German coastal battery Tirpitz
The German coastal battery Tirpitz, consisting mainly of three large 280 mm guns, was the most powerful coastal battery on the Romanian shore during World War II. The three guns, model 28 cm SK L/45, came from spares for the World War I-era Nassau-class battleships. The name of the battery was given after German Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz.
History
After Romania joined the
the Soviet surface fleet attacked Constanța on 26 June 1941, adding 39 rounds to the battle and damaging the Soviet destroyer leader Kharkov.[2][3]
After the
23 August 1944 coup, the situation became uncertain. German Vice Admiral Helmuth Brinkmann had orders to hold Constanța at all costs. However, after a face-to-face meeting with Romanian Rear Admiral Horia Macellariu, he was persuaded to retreat orderly and avoid an unnecessary and costly battle. The Germans then retreated on the night of 25–26 August, but not before the battery was blown up before being surrendered to the Romanians.[4][5]
References
- ^ Robert Kirchubel, Howard Gerrard, Operation Barbarossa 1941: Army Group South, p. 41
- ^ Steel and Ice: The U-boat Battle in the Arctic and Black Sea 1941-45, Chapter 5 - The Black Sea: War in the South 1942-43, 8th page
- ^ Jürgen Rohwer, Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2005, p. 83
- ^ Horia Macellariu - În plin uragan (in Romanian)
- ^ Romania: Pages of History, Volume 4, p. 234
External links
- The Tirpitz Battery Archived 2016-08-16 at the Wayback Machine