Really proves that by 1939 the battleship was redundant. If Axis and Allies was accurate, nobody would even think of buying a BB.
The Tirpitz joins the Bismarck.
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Today, 12th November 1944, the British sank the sister ship to the famous Bismarck: the Tirpitz. She was armed with 8*15" Inch guns, but was 2000tons heavier. Since being commissioned in early 1941, she had been a thorn in the side of the British. Stationed in the Baltic and able to sail to Norway or to Russia had meant they had to keep Naval units back, which could have been better utilised elsewhere.
The Tirpitz, laid down in Wilhelmshaven before war broke out, was named after the architect of Germany’s Imperial Navy. She had only once fired her guns in anger, in 1943 at Spitsbergen. It was after this the British really went after her. She was damaged by midget submarines and targeted by many RAF bombing raids. One hit by a 12000lb(Tallboy) near the bow on 15th September, caused damage to her engines, ensuring she would never sail again.
It was to be two further 12000lb bombs(Tallboys) hitting her, which finally sank her. She capsized and it is estimated 1000 sailors lost their lives.
Unlike the Bismarck, which lasted ten days at sea in May of 1941, the Tirpitz and the threat of her sailing, probably helped Germany more by never breaking out into the Atlantic. -
@wittmann:
One hit by a 12000lb(Tallboy) near the bow on 15th September, caused damage to her engines, ensuring she would never sail again.
My copy of Garzke and Dulin’s authoritative book on Axis battleships is at home, so I can’t consult their detailed analysis of the bomb hits on Tirpitz, but I’m wondering about the above statement. Since the bow is the front of the ship, I’m puzzled that a bomb hit there would disable the engines (presumably meaning the turbines and the reduction gearing), which are located at the rear (the stern).
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Hi Marc. I am very interested where the 2 bombs and near miss or (according to another source ), 4 misses landed.
Please investigate and get back.
I suppose it could have been an error on the writer’s behalf.
I should have picked up on that too, but am less interested in Naval vessels. -
15 September 1944: Attacked by 27 Lancaster from Yagodnik near Archangel. Tirpitz is hit on the forecastle by a 5.4-ton “Tallboy” bomb. The damage is severe and the battleship is no longer seaworthy.
15 October 1944: After temporary repairs in the bow, the Tirpitz leaves Kåfjord/Altafjord and sails at 8 knots to Tromsø where she anchors off Håkøy Island to remain there as a floating battery.
12 November 1944: Attacked by 32 Lancaster. Shortly after 0940, the Tirpitz is hit by two “Tallboy” bombs on the port side amidships. Four other bombs near-miss the battleship. At 0952 the ship capsizes at 69º 36’ north, 18º 59’ east. 971 dead.
Found this by Jose M Rico. -
@wittmann:
Please investigate and get back.
According to Garzke and Dulin, the first Tallboy attack against the Tirpitz was carried out by RAF Lancasters on September 15, 1944. The bombs weighed 5,454 kg, including a filling of 1,724 kg of TNT. Only one hit was scored, on the forecastle, at the forward extremity of the bow. A 30-meter section of the bow was devastated; there was heavy damage to the bottom plating and to various bulkheads and side frames. The forward 36 meters of the bow were flooded, resulting in a heavy bow trim. The ship was reduced to a maximum permissible speed of 8-10 knots, making her unseaworthy. Tirpitz was then ordered to sail southward 200 miles from Alta Fjord to Tromso Fjord. This was a dumb move because it put the ship in range of the RAF’s 617th Squadron (the Dam Busters), which had even larger “earthquake” bombs at its disposal: enhanced Tallboys whose 1,724 kg filling of TNT had been replaced with a much larger load (2,541 kg) of Torpex, an explosive with twice the power of TNT. The first earthquake bomb attack took place on October 29. There was one near miss which resulted in flooding and in rudder and shafting damage. The second and final attack took place on November 12. Thirty Lancasters dropped 29 earthquake bombs, scoring two direct hits and one probable hit amidships, plus a couple of near misses near the stern. The ship flooded and capsized.
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Thank you. You do not disappoint.
The only thing wrong with my copied statement was that the engines were damaged by that forecastle hit. It was not seaworthy, but the was not due to the engines, was it? I wonder if she was beyond repair after that Sept 15th attack or if the Germans planned to repair her fully. Sounds like they didn’t plan to.
Was it just too much damage? -
The Tirpitz was able to sail 200 miles under her own power after the September attack, so there was nothing wrong with her engines. The problem was massive damage to the bow, the part of the ship which comes under the greatest degree of hydrodynamic pressure when travelling through the water. You may recall that even the comparatively bow minor damage suffered by the Bismarck from a shell hit during the Battle of the Denmark Straight caused strain to the ship and somewhat reduced her speed. After the September attack, German experts estimated it would take about eight months in a good shipyard to make Tirpitz fully seaworthy again. It was felt that this would be wasted effort, so it was decided to use the ship from that point onward as a stationary floating battery.
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I have been in Tirpitz museum in Alta, Norway. A must to visit if you visit Alta!
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Was not aware there was one . Thank you Moilami.
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