"Sinking of the Tirpitz" Topic

"Tirpitz was the second Bismarck class battleship that was built for the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid, construction number 128, on November 2, 1936 at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshafen. The battleship was launched on April 1, 1939. Even before the new vessel was commissioned on February 25, 1941, the British launched 15 air raids with Handley Page Hampden and Vickers Wellington twin-engine bombers, directly aimed at the Tirpitz which was berthed in the final assembly dock in Wilhelmshafen. These aerial attacks, launched from British airfields caused minor damage to the vessel. Final assembly of the Tirpitz was only slightly delayed. After the vessel had been commissioned by her commander, Kapitän-zur-See Friedrich Karl Topp, and prior to her sea trials, the Tirpitz was targeted twice by British air raids which had just as little effect.

In September 1941, her sea trials were temporarily suspended as Tirpitz joined the Baltenflotte, the German Baltic Fleet. Early 1942, the Tirpitz was dispatched to Norway to pose as Fleet in Being and as such the battleship posed a threat to the Allied Arctic convoys sailing to and from the Soviet Union. In this way the Germans wanted to prevent the Tirpitz from suffering the same fate as her sister ship the Bismarck which had been hunted down and sunk in May 1941 by the Royal Navy. British attempts to eliminate the battleship proceeded relentlessly. Also at the end of March 1942, the only dry dock on the Atlantic coast large enough to accommodate the Tirpitz was destroyed as a precautionary measure by the British during Operation Chariot, the raid on Saint Nazaire. In Norway the big battleship was not only subjected to attacks from the air but also by human torpedoes and midget submarines…"
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Amicalement
Armand

A very interesting read, thank you.

Took a very, very long time to get it right.

Perseverance pays off.

A votre service mon ami!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand