German battleship Tirpitz
![]() A recognition drawing of Tirpitz prepared by the US Navy
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History | |
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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 |
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Length | |
Beam | 36 m (118 ft 1 in) |
Draft | 9.30 m (30 ft 6 in) standard[a] |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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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 |
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Sensors and processing systems | FuMO 23 |
Armament |
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Armour | |
Aircraft carried | 4 × Arado Ar 196 floatplanes |
Aviation facilities | 1 double-ended catapult |
Tirpitz (German pronunciation: [ˈtɪʁpɪt͡s] ⓘ) 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.[3]
After completing
In September 1943, Tirpitz, along with the battleship
Design
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).[5]

Tirpitz
She was armed with eight
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 Würzburg fire-control radar was added on her stern 10.5 cm (4.1 in) Flak rangefinders.[12]
The ship's
Service history

Tirpitz was ordered as Ersatz Schleswig-Holstein as a replacement for the old
After sea trials, Tirpitz was stationed in
Deployment to Norway
Grand Admiral
The ship left Wilhelmshaven at 23:00 on 14 January and made for
Operations against Allied convoys
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

In March 1942 Tirpitz and Admiral Scheer, along with the destroyers
Unknown to the Germans, Admiral Tovey was providing distant support to the convoys with the battleship
The actions of Tirpitz and her escorting destroyers in March used up 8,230 tonnes (8,100 long tons) of

Following Rösselsprung, the Germans moved Tirpitz to
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
British attacks on Tirpitz
Operation Source

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.[50] The planned attack, Operation Source, included attacks on Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and Lützow.[56] 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 Kåfjord in Norway for the attack, which began early on 22 September.[50] 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.[57]
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.
Operation Tungsten

The British were aware that Neumark and the repair crews left in March, which intimated Tirpitz was nearly operational.[61] A major air strike—Operation Tungsten—involving the fleet carriers Victorious and Furious and the escort carriers Emperor, Fencer, Pursuer, and Searcher,[62] 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.[61] 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.[62][63] 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.[64]
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,[64] while Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz report 132 fatalities and 270 wounded men, including the ship's commander, KzS Hans Meyer.[65] 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.[66] Dönitz 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.[67]
Operations Planet, Brawn, Tiger Claw, Mascot and Goodwood

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.[62]
The attacks failed to inflict any damage on Tirpitz and three of the attacking aircraft were shot down.[62][67] 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.[62] 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.[68][69] Goodwood IV followed on 29 August, with 34 bombers and 25 fighters from Formidable and Indefatigable. Heavy fog prevented any hits from being scored.[62] 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.[70]
Operations Paravane and Obviate
The ineffectiveness of the great majority of the strikes launched by the
The RAF made a second attempt on 29 October, after the ship was moored off
Operation Catechism
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.[76] In the aftermath of the attack, 82 men trapped in the upturned hull were rescued by cutting through the exposed bottom.[62] 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 Lützow in January 1945.[79]

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.[80] Ehrler was exonerated by further investigations which concluded poor communication between the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe had caused the fiasco;[81] the aircrews had not been informed that Tirpitz had been moved off Håkøya two weeks before the attack.[82] 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;[2] fragments of the ship were sold by a Norwegian company.[22] Ludovic Kennedy wrote in his history of the vessel that she "lived an invalid's life and died a cripple's death".[83]
Footnotes
- ^ Tirpitz's draft at full load was 10.60 metres (34 ft 9 in).[1]
- ^ Crew could be augmented up to 108 officers and 2,500 enlisted men.[2]
- ^ According to naval historians Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmolke, Tirpitz displaced 53,500 tonnes (52,700 long tons) at full load in 1944.[6]
- ^ 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.[8]
- ^ Named FuMO for Funkmessortungsgerät (Radio direction-finding device).[11]
- ^ John Sweetman states that 1,000 out of a crew of 1,900 were killed,[77] while Niklas Zetterling and Michael Tamelander estimated nearly 1,000 deaths.[78] Siegfried Breyer and Erich Gröner agree on 1,204 deaths,[2][62] and Gordon Williamson gives the death toll at 971.[22] William Garzke and Robert Dulin place the number of deaths at "about 950".[76]
Citations
- ^ a b c Gröner, p. 33.
- ^ a b c d e f Gröner, p. 35.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, p. 203.
- ^ Kemp, p. 153.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, pp. 203–208.
- ^ Koop & Schmolke, p. 18.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 33, 35.
- ^ Campbell, p. 219.
- ^ Whitley, p. 85.
- ^ Stehr & Breyer, p. 27.
- ^ Williamson, p. 42.
- ^ Williamson, p. 43.
- ^ Sieche, p. 44.
- ^ a b c Williamson, p. 35.
- ^ a b Hildebrand Röhr & Steinmetz, p. 239.
- ^ a b Garzke & Dulin, p. 247.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, pp. 247–248.
- ^ Sweetman, p. 11.
- ^ Gröner, p. 20.
- ^ a b Sweetman, p. 12.
- ^ a b c Garzke & Dulin, p. 248.
- ^ a b c Williamson, p. 40.
- ^ Sweetman, p. 16.
- ^ Sweetman, p. 17.
- ^ a b Garzke & Dulin, pp. 248–250.
- ^ a b c Hildebrand Röhr & Steinmetz, p. 240.
- ^ Ottosen, pp. 39–41.
- ^ Hartl et al.
- ^ Amos, Jonathan (11 April 2018). "Nazi legacy found in Norwegian trees". Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ Sweetman, p. 19.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e f Garzke & Dulin, p. 250.
- ^ Sweetman, pp. 23–24.
- ^ Sweetman, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Sweetman, pp. 25–26.
- ^ Sweetman, p. 27.
- ^ Gröner, p. 60.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, pp. 250–251.
- ^ Rohwer, p. 149.
- ^ a b c Garzke & Dulin, p. 253.
- ^ Rohwer, p. 156.
- ^ Rohwer, p. 162.
- ^ Sweetman, p. 54.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, pp. 253–255.
- ^ a b c Garzke & Dulin, p. 255.
- ^ Polmar & Noot, pp. 115–116.
- ^ Blair, p. 644.
- ^ Bishop, pp. 165–172.
- ^ a b c d e f Garzke & Dulin, p. 258.
- ^ Sweetman, pp. 73–74.
- ^ a b Torkildsen, p. 221.
- ^ Sweetman, p. 76.
- ^ Sweetman, p. 77.
- ^ Sweetman, pp. 76–77.
- ^ Zetterling & Tamelander, pp. 195–196.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, pp. 258–259.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, p. 259.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, pp. 259–261.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, p. 262.
- ^ a b c Garzke & Dulin, p. 264.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Breyer, p. 26.
- ^ Brown 2009, pp. 25, 27.
- ^ a b Garzke & Dulin, p. 265.
- ^ Hildebrand Röhr & Steinmetz, p. 243.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, pp. 265–267.
- ^ a b Garzke & Dulin, p. 267.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, pp. 267–268.
- ^ Brown 2009, p. 28.
- ^ Brown 1977, p. 39.
- ^ Sweetman, pp. 132–139.
- ^ a b c Garzke & Dulin, p. 268.
- ^ Sweetman, p. 193.
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, p. 270.
- ^ a b Garzke & Dulin, p. 272.
- ^ a b Garzke & Dulin, p. 273.
- ^ Sweetman, p. 248.
- ^ Zetterling & Tamelander, p. 327.
- ^ Prager, p. 287.
- ^ Morgan & Weal, p. 60.
- ^ Schuck, p. 177.
- ^ Hafsten, p. 221.
- ^ Van der Vat, p. 508.
References
- Bishop, Patrick (2012). Target Tirpitz. HarperPress. ISBN 978-0-00-731924-4.
- 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.
- 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.; Röhr, 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 Lützow: ein Schiffs-Schicksal vor den Hintergründen seiner Zeit (in German). Hamburg: Koehler. ISBN 978-3-7822-0798-0.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-119-8.
- 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.
- Stehr, Werner F.G. & Breyer, Siegfried (1999). Leichte und mitlere Artillerie auf deutschen Kriegsschiffen [Light and middle artillery on German warships] (in German). Wölfersheim-Berstadt: Podzun Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0664-6.
- Sweetman, John (2004). Tirpitz: Hunting the Beast. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-0-7509-3755-9.
- Torkildsen, Torbjørn (1998). Svalbard: vårt 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.
- Whitley, M. J. (1998). Battleships of World War II. London: Casell. ISBN 1-85409-386-X.
- 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
- 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
- The Tirpitz Museum Archived 19 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- Aerial photo of the battleship Tirpitz in her anchorage at Kåfjord, Norway. – unpublished photo originated from a private photo album of Soviet Air Forces pilot-observer Feodossiy S. Goryachiy.
- Newsreel about the life and death of the Tirpitz showing RN, FAA and RAF attacks