Air Campaign 007 - Sink the Tirpitz 1942-44. The RAF and FAA Duel with Germany (2018) COMP.pdf

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C A M P A I G N
A I R
SINK THE
TIRPITZ
1942–44
A N G U S K O N S TA M
|
The RAF and Fleet Air Arm duel with
Germany’s mighty battleship
I L LU S T R AT E D B Y J I M L AU R I E R
A I R C A M PA I G N
SINK THE
TIRPITZ
1942–44
The RAF and Fleet Air Arm duel with Germany’s mighty battleship
Angus Konstam
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHRONOLOGY
ATTACKERS’ CAPABILITIES
DEFENDERS’ CAPABILITIES
CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES
THE CAMPAIGN
AFTERMATH AND ANALYSIS
FURTHER READING
INDEX
4
6
8
17
25
30
88
94
95
4
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The
Tirpitz,
photographed
during her brief stay in the
Bodenfjord near Narvik,
during the late summer of
1942. This picturesque
fjord was used as a
rendezvous and repair
area by the Kriegsmarine,
as it lay beyond easy
reach of British bombers.
In May 1941 the world’s attention focused on the German battleship
Bismarck,
and her
brief but deadly sortie into the Atlantic Ocean. She was the most modern battleship
afloat, and while the Nazi propaganda machine dubbed her ‘unsinkable’, she was
eventually hunted down and destroyed by the Royal Navy. This victory, though, came
at a terrible cost – the loss of the battlecruiser
Hood,
and all but three of her crew. By
then, the British Admiralty were uncomfortably aware that this formidable battleship
had a sister ship – the
Tirpitz,
which was undergoing sea trials in the Baltic. She was so
powerful she was capable of sinking any capital ship in the British Home Fleet, and if
she joined forces with other major German warships she could alter the course of the
war at sea.
Air attacks against her had begun when she was still under construction, but these
were both half-hearted and unsuccessful. Then, the threat she posed became more than
just theoretical. This was a direct result of the German invasion of Russia in June 1941.
Two months later the first Arctic Convoy arrived in Archangel. This maritime lifeline
was as much a diplomatic enterprise as a military one, carrying military hardware and
supplies from Britain, Canada and the United States to the Soviet Union, to help it
stave off the German onslaught. When in January 1942 the
Tirpitz
sailed to Norway,
she represented a major threat to this vital convoy route. So, Churchill ordered that
she should be destroyed. The Royal Navy could only bring her to battle if she put to
sea, so this meant she had to be attacked from the air, in her lair at the end of a remote
Norwegian fjord.
The British Home Fleet was forced to retain battleships and aircraft carriers in the area to
protect the Arctic Convoys from attack by
Tirpitz,
the German battleship rarely put to sea.
So, this would primarily be an air campaign, where the performance of the various types
of aircraft used against her would be critical to the success of the operation. Even more
important was the ordnance they could use against her, and the skill of the air crews who
would direct it against the battleship.
5
The intermittent air campaign against
Tirpitz
lasted for more than two and a half years.
These desperate attacks involved hundreds of aircraft from both Bomber Command and
the Fleet Air Arm, and a range of aircraft and ordnance. Attacking the
Tirpitz
in her various
Norwegian lairs was never going to be easy. Planners had to contend with a number of
problems, including the range to the target, the defensive capabilities of the defences
surrounding
Tirpitz,
and the geography of her berth. Then there were the problems caused
by the highly changeable weather over Norway, combined with huge seasonal variations in
the amount of daylight. Even if all these challenges were overcome, any attacking force still
had to deal with the ship herself, one of the best-protected warships in existence, and one
which mounted a formidable array of anti-aircraft guns. Of all these factors, the biggest
constraint was range. While
Tirpitz’s
first base in the Faettenfjord near Trondheim was
within range of British heavy bombers flying from airfields in the north-east of Scotland,
her second lair in the Kaafjord, a spur of the larger Altenfjord at the northernmost tip
of Norway, was out of range. So, innovative solutions had to be found to overcome
these problems.
It was arguably the most sustained air operation of the war, but the mighty German
battleship proved remarkably resilient. So, for much of the war she remained a ‘fleet in
being’, forcing the Allies to tie down warships which were vitally needed in other theatres.
Tirpitz
finally succumbed in November 1944, sunk by mammoth bombs dropped by
617 ‘Dambusters’ Squadron. While her career was not as spectacular as that of her
famous sister ship, it was much longer, and her impact on the course of the war was
considerably greater.
This photograph, taken
from the highest crane in
the naval yard, shows
Tirpitz
during the early
stages of her fitting out in
the Kriegsmarinewerft
Wilhelmshaven. Her
superstructure is being
erected, on top of her thick
armoured deck, which was
located two decks below
her upper deck. The
barbettes of her main and
secondary gun turrets are
already in place.

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