German battleship Tirpitz

Tirpitz was a battleship of the German Kriegsmarine, a sister ship to the German battleship Bismarck, and named for Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. She was launched 1 April 1939, after Bismarck, but was deployed in a similar manner, being sent against Allied merchant shipping in the North Atlantic.

As a result of the Arctic convoys and the Commando raid on Vågsøy Tirpitz was sent to Norwegian waters where she spent most of World War II in the fjords. She made three offensive sorties; an attempt to interdict convoy PQ12 in March 1942 (Operation Sportpalast), a similar attempt against PQ17 in July 1942 (Operation Rösselsprung) and a raid on Spitsbergen in September 1943 (Operation Cicilien). The threat that she might put to sea, tied down Royal Navy resources and the decision was taken to sink her while she was in port. The first attempt was a very risky operation. British X class midget submarines planted explosive charges beneath Tirpitz in September 1943. This succeeded in disabling Tirpitz. After she was repaired she was attacked by carrier born aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm, which only did superficial damage. She was finally sunk immediately to the west of Tromsø, in the bay of Håkøybotn, on 12 November 1944 by Avro Lancasters of RAF 617 and 9 Squadrons equipped with the Barnes Wallis tallboy bombs on their third attempt, the first of which had been launched from Russia. Close to 1000 German sailors died.

Postwar, the wreck was sold off and broken up in situ by a Norwegian company. Nearly the entire ship was cut up and hauled away, however a large portion of the bow remains where it sank in 1944. Also nearby are artificial lakes around the shore, caused by Tallboy bombs that missed their target.

External link

• Battleship Tirpitz