aircraft were shot down in the attack.
Goodwood IV followed on 29 August, with 34 bombers and 25 fighters from
Formidable
and
Indefatigable
. Heavy fog prevented any hits from being scored.
Tirpitz
'
s gunners shot down one
Firefly
and a
Corsair
. The battleship expended 54 rounds from her main guns, 161 from the 15 cm guns and up to 20 per cent of her light anti-aircraft ammunition.
Operations Paravane and Obviate
[
edit
]
The ineffectiveness of the great majority of the strikes launched by the
Fleet Air Arm
in mid-1944 led to the task of
Tirpitz
'
s destruction being transferred to the RAF's
No. 5 Group
. The RAF used Lancaster bombers to carry 6-short-ton (5.4 t)
Tallboy bombs
to penetrate the ship's heavy armour.
The first attack,
Operation Paravane
, took place on 15 September 1944; operating from a forward base at
Yagodnik
in Russia, 23 Lancasters (17 each carrying one Tallboy and six each carrying twelve
JW mines
), scored a single hit on the ship's bow.
The Tallboy penetrated the ship, exited the keel, and exploded in the bottom of the fjord. The bow was flooded with 800 to 1,000 t (790 to 980 long tons) of water, causing a serious increase in
trim
forward. The ship was rendered unseaworthy and was limited to 8 to 10 knots (15 to 19 km/h; 9.2 to 11.5 mph). Concussive shock caused severe damage to fire-control equipment. The damage persuaded the naval command to repair the ship for use only as a floating gun battery. Repair work was estimated to take nine months, but patching of the holes could be effected within a few weeks, allowing
Tirpitz
to be moved further south to
Tromsø
. On 15 October, the ship made the 200 nmi (370 km; 230 mi) trip to Tromsø under her own power, the last voyage of her career.
The RAF made a second attempt on 29 October, after the ship was moored off
Hakøya
Island outside Tromsø. Thirty-two Lancasters attacked the ship with Tallboys during
Operation Obviate
.
As on Operation Paravane,
No. 9 Squadron
and
No. 617 Squadron
carried out the attack together, which resulted in only one near miss,
partially the result of bad weather over the target.
The underwater explosion damaged the port rudder and shaft and caused some flooding.
Tirpitz
'
s 38 cm fragmentation shells proved ineffective in countering the high-level bombers; one aircraft was damaged by ground-based anti-aircraft guns.
Following the attack, the ship's anchorage was significantly improved. A large sandbank was constructed under and around the ship to prevent her from capsizing, and anti-torpedo nets were installed.
Tirpitz
retained a one-degree list to port from earlier damage, and this was not corrected by counter-flooding to retain as much reserve buoyancy as possible. The ship was also prepared for her role as a floating artillery platform: fuel was limited to what was necessary to power the turbo-generators, and the crew was reduced to 1,600 officers and enlisted men.
Operation Catechism
[
edit
]
Operation Catechism
, the final British attack on
Tirpitz
, took place on 12 November 1944.
The ship again used her 38 cm guns against the bombers, which approached the battleship at 09:35;
Tirpitz
'
s main guns forced the bombers to disperse temporarily, but could not break up the attack.
A force of 32 Lancasters from Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons dropped 29 Tallboys on the ship, landing two direct hits and one near miss.
Several other bombs landed within the anti-torpedo net barrier and caused significant cratering of the seabed; this removed much of the sandbank that had been constructed to prevent the ship from capsizing. One bomb penetrated the ship's deck between turrets Anton and Bruno but failed to explode. A second hit
amidships
between the aircraft catapult and the funnel and caused severe damage. A very large hole was blown in the ship's side and bottom; the entire section of belt armour abreast of the bomb hit was completely destroyed. A third bomb may have struck the port side of turret Caesar.
The amidships hit caused significant flooding and quickly increased the port list to between 15 and 20 degrees. In ten minutes the list increased to 30 to 40 degrees, and the captain issued the order to abandon ship. The list increased to 60 degrees by 09:50; this appeared to stabilise temporarily. Eight minutes later, a large explosion rocked turret Caesar. The turret roof and part of the rotating structure were thrown 25 m (82 ft) into the air and into a group of men swimming to shore, crushing them.
Tirpitz
rapidly rolled over and buried her superstructure in the sea floor.
In the aftermath of the attack, 82 men trapped in the upturned hull were rescued by cutting through the exposed bottom.
Figures for the death toll vary from approximately 950 to 1,204.
[f]
Approximately 200 survivors of the sinking were transferred to the heavy cruiser
Lutzow
in January 1945.
The performance of the Luftwaffe in the defence of
Tirpitz
was heavily criticised after her loss. Major
Heinrich Ehrler
, the commander of III./
Jagdgeschwader 5
(3rd Wing of the 5th Fighter Group), was blamed for the Luftwaffe's failure to intercept the British bombers. He was court-martialled in Oslo and threatened with the death penalty. Evidence was presented that his unit had failed to help the Kriegsmarine when requested. He was sentenced to three years in prison, but was released after a month, demoted, and reassigned to an
Me 262
fighter squadron in Germany.
Ehrler was exonerated by further investigations which concluded poor communication between the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe had caused the fiasco;
the aircrews had not been informed that
Tirpitz
had been moved off Hakøya two weeks before the attack.
The wreck of
Tirpitz
remained in place until after the war, when a joint German-Norwegian company began salvage operations. Work lasted from 1948 until 1957;
fragments of the ship were sold by a Norwegian company.
Ludovic Kennedy
wrote in his history of the vessel that she "lived an invalid's life and died a cripple's death".
- ^
Crew could be augmented up to 108 officers and 2,500 enlisted men.
- ^
Tirpitz
'
s draft at full load was 10.60 metres (34 ft 9 in).
- ^
According to naval historians Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmolke,
Tirpitz
displaced 53,500 tonnes (52,700 long tons) at full load in 1944.
- ^
SK stands for
Schiffskanone
(ship's gun), C/34 stands for
Constructionjahr
(Construction year) 1934, and L/52 denotes the length of the gun in terms of
calibres
, meaning that the length of the gun is 52 times its internal diameter.
- ^
Named FuMO for
Funkmessortungsgerat
(Radio direction-finding device).
- ^
John Sweetman states that 1,000 out of a crew of 1,900 were killed,
while Niklas Zetterling and Michael Tamelander estimated nearly 1,000 deaths.
[76]
Siegfried Breyer and
Erich Groner
agree on 1,204 deaths,
and Gordon Williamson gives the death toll at 971.
William Garzke and Robert Dulin place the number of deaths at "about 950".
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Hildebrand Rohr & Steinmetz
, p. 239.
- ^
a
b
c
Hildebrand Rohr & Steinmetz
, p. 240.
- ^
Amos, Jonathan (11 April 2018).
"Nazi legacy found in Norwegian trees"
.
Archived
from the original on 20 July 2023
. Retrieved
15 April
2018
.
- ^
Winston, George, (1 May 2018) "
The Effects of the Lonely Queen Still Seen Among the Trees of Norway
Archived
3 October 2023 at the
Wayback Machine
", War History Online; accessed 2020.04.01.
- ^
Zetterling & Tamelander
, p. 207.
- ^
Zetterling & Tamelander
, pp. 195?196.
- ^
Hildebrand Rohr & Steinmetz
, p. 243.
- ^
Zetterling & Tamelander
, p. 327.
References
[
edit
]
- Bishop, Patrick (2012).
Target Tirpitz
. HarperPress.
ISBN
978-0-00-731924-4
.
- Blair, Clay
(1996).
Hitler's U-Boat War
. Vol. 1: The Hunters, 1939?1942. New York: Random House.
ISBN
978-0-304-35260-9
.
- Breyer, Siegfried (1989).
Battleship "Tirpitz"
. West Chester: Schiffer Pub.
ISBN
978-0-88740-184-8
.
- Brown, David (1977).
Tirpitz: The Floating Fortress
. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
978-0-85368-341-4
.
- Brown, J. D. (2009).
Carrier Operations in World War II
. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
978-1-59114-108-2
.
- Campbell, John (1985).
Naval Weapons of World War II
. London: Conway Maritime Press.
ISBN
978-0-87021-459-2
.
- Garzke, William H. & Dulin, Robert O. (1985).
Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II
. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
978-0-87021-101-0
.
- Groner, Erich
(1990).
German Warships: 1815?1945
. Vol. I: Major Surface Vessels. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
978-0-87021-790-6
.
- Hafsten, Bjørn (1991).
Flyalarm: Luftkrigen over Norge 1939?1945
. Oslo: Sem & Stenersen.
ISBN
978-82-7046-058-8
.
- Hartl, Claudia; Konter, Oliver; St George, Scott; Kirchhefer, Andreas; Scholz, Denis; Esper, Jan.
"Warfare Dendrochronology ? Trees as Witnesses of the Tirpitz Attacks"
(PDF)
.
copernicus.org
. European Geosciences Union
. Retrieved
12 April
2018
.
- Hildebrand, Hans H.; Rohr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993).
Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe (Volume 7)
. Ratingen, Germany: Mundus Verlag.
ISBN
978-3-8364-9743-5
.
- Kemp, Paul (1998).
The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Conflict Sea Warfare
. London: Arms and Armour.
ISBN
978-1-85409-221-2
.
- Koop, Gerhard & Schmolke, Klaus-Peter (1998).
Battleships of the Bismarck Class: Bismarck and Tirpitz, Culmination and Finale of German Battleship Construction
. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
978-1-55750-049-6
.
- Morgan, Hugh & Weal, John (1998).
German Jet Aces of World War 2
. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
ISBN
978-1-85532-634-7
.
- Ottosen, Kristian (1983).
Theta Theta: Et Blad Fra Motstandskampens Historie 1940?1945
. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
ISBN
978-82-00-06823-5
.
- Polmar, Norman & Noot, Jurrien (1991).
Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies, 1718?1990
. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
978-0-87021-570-4
.
- Prager, Hans Georg (2002).
Panzerschiff Deutschland, Schwerer Kreuzer Lutzow: ein Schiffs-Schicksal vor den Hintergrunden seiner Zeit
(in German). Hamburg: Koehler.
ISBN
978-3-7822-0798-0
.
- Rohwer, Jurgen
(2005).
Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939?1945: The Naval History of World War Two
. Annapolis: US Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
978-1-59114-119-8
.
- Schuck, Walter
(2009).
Luftwaffe Eagle ? From the Me 109 to the Me 262
. Ottringham: Hikoki Publications.
ISBN
978-1-902109-06-0
.
- Sieche, Erwin (1987). "Germany 1922?1946". In Sturton, Ian (ed.).
Conway's All the World's Battleships: 1906 to the Present
. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 28?49.
ISBN
978-0-85177-448-0
.
- Sweetman, John (2004).
Tirpitz: Hunting the Beast
. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited.
ISBN
978-0-7509-3755-9
.
- Torkildsen, Torbjørn (1998).
Svalbard: vart nordligste Norge
(in Norwegian) (3rd ed.). Oslo: Aschehoug.
ISBN
978-82-03-22224-5
.
- Van der Vat, Dan (1988).
The Atlantic Campaign
. Edinburgh: Birlinn.
ISBN
978-1-84158-124-8
.
- Williamson, Gordon (2003).
German Battleships 1939?45
. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
ISBN
978-1-84176-498-6
.
- Zetterling, Niklas & Tamelander, Michael (2009).
Tirpitz: The Life and Death of Germany's Last Super Battleship
. Havertown: Casemate.
ISBN
978-1-935149-18-7
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Knowles, Daniel (2018).
Tirpitz: The Life and Death of Germany's Last Great Battleship
. Stroud: Fonthill Media.
ISBN
978-1-78155-669-6
.
External links
[
edit
]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in September 1944
|
---|
Shipwrecks
|
- 1 Sep:
HMS
Hurst Castle
,
Kehdingen
,
U-247
- 2 Sep:
Empire Curzon
,
U-394
- 5 Sep:
U-362
- 7 Sep:
Shiny? Maru
, (
incident
),
Westfalen
- 8 Sep:
Rex
- 9 Sep:
Sava
,
U-484
- 10 Sep:
U-20
,
U-23
- 11 Sep:
Giulio Cesare
,
U-19
- 12 Sep:
Korei Maru
,
Nankai Maru
,
USS
Noa
,
Rakuy? Maru
,
Shikinami
- 13 Sep:
USS
Perry
,
USS
Warrington
- 14 Sep:
Irene Oldendorff
- 16 Sep:
I-364
- 17 Sep:
Un'y?
- 18 Sep:
Dr. Heinrich Wiegand
,
Gy?k? Maru
,
Jun'y? Maru
- 19 Sep:
Isoshima
;
U-407
,
U-867
- 21 Sep:
China Maru
,
H?fuku Maru
,
Katsuriki
,
Noshiro Maru
,
Satsuki
- 22 Sep:
Drache
- 23 Sep:
Taranto
,
U-859
- 24 Sep:
Akitsushima
,
Siberia Maru
,
T-120
,
Yaeyama
- 25 Sep:
USS
Miantonomah
- 26 Sep:
Aotaka
,
Ro-47
,
Saga
,
U-871
- 27 Sep:
HMS
Rockingham
,
Ural Maru
- 28 Sep:
Dragoner
- 29 Sep:
U-863
- 30 Sep:
U-565
,
U-596
,
U-1062
- Unknown date:
U-703
,
U-855
,
U-865
,
U-921
|
---|
Other incidents
| |
---|
|
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in November 1944
|
---|
Shipwrecks
|
- 1 Nov:
USS
Abner Read
,
TA20
,
HMS
Whitaker
- 2 Nov:
Fort Lee
- 3 Nov:
Akikaze
- 5 Nov:
Kiebitz
,
Nachi
,
PB-107
,
TA21
- 7 Nov:
USS
Albacore
,
HM
LST-420
- 8 Nov:
USS
Growler
- 9 Nov:
U-537
- 10 Nov:
Gokoku Maru
,
USS
Mount Hood
- 11 Nov:
Hamanami
,
Naganami
,
USS
Scamp
,
Shimakaze
,
U-771
,
U-1200
,
Wakatsuki
- 12 Nov:
HMAS
Marlean
,
Tirpitz
- 13 Nov:
Akebono
,
Akishimo
,
Hatsuharu
,
Hatsu Maru
,
I-12
,
I-38
,
Kiso
,
Okinami
- 17 Nov:
USS
LST-6
,
Mayasan Maru
,
NKI 01
,
Shin'y?
(ex-
Scharnhorst
)
- 18 Nov:
I-41
,
Seisho Maru
- 20 Nov:
USS
Mississinewa
,
HMAS
ML 827
- 21 Nov:
Kong?
,
Urakaze
- 22 Nov:
Hokkai Maru
,
HMS
Stratagem
- 24 Nov:
Hansa
- 25 Nov:
Kumano
,
HMCS
Shawinigan
,
Shimotsuki
,
Sumida
,
U-482
,
Yasoshima
- 27 Nov:
Rigel
- 28 Nov:
U-80
,
PB-105
,
Yu 2
- 29 Nov:
Fushimi
,
I-365
,
Shinano
- Unknown date:
Mogador
,
U-479
,
U-1020
|
---|
Other incidents
|
- 10 Nov:
USS
Abarenda
,
USS
Alhena
,
USS
Argonne
,
USS
Aries
,
USS
Cacapon
,
USS
Cebu
,
HMS
Hydra
,
USS
Kyne
,
USS
Lyman
,
USS
Mindanao
,
USS
Oberrender
,
USS
Petrof Bay
,
USS
Piedmont
,
USS
Potawatomi
,
USS
Preserver
,
USS
Saginaw Bay
,
USS
Talbot
,
USS
Walter C. Wann
,
USS
YMS-238
,
USS
Young
- 13 Nov:
U-1052
- 17 Nov:
HMAS
ML 827
,
Seisho Maru
- 23 Nov:
Gus W. Darnell
- 27 Nov:
USS
Gar
- 28 Nov:
USS
Spearfish
- 30 Nov:
HMS
Duff
|
---|
|
69°38′49″N
18°48′27″E
/
69.64694°N 18.80750°E
/
69.64694; 18.80750