Just Schmidt
Senior Airman
I started working on this thread a while ago, while the discussion on the He 177 strayed into Norwegian waters, but it's not supposed to take sides in that discussion. In any event lack of time and troubles uploading took a long time. It's principally based on Asmussen, John and Åkra, Kjetil: "Tirpitz: Hitlers sidte slagskip", Midt-Troms Museum 2006, but also on personal experience from living 9 years on Tromsøya. The book is well researched, though it sometimes fail in details about subtypes of aircraft, and sometimes on the very big picture. T subtext to all the hundreds of pictures and illustrations are all in both english and Norwegian. The main text is, however, only in Norwegian, and unfortunately not always clear and precise. In any case it's definitely a picture book for grown ups.
Tirpitz recieved a lot of attention from bombers the time she spent in Norway. After moving around some, she stayed in Kåfjorden in the northernmost part of Norway for 18 months. The RAF's first attempts with 'heavy' bombers (such as the Hampden, Whitley and Wellington), all failed to score a single hit, and temporarily RAF gave up on that method. Anyway, the base of Tirpitz (and other capital ships as eventually Scharnhorst) in kåfjorden lay outside practical range from the British Isles.
One of the relatively rare occasions where Tirpitz ventured out on the open seas (while she was still based on Fættenfjorden near Trondheim), operation Sportspalast 5th to 9th of march 1942, saw unsuccessful attempts by Albacores to torpedo her. One of the 3 onboard Arado 196's wounded the observer on one of the Albacores, for the main wave 2 Arados were launched. Two of the Albacores were reported shot down. It is reported that at least the first of the 196's continued to land in Bodø. (I have sometimes speculated if Bismarck could have interfered decisively with the fateful Swordfish attack that sealed her fate by sending up her seaplanes, and if it could be problems about slowing down to eventually retrieve them that mitigated against the attempt being made)?
The main Russian attempt at hitting Tirpitz 10th. of february, by 14 Il-4's, achieved nothing. Indeed only 2 of the aircraft attempted bombing the primary target. However, the Russians carried out many reconnaisanse missions from september 42 to oktober 44, and even one on Tirpitz at Tromsø by an A-20. The Pe3(?) pictured (for its rarity value) was one aircraft used, but also British pr spitfires flying from Russian bases, some were shot down, I have no information about the causes. It is in general remarkable how rarely air activity against Tirpitz met with any interference from Luftwaffe. Other sources on information about Tirpitz were agents (either British or Russian sponsored) and of course Ultra. Some disagreement is present whether ultra or agents on occasions gave the vital information, at least about the departure of Scharnhorst on her last fateful journey. Photo reconnaisance could of course not be always up to date, but gave the bigger picture about general lay out of the base(s). Only Norwegians on spot could measure the density of the water under the keel of Tirpitz.
The last was important for the till then most successful attempt at Tirpitz were made by mini subs on 22d. of september 1943. As aircraft were not directly involved, I'll only mention that 4 mines were placed under Tirpitz, and that she was towed so 2 didn't explode right under her. She was damaged enough to take her out of action for months.
The Royal Navy attemted attacks from carriers in 44. The first was by far the most successful. In operation Tungsten 3rd of april, a first wave of 21 Barracudas, 10 Corsairs, 20 Wildcats and 10 Hellcats were followed by another of 19 Barracudas, 10 Corsairs, 19 Wildcats and 10 Hellcats. The fighters strafed the air defenses, while the Barracudas let go of their bombs in less than 1000 meters height. 2 Barracudas were shot down, and one Hellcat made an emergency landing in the sea. Alltogether 9 flyers lost their lives. In addition to material damage, Tirpitz suffered 122 fatalities plus 316 wounded, the captain amongst them. Though not fatally hit, Tirpitz was in for a new round of repairs. Again Luftwaffe didn't show up, which was fortunate (however much we would have liked corsairs and hellcats to slug it out with Bf 109's and Fockewulfs). Tirpitz had been just about to leave when the attack started. It came as enough of a surprise that screening by smoke started too late in the attack. Later carrier launched attacks had less success, as then the Germans had established warning posts in the surrounding mountains, and the earlier warning allowed for a better smoke screen, though a few hits were scored.
However, it was clear to the British that a final solution could not be achieved by carrier strikes. For operation Paravane the 15th of september the range of the Lancaster carrying Tall Boys was insufficient, so on the 10th 33 of 617'th and IX'th squadron took off for the Russian base at Yagodnik (by the white Sea). 6 made emergency landings on the tundra. Of the 27 participating in the attack launched , only 21 carried the bombs, the rest carried the unsuccessful Jhonny walker type II mines of 182 kilos. When the bombing started, most of Kåfjorden had been covered by smoke screen, but one direct hit was scored. Hitting about 15 meters aft of the stern, the bomb went right through deck and hull, exploding under the ship. The damage was impossible to repair without getting Tirpitz home to Germany, and eventually it was decided to use her as a floating battery in connection with Lyngen linjen, the defensive position where the Germans planned to make a stand against the feared Russian offensive through Finnmark and Northern Troms. (This never materialized. During late fall 44 and to the end of the war, most of Finnmark was a kind of no mans land, where Norwegian and Russian patrols occasionally clashed with German detachments. The civilian population suffered quite a wide range of tragedies, those not succeeding in fleeing to the mountains being forcibly evacuated. The 'earth' was thoroughly scorched).
Anyway Tirpitz was no longer a seaborne threat to be reckoned with, but the British didn't let down. Apart from the means at hand being overwhelming in relation to worthwhile remaining targets, they understandably wished to close the case beyond all doubt (as the Norwegian agents reports about the severity of the damage of course couldn't be taken as absolute proof). Arriving at her final destination close to Tromsø, Tirpitz was spotted first by aircraft of FAA, but a mosquito was credited with the first sighting, as it radioed it directly to Britain. She was now in range of British bases, and the next attack with Tall Boys was launched 29th. october. Not all of the equipment for putting up smoke screen had arrived, and no smoke screen was put up. In any event, the less constrained area directly around Tirpitz new anchorage was less ideal for smoke screens. However, low dense clouds (what we call skodden) suddenly came to the assistance of Tirpitz, and in short time hid the target area completely. One near miss resulted in damage of the axle of one of the propellers.
Tirpitz recieved a lot of attention from bombers the time she spent in Norway. After moving around some, she stayed in Kåfjorden in the northernmost part of Norway for 18 months. The RAF's first attempts with 'heavy' bombers (such as the Hampden, Whitley and Wellington), all failed to score a single hit, and temporarily RAF gave up on that method. Anyway, the base of Tirpitz (and other capital ships as eventually Scharnhorst) in kåfjorden lay outside practical range from the British Isles.
One of the relatively rare occasions where Tirpitz ventured out on the open seas (while she was still based on Fættenfjorden near Trondheim), operation Sportspalast 5th to 9th of march 1942, saw unsuccessful attempts by Albacores to torpedo her. One of the 3 onboard Arado 196's wounded the observer on one of the Albacores, for the main wave 2 Arados were launched. Two of the Albacores were reported shot down. It is reported that at least the first of the 196's continued to land in Bodø. (I have sometimes speculated if Bismarck could have interfered decisively with the fateful Swordfish attack that sealed her fate by sending up her seaplanes, and if it could be problems about slowing down to eventually retrieve them that mitigated against the attempt being made)?
The main Russian attempt at hitting Tirpitz 10th. of february, by 14 Il-4's, achieved nothing. Indeed only 2 of the aircraft attempted bombing the primary target. However, the Russians carried out many reconnaisanse missions from september 42 to oktober 44, and even one on Tirpitz at Tromsø by an A-20. The Pe3(?) pictured (for its rarity value) was one aircraft used, but also British pr spitfires flying from Russian bases, some were shot down, I have no information about the causes. It is in general remarkable how rarely air activity against Tirpitz met with any interference from Luftwaffe. Other sources on information about Tirpitz were agents (either British or Russian sponsored) and of course Ultra. Some disagreement is present whether ultra or agents on occasions gave the vital information, at least about the departure of Scharnhorst on her last fateful journey. Photo reconnaisance could of course not be always up to date, but gave the bigger picture about general lay out of the base(s). Only Norwegians on spot could measure the density of the water under the keel of Tirpitz.
The last was important for the till then most successful attempt at Tirpitz were made by mini subs on 22d. of september 1943. As aircraft were not directly involved, I'll only mention that 4 mines were placed under Tirpitz, and that she was towed so 2 didn't explode right under her. She was damaged enough to take her out of action for months.
The Royal Navy attemted attacks from carriers in 44. The first was by far the most successful. In operation Tungsten 3rd of april, a first wave of 21 Barracudas, 10 Corsairs, 20 Wildcats and 10 Hellcats were followed by another of 19 Barracudas, 10 Corsairs, 19 Wildcats and 10 Hellcats. The fighters strafed the air defenses, while the Barracudas let go of their bombs in less than 1000 meters height. 2 Barracudas were shot down, and one Hellcat made an emergency landing in the sea. Alltogether 9 flyers lost their lives. In addition to material damage, Tirpitz suffered 122 fatalities plus 316 wounded, the captain amongst them. Though not fatally hit, Tirpitz was in for a new round of repairs. Again Luftwaffe didn't show up, which was fortunate (however much we would have liked corsairs and hellcats to slug it out with Bf 109's and Fockewulfs). Tirpitz had been just about to leave when the attack started. It came as enough of a surprise that screening by smoke started too late in the attack. Later carrier launched attacks had less success, as then the Germans had established warning posts in the surrounding mountains, and the earlier warning allowed for a better smoke screen, though a few hits were scored.
However, it was clear to the British that a final solution could not be achieved by carrier strikes. For operation Paravane the 15th of september the range of the Lancaster carrying Tall Boys was insufficient, so on the 10th 33 of 617'th and IX'th squadron took off for the Russian base at Yagodnik (by the white Sea). 6 made emergency landings on the tundra. Of the 27 participating in the attack launched , only 21 carried the bombs, the rest carried the unsuccessful Jhonny walker type II mines of 182 kilos. When the bombing started, most of Kåfjorden had been covered by smoke screen, but one direct hit was scored. Hitting about 15 meters aft of the stern, the bomb went right through deck and hull, exploding under the ship. The damage was impossible to repair without getting Tirpitz home to Germany, and eventually it was decided to use her as a floating battery in connection with Lyngen linjen, the defensive position where the Germans planned to make a stand against the feared Russian offensive through Finnmark and Northern Troms. (This never materialized. During late fall 44 and to the end of the war, most of Finnmark was a kind of no mans land, where Norwegian and Russian patrols occasionally clashed with German detachments. The civilian population suffered quite a wide range of tragedies, those not succeeding in fleeing to the mountains being forcibly evacuated. The 'earth' was thoroughly scorched).
Anyway Tirpitz was no longer a seaborne threat to be reckoned with, but the British didn't let down. Apart from the means at hand being overwhelming in relation to worthwhile remaining targets, they understandably wished to close the case beyond all doubt (as the Norwegian agents reports about the severity of the damage of course couldn't be taken as absolute proof). Arriving at her final destination close to Tromsø, Tirpitz was spotted first by aircraft of FAA, but a mosquito was credited with the first sighting, as it radioed it directly to Britain. She was now in range of British bases, and the next attack with Tall Boys was launched 29th. october. Not all of the equipment for putting up smoke screen had arrived, and no smoke screen was put up. In any event, the less constrained area directly around Tirpitz new anchorage was less ideal for smoke screens. However, low dense clouds (what we call skodden) suddenly came to the assistance of Tirpitz, and in short time hid the target area completely. One near miss resulted in damage of the axle of one of the propellers.
