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Operation Tungsten

Part of Second World War

A Fleet Air Arm crewman chalks a message on the 1,600-

pound bomb carried by a Fairey Barracuda of HMS

Furious

Date 3 April 1944

Location Kaafjord, Norway

Result Inconclusive

Belligerents

United Kingdom Germany

Commanders and leaders

Henry Moore Hans Meyer

Strength

40 dive bombers

80 fighters

1 battleship

Anti-aircraft batteries and

ships

Casualties and losses

9 died, 4 aircraft lost 123 died, 329 wounded

1 battleship and 5 other

vessels damaged

Operation TungstenFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Operation Tungsten was a Second World War RoyalNavy air raid that targeted the German battleship Tirpitz.The operation sought to damage or destroy Tirpitz at herbase in Kaafjord in the far north of Norway before shecould become fully operational again following a period ofrepairs.

The British decision to strike Kaafjord was motivated byfears that the battleship, upon re-entering service, wouldattack strategically important convoys carrying supplies tothe Soviet Union. Removing the threat posed by Tirpitzwould also allow the Allies to redeploy the capital shipswhich had to be held in the North Sea to counter her. Afterfour months of training and preparations, the British HomeFleet sailed on 30 March 1944 and aircraft launched fromfive aircraft carriers struck Kaafjord on 3 April. The raidachieved surprise, and the British aircraft met littleopposition. Fifteen bombs hit the battleship, and strafing byfighter aircraft inflicted heavy casualties on her gun crews.Four British aircraft and nine airmen were lost during theoperation.

The damage inflicted during the attack was not sufficient tosink or disable Tirpitz, but 122 members of her crew diedand 316 were wounded. The German Navy decided torepair the battleship, and works were completed by mid-July. The British conducted further carrier raids againstTirpitz between April and August 1944 in the hope ofprolonging the period she was out of service, but none wassuccessful. Tirpitz was eventually disabled and then sunk byRoyal Air Force heavy bombers in late 1944.

Contents

1 Background

2 Preparations

3 Opposing forces

4 Attack

5 Aftermath

6 References

Coordinates: 69.9353°N 23.0454°E

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The location of Kaafjord in northern

Norway

Background

The threat Tirpitz posed had an important influence on British naval strategy during the Second World War. Shewas commissioned in February 1941 and completed her crew training late that year. At about the same time theGerman high command decided to station the battleship in Norway; this deployment was intended to deter a fearedAllied invasion of Norway and threaten the convoys which regularly sailed through the Arctic Sea to the Soviet

Union.[1] These convoys carried large quantities of war material from ports in the UK and Iceland, and were

frequently attacked by the German air and naval units stationed in Norway.[2] Tirpitz arrived in Norway in January

1942 and operated from anchorages located in fjords.[3] While she was operational the Allies had to keep apowerful force of warships with the British Home Fleet to guard against the possibility of a sortie against the Arctic

convoys, and capital ships accompanied most convoys part of the way to the Soviet Union.[4][5]

The British attacked Tirpitz several times during 1942 and 1943.When the battleship sortied to intercept Convoy PQ 12 on 6 March1942 HMS Victorious, which formed part of the convoy's escort,attempted to attack her using torpedo bombers. These aircraft

launched twenty torpedoes at the battleship but all missed. [6][7] Onseveral occasions during 1942 and 1943 bombers from the Royal AirForce and Soviet Air Forces attempted to strike Tirpitz in her

anchorages without success.[6] On 23 September 1943 two BritishX-class midget submarines succeeded in penetrating the defencesaround the battleship at her main anchorage at Kaafjord in northernNorway during Operation Source, and placed explosive charges inthe water beneath her. This attack caused extensive damage to

Tirpitz, putting her out of service for six months.[8]

Repairs to Tirpitz were carried out using improvised facilities atKaafjord as it was considered too risky to attempt to move the damaged warship to Germany. Instead, equipment

and work crews were shipped to the fjord from German ports.[9] On the night of 10/11 February 1944, 15 Soviet

aircraft attacked the battleship, but did not cause any damage.[10] By 17 March, the repairs to Tirpitz's armament,

machinery and hull were complete, but several minor repair tasks were outstanding.[11] During the period the shipwas under repair, Scharnhorst, the only remaining operational German battleship, was sunk on 26 December

during the Battle of the North Cape.[12] Following this engagement the Royal Navy stopped deploying battleships

to cover convoys travelling to and from the Soviet Union.[13] By this stage of the war the Allies also had largenumbers of anti-submarine and anti-aircraft escort ships available, and were able to assign strong forces to protectall of the Arctic convoys. German submarines operating in the Norwegian Sea were rarely able to evade the

convoy escorts, and few merchant vessels suffered damage from enemy attack.[14]

The British Government and Royal Navy were concerned about the threat Tirpitz posed once she re-enteredservice. Allied intelligence tracked the progress of work on the battleship using decrypted German radio signals,

photo reconnaissance flights and eyewitness reports from agents in Norway.[15] It was feared the battleship couldsortie and attack convoys in the Norwegian Sea or Atlantic Ocean after the repairs were completed. The need to

guard against this possibility would also occupy warships needed to support the planned invasion of France.[16] As

a result, it was decided in late 1943 to make further attempts to sink the battleship.[17]

Kaafjord

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A British aerial reconnaissance

photograph of Tirpitz moored at

Kaafjord. The artificial smoke

generators on the shores of the fjord

have not yet obscured her.

Despite Allied concerns, Tirpitz posed only a limited danger to Allied shipping. From late 1943 the battleship wasunable to put to sea for crew training due to the threat of Allied attack and fuel shortages. These shortages alsomeant the Germans were unable to move the battleship between anchorages to make her more difficult to locate

and attack.[18]

Preparations

The options for attacking Tirpitz at Kaafjord were limited. Anothersubmarine-borne raid was considered impractical as intelligence gatheredfrom intercepted radio transmissions and field agents indicated that thebattleship's underwater defences had been improved and more aerial

reconnaissance patrols of the region were being flown.[11] Thecommander of the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command, Air ChiefMarshal Sir Arthur Harris, also refused to attempt a heavy bomber raidon Tirpitz on the grounds that the Kaafjord area was beyond theeffective range of these aircraft and the battleship's guns would cause

heavy casualties.[16] After these two options were ruled out, the task was

assigned to the Home Fleet's aircraft carriers.[11] At this time the largefleet carriers HMS Furious and Victorious and four smaller escort

carriers were ready.[19][20]

Planning for the raid on Kaafjord began in December 1943. Vice Admiral Bruce Fraser, the commander of theHome Fleet, was not optimistic about the prospects for success, and had to be persuaded to undertake the

operation by First Sea Lord Sir Andrew Cunningham.[21] Fraser gave his second in command, Vice Admiral Sir

Henry Moore, responsibility for planning and leading the raid.[19][21] The operation was initially designated"Operational Thrustful", but was later renamed "Operation Tungsten". The attack was originally scheduled for mid-

March 1944, shortly before the time Allied intelligence believed Tirpitz would become operational.[19] However, it

was delayed by two weeks while Victorious was fitted with new radars.[22] The British considered cancellingOperation Tungsten in February as Victorious was also needed in the Indian Ocean to counter a build-up ofJapanese warships at Singapore. To enable the attack to proceed, the United States Navy agreed to temporarily

transfer USS Saratoga to the Eastern Fleet so that Victorious could be retained in the North Sea.[23]

The plans for the raid were centred around two dive-bombing attacks by Fleet Air Arm Fairey Barracuda aircraft.Each of the attacks was to involve 21 Barracudas escorted by 40 fighters; Vought F4U Corsairs flying fromVictorious would provide protection against German aircraft while Grumman F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcatsoperating from Furious and the escort carriers HMS Emperor, Pursuer and Searcher were to strafe anti-aircraftbatteries near Tirpitz, as well as the battleship herself. Further aircraft flying from Furious and the escort carrier

HMS Fencer would protect the fleet against attack by German aircraft or submarines.[24] While carrier aircraft hadpreviously lacked a bomb capable of penetrating a battleship's thick deck armour, it was hoped that the recentlydeveloped 1,600-pound (730 kg) armour-piercing bomb would be able to pierce at least the first layer of Tirpitz'sarmour if they were dropped from an altitude of 3,500 feet (1,100 m) or higher. The damage caused by such hitswas expected to put the battleship out of service. Nine of the Barracudas were to be armed with 1,600-poundbombs and a further 22 would each carry three 500-pound semi-armour-piercing bombs that were capable ofpenetrating the lightly protected upper decks of the ship if dropped from above 2,000 feet (610 m). The remainingten aircraft would be armed with 500- and 600-pound general-purpose bombs and with anti-submarine bombsintended to inflict casualties among the battleship's crew and cause underwater damage if they exploded in the

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Loch Eriboll in Scotland was used to

simulate Kaafjord during training

exercises

water near her hull.[22] The aircraft carrying high-explosive bombs were to initiate the dive bombing of Tirpitz as itwas hoped that these weapons would knock out at least some of the battleship's anti-aircraft guns before the main

attack commenced.[19]

The Fleet Air Arm units selected for Operation Tungsten conductedintensive training from February 1944. A high proportion of the airmenwere inexperienced, and the captain of Victorious estimated that 85 percent of the aircrew embarked on his ship had not previously operated at

sea.[25] The training program was centred around Loch Eriboll innorthern Scotland which, like Kaafjord, was surrounded by steep hills.Flying from RNAS Hatston in the Orkney Islands, the aircrew practicedmanoeuvring around this terrain to familiarise themselves with the tacticsneeded to avoid German anti-aircraft guns and successfully attack

Tirpitz.[21] The Royal Navy drew on intelligence on the defences ofKaafjord to make the exercise range as similar to the conditions aroundTirpitz as was possible, and the aircrew were extensively briefed on the

locations of German positions.[26] An area the size of the battleship was

also marked out on an island in the centre of the loch and repeatedly bombed.[27]

While these preparations were under way, the Allies continued to monitor Tirpitz. In late February the escortcarrier HMS Chaser transported photo analysts and the ground crews for a Royal Air Force photo reconnaissancedetachment to Vaenga in northern Russia. These personnel were joined by three Supermarine Spitfires fitted forphoto reconnaissance work and a single Consolidated PBY Catalina in March. The Spitfires flew regular sortiesover Kaafjord and took very detailed photographs of Tirpitz and the nearby anti-aircraft batteries on 12 and 13March; after being developed the Catalina flew these images to the UK. Although the German forces in northern

Norway detected the Spitfire flights, the Kaafjord area's defences were not increased or placed on alert.[28] On 16March eight British, Dutch and Norwegian submarines were directed to take up positions off the Norwegian coastafter decrypted German radio messages indicated that Tirpitz may have been preparing to depart Kaafjord forGermany to complete her repairs. A further eight British and Dutch submarines were dispatched on 18 March, buttwo days later it was concluded that Tirpitz was not about to put to sea and the submarines were diverted to other

tasks or ordered back to port.[29] On 21 March British intelligence warned the Admiralty that the Germans wereplacing a strong emphasis on disrupting the flow of supplies to the Soviet Union and could dispatch Tirpitz toattack any convoys not escorted by capital ships. In response, Fraser was directed to provide battleship protection

for the next Arctic Convoy.[30]

The final decision to undertake Operation Tungsten was made in mid-March on the basis of a decrypted radiomessage that indicated that Tirpitz was almost ready for combat and would conduct high-speed trials on 1

April.[19] As a result of the delays to the operation, the sailing of the attack force coincided with the departure of

Convoy JW 58 for the Soviet Union.[22] It was hoped that if German forces spotted the British fleet it would be

assumed that the warships were supporting the convoy.[31] As part of the final preparations for the attack a full-

scale rehearsal was conducted using the training range at Loch Eriboll on 28 March.[32] From 1 April onwards, theAdmiralty received hourly weather reports from a group of Norwegian Secret Intelligence Service agents in Alta,

near Kaafjord.[33]

Opposing forces

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Grumman Hellcats on the escort

carrier HMS Emperor, with other

ships of the British force in the

background

See also: Allied order of battle for Operation Tungsten

The Royal Navy assembled a powerful force for Operation Tungsten.The main striking force was made up of two wings of Barracudas: 8Wing comprising 827 and 830 Naval Air Squadrons, and 52 Wing with829 and 831 Naval Air Squadrons. While 8 Wing was normally basedon board Furious and 52 Wing on Victorious, Moore chose to station asquadron from each of the wings on each carrier so they could launch

simultaneously and go into battle as formed units.[27] The 163 Fleet AirArm airmen in the attacking units included 28 New Zealanders, three

Canadians and a South African; the remainder were British.[34]

The large number of warships assigned to the operation were initially splitinto two groups. Force One was personally commanded by Fraser onboard the battleship HMS Duke of York, and also included Victorious,the battleship HMS Anson (with Moore and his staff on board), a lightcruiser and five destroyers. Force Two was commanded by Rear Admiral Arthur La Touche Bisset and comprisedFurious, the four escort carriers, five destroyers and two tankers. It was planned that Force One would initiallyprovide support for Convoy JW 58 and Force Two would sail separately and proceed directly to a point off

Norway where it would be joined by Anson and Victorious on 3 April and conduct the raid the next day.[31][35]

Tirpitz's anchorage at Kaafjord was protected by anti-aircraft batteries and fighter aircraft. At the time ofOperation Tungsten, four batteries of heavy anti-aircraft guns and seven batteries of light guns were located on the

shore near the battleship. Several anti-aircraft vessels and destroyers were also usually moored near Tirpitz.[36]

The battleship herself was fitted with 68 anti-aircraft guns.[37] Equipment capable of generating an artificial

smokescreen to hide Tirpitz from aircraft had also been installed around Kaafjord.[38] The German Air Force(Luftwaffe) had only a small number of fighters stationed at bases near Kaafjord, and their operations wereconstrained by a lack of fuel. British intelligence believed that the German fighter force in the area could be rapidly

expanded in the event of an emergency.[18][38] The Luftwaffe typically conducted three reconnaissance flights into

the Arctic Sea each day.[38]

Attack

Force One departed the Home Fleet's base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands on 30 March, three days after

JW 58 had sailed from Loch Ewe in Scotland.[25] Force Two departed separately later that day.[31] The convoy

comprised 49 merchant ships escorted by a powerful force of 33 warships, including two escort carriers.[39]

German reconnaissance aircraft located JW 58 on 30 March, and all of the U-boats in the Norwegian Sea weredirected to intercept it. The German aircraft did not conduct wider-ranging sorties in search of the convoy'sbattleship covering force or other Allied ships. A total of 17 U-boats attacked JW 58 between 1 and 3 Aprilwithout success; none of the Allied ships suffered any damage, and the escorts sank four U-boats and shot downsix German aircraft during the convoy's voyage from Scotland to the Soviet Union. JW 58 reached its destination at

Kola Bay on 6 April.[25][40] While several Allied aircraft were lost during the voyage, mostly to flying accidents, all

of the ships arrived unscathed.[41]

Owing to a combination of favourable factors, Fraser decided on 1 April to bring the raid on Kaafjord forward by24 hours. Decrypted German signals indicated that Tirpitz's trials had been delayed until 3 April, and Fraser hopedthat an attack on this date would catch the battleship away from her usual well-protected mooring. Moreover, as

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Fleet Air Arm personnel arming

bombs on HMS Victorious' flight

deck prior to the attack

Barracudas flying over a fjord shortly

before attacking Tirpitz

JW 58's escorts were performing well and there was no indication that Tirpitz would sortie into the open sea,Fraser judged that Force One no longer needed to provide support for the transports. Weather conditions were

also unusually good for the Norwegian Sea in early Spring and were well

suited to flying operations.[31][42][43] After the decision to attack wasmade both tankers and two escorting destroyers detached from ForceTwo and proceeded to a point 300 miles (480 km) north-west ofKaafjord where they remained to supply any destroyers that ran low onfuel. The rest of Force Two altered course to rendezvous with Force

One, and this was achieved at 4:20 pm on 2 April.[44] After the twoforces met Duke of York, with Fraser on board, and two destroyerssailed to the north-west and took up a position where they would be ableto intercept Tirpitz in the event that she had sailed from Kaafjord without

being detected.[45] The remainder of the Home Fleet proceeded to the

strike's launching point.[46]

The attack was launched during the early hours of 3 April. All the airmenwere woken shortly after midnight, and attended a final briefing from 1:15 am. The aircraft to be used in the strikewere armed at this time, with all of the bombs being marked with messages for Tirpitz in chalk. The aircrew beganboarding their aircraft at 4:00 am and flying-off operations started 15 minutes later; at this time the warships were120 miles (190 km) from Kaafjord. Ten Corsairs drawn from 1834 and 1836 Naval Air Squadrons were the firstaircraft to be launched and were followed by the 21 Barracudas of 8 Wing; 827 Squadron was launched fromVictorious and 830 Squadron departed from Furious. Seven of the Barracudas were armed with a 1,600-poundbomb, and the remainder carried multiple 500 or 600-pound weapons. Once the Barracudas were airborne theremaining escort fighters – 30 Wildcats and Hellcats from 800, 881 and 882 Naval Air Squadrons – werelaunched. All the aircraft of the first wave were dispatched successfully, and the force completed forming up at 4:37

am.[42][47][48][49] Flying conditions remained perfect, and German forces had not detected the British fleet during its

approach.[44]

The first wave headed for Norway at low altitude, flying just 50 feet(15 m) above the sea to avoid detection by German radar. The aircraftbegan to climb to a higher altitude when they reached a point 20 miles(32 km) from the coast, and had reached 7,000 feet (2,100 m) by thetime they made landfall at 5:08 am. The force approached Altenfjordfrom the west, passing over the western end of Langfjord before turningsouth, then looping to the north and attacking the battleship over the hills

on the southern shore of Kaafjord shortly before 5:30 am.[50]

The arrival of the British force caught Tirpitz by surprise. While theaircraft had first been picked up by a German radar station shortly afterthey crossed the Norwegian coastline, the battleship was not immediately

warned.[51] At the time of the attack Tirpitz was preparing to sail for herhigh-speed trials, and her crew were busy unmooring the vessel. Her five protective destroyers had already

departed for the trials area in Stjern Sound.[52] The warning from the radar station arrived shortly before the Britishaircraft appeared over Kaafjord, and the battleship's crew were still in the process of moving to their battle stationswhen the attack commenced; at this time not all of the watertight doors were closed and some damage-control

stations were not fully manned.[50][53]

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Bombs exploding around Tirpitz

during the first attack on the

battleship

As planned, the British raid began with Hellcat and Wildcat fighters strafing Tirpitz's anti-aircraft guns and batterieslocated on the shore; this attack inflicted heavy casualties on the battleship's gunners, disabled her main anti-aircraft

control centre and damaged several guns.[54][55] The fighters also strafed several anti-aircraft ships in Kaafjord.[55]

The 21 Barracudas began their attack shortly afterwards, and hit Tirpitz with a general purpose bomb, three 500-

pound semi-armour-piercing bombs and three 1,600-pound bombs within 60 seconds.[56] Overall, ten bombs

struck the battleship during the first attack.[57] Most of these bombs did not penetrate the ship's armoured deck as

they had been dropped from too low an altitude.[56] Hundreds of members of the ship's crew died or werewounded; her commanding officer, Captain Hans Meyer, was among the wounded and another officer assumedcommand. The battleship also drifted into the western shore of Kaafjord and ran aground, but was quickly

refloated.[58] One of 830 Squadron's Barracudas crashed following the attack with the loss of all three members ofits crew. The surviving aircraft of the first wave began landing on the carriers at 6:19 am, and all were recovered by

6:42.[55][59]

The first aircraft of the second wave took to the air at 5:25 am. One of829 Squadron's Barracudas crashed shortly after take-off, resulting in thedeaths of its crew of three, and another aircraft from this squadron wasnot launched due to engine problems. Only two of the Barracudas in this

wave were armed with 1,600-pound bombs.[60] As with the first strike,40 fighters accompanied the torpedo bombers; these comprised 10Corsairs from 1834 and 1836 Naval Air Squadrons, all of the 20Wildcats assigned to 896 and 898 Naval Air Squadrons and 10 Hellcats

from 804 Naval Air Squadron.[60][61][62] All aircraft were launched by

5:37 am, and the force had an uneventful flight to the Kaafjord area.[63]

While the German defences were now alert, the artificial smoke screenbeing generated around Kaafjord was not yet sufficient to hide Tirpitz

from view.[64]

The second attack on Tirpitz was similar to the first. It began with Hellcat fighters strafing the anti-aircraft batterieswhile Wildcats attacked the battleship. The fighters also attacked German ships in Kaafjord and a radio or radiodirection finding station. The Barracudas executed their dive bombing attack at 6:36 am and struck Tirpitz with a

1,600 pound bomb and four 500-pound bombs within a minute.[60][63][65] The German defences at Kaafjordreceived little warning of the incoming raid, and the smokescreen hid the British aircraft from sight. As a result, the

gunners had to fire blindly and only shot down one of the Barracudas; all three airmen died.[60] The second wavelanded on the carriers between 7:20 and 7:58 am. A damaged Hellcat had to ditch near the Canadian destroyerHMCS Algonquin and one of the Corsairs suffered heavy damage as a result of a landing accident; both pilots

survived.[66][67][68]

During the period in which the air strikes were conducted, a force of 25 Wildcat and Supermarine Seafire fightersfrom 801, 842 and 880 Naval Air Squadrons provided air defence for the Home Fleet. Nine Fairey Swordfishtorpedo bombers, which were also operated by 842 Naval Air Squadron, conducted anti-submarine patrols. No

threat to the fleet developed, and Corsairs took over air defence duties at the conclusion of the two attacks.[68][69]

During the early afternoon of 3 April, Moore considered conducting a further raid on Kaafjord the next day. Hedecided against doing so as the preliminary assessment of photos taken during the attack had concluded thatTirpitz was badly damaged. Moore was also aware that his aircrew were fatigued, and was reluctant to expose

them to what would now be alert defences.[66][70][71] Accordingly, he ordered that the fleet return to base, and it

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A Barracuda landing on HMS

Victorious during Operation Tungsten

arrived at Scapa Flow in the afternoon of 6 April.[65] King George VI and Prime Minister Winston Churchill sentcongratulatory messages to the fleet, but both Churchill and Cunningham were concerned that Tirpitz could be

returned to service. Cunningham also regretted Moore's decision not to launch a further strike on 4 April.[72]

Aftermath

The two attacks on Tirpitz largely went to plan. The airmen found thedefences and geography at Kaafjord to be very similar to the LochEriboll training range, and one of the post-attack reports stated that theoperation had been "almost an exercise which they [the aircrew] had

frequently carried out before".[26] The official historian of the RoyalNavy's role in the Second World War, Stephen Roskill, also judged that

the strikes were "beautifully co-ordinated and fearlessly executed".[73]

The most important discrepancy between the plans for the operation andits execution was that many pilots dropped their bombs below thespecified minimum altitude of 3,000 feet (910 m) in an attempt improvetheir chances of hitting Tirpitz. The shorter than optimum flight times mayhave meant that some of the bombs which struck the battleship lacked

the necessary velocity to penetrate her deck armour.[74] Nine Royal

Navy airmen died during the raid.[66]

Tirpitz's crew suffered heavy casualties in the attack, but the battleship itself was not badly damaged. Overall, 122sailors died and 316 were wounded; these casualties represented 15% of the battleship's crew. Many of thecasualties were anti-aircraft gunners who were killed or wounded by machine-gun fire from the British

fighters.[75][76] While two bombs that exploded in the water near Tirpitz opened holes in her hull and causedflooding, none of the 15 bombs that struck the battleship penetrated her main deck armour belt. As a result, her

guns, magazines, and machinery did not suffer serious damage.[77][78] Most of the damaged areas of the battleshipwere located in her superstructure and between her armoured decks. The starboard aircraft catapult and cranewere destroyed, as were both Tirpitz's Arado floatplanes. The number two starboard 150-millimetre (5.9 in) gunturret was knocked out, and the number three port 150 mm turret incurred significant damage. The officers' messand several galleys were wrecked, and the ship was filled with smoke. Tirpitz's funnel was also struck by bombfragments that badly damaged all of the boiler intakes. While the starboard turbine was knocked out by shockdamage and two of the boilers were disabled after being contaminated by salt water used for firefighting, the

battleship was still capable of steaming within Kaafjord.[75][79] The British fighters also damaged four patrol craftand a large repair ship; the captain of an armed trawler died and 13 other sailors on board these vessels suffered

wounds.[76] Torstein Raaby of the Allied Secret Intelligence Service group in Alta reported a few hours after theraid, that no civilian casualties had resulted from the attack, and that the local population was "... extremelyimpressed by the bombing." A further report six days after the operation relayed that the Germans estimated that it

would take months to repair the damage inflicted on Tirpitz.[80]

The commander of the German Navy, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, directed that the damage caused to Tirpitzduring Operation Tungsten be repaired. Although the battleship was no longer capable of operating against Alliedconvoys for lack of air support, it was considered desirable to retain her in service in order to tie down Allied naval

resources.[81] Repair work began in early May after a destroyer transported equipment and workmen to Kaafjordfrom Germany, and Tirpitz was able to steam under her own power by 2 June. She was capable of undertakinggunnery practice by the end of June, and all repairs were completed in mid-July. During this period the battleship's

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Five of the British airmen who died

during Operation Tungsten are

interred at the Commonwealth War

Graves section of Tromsø's main

cemetery[83]

anti-aircraft armament was augmented by fitting her with additional 20-millimetre (0.79 in) cannons, modifying the150 mm guns so they could be used to attack aircraft and supplying anti-aircraft shells for her 380-millimetre (15 in)

main guns.[81] The defences of Kaafjord were also improved during this period. Additional radar stations and

observation posts were established, and the number of smoke generators located around Tirpitz was increased.[82]

Following Operation Tungsten, British intelligence assessed that Tirpitzwould be repaired within six months. Accordingly, Cunningham directed

Fraser on 13 April to launch another attack on the battleship.[72] WhileCunningham did not believe that Barracudas could carry weaponscapable of sinking Tirpitz, he hoped that further air strikes wouldincrease the period the battleship was out of service and harm her crew's

morale.[84] Fraser initially resisted Cunningham's order, arguing that theprospects for a successful raid were poor as the Germans would havereinforced the defences around Tirpitz and weather conditions werelikely to be worse than those encountered during Operation Tungsten. Heeventually relented, and Moore sailed from Scapa Flow on 21 April toattack Kaafjord again. This raid, designated Operation Planet, was calledoff on 24 April due to bad weather over the target area. Two otherattacks, Operation Brawn and Operation Tiger Claw, also had to becancelled on 15 and 28 May respectively because of adverse

weather.[85] Further carrier raids were attempted in July and August afterAllied intelligence determined that the repairs to Tirpitz were nearing completion. During Operation Mascot a forceof 42 Barracudas and 40 fighters attacked Tirpitz on 17 July, but did not score any hits as the battleship washidden by a smokescreen. A further four carrier raids were conducted against Kaafjord between 22 and 29 August

during Operation Goodwood, but these caused only light damage to the battleship.[86]

In late August it was decided that further Fleet Air Arm attacks should not be attempted as the Germans were nowable to cover Tirpitz in smoke before Barracudas could reach the battleship, and these aircraft could not carrybombs large enough to inflict heavy damage. As it was still seen as desirable to destroy Tirpitz, the task was

assigned to Bomber Command.[87] On 15 September a force of heavy bombers attacked Kaafjord after refuellingat bases in northern Russia and inflicted irreparable damage on the battleship. Following this raid she was towed toan anchorage near Tromsø to be used as an immobile coastal defence battery. Another heavy bomber attack on 29October caused only minor damage, and a third raid was mounted on 12 November in which Tirpitz was struck by

several Tallboy bombs and capsized with heavy loss of life among her crew.[88]

References

Citations

1. ^ Bennett (2012), p. 10

2. ^ Dear and Foot (2005), p. 35

3. ^ Bennett (2012), pp. 10–11

4. ^ Bennett (2012), p. 9

5. ^ Faulkner and Wilkinson (2012), p. 109

6. ̂a b Bennett (2012), p. 11

7. ^ Bishop (2012), pp. 78–83

8. ^ Woodman (2004), p. 340

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9. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 251

10. ^ Bishop (2012), p. 295

11. ̂a b c Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 265

12. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 264

13. ^ Hinsley et al. (1984), p. 269

14. ^ Dear and Foot (2005), p. 38

15. ^ Bishop (2012), pp. 291–293

16. ̂a b Bishop (2012), p. 294

17. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), pp. 266–267

18. ̂a b Bennett (2012), p. 14

19. ̂a b c d e Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 267

20. ^ Bishop (2012), pp. 296–297

21. ̂a b c Bishop (2012), p. 297

22. ̂a b c Bishop (2012), p. 299

23. ^ Hinsley et al. (1984), p. 271

24. ^ Bishop (2012), pp. 295–296, 298

25. ̂a b c Bishop (2012), p. 300

26. ̂a b Hinsley et al. (1984), pp. 273–274

27. ̂a b Bishop (2012), p. 298

28. ^ Roskill (1960), p. 274

29. ^ Rohwer (2005), p. 311

30. ^ Hinsley et al. (1984), p. 273

31. ̂a b c d Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 268

32. ^ Brown (1977), p. 33

33. ^ Rørholt and Thorsen (1990), p. 254

34. ^ "Operation Tungsten — Attacking the Tirpitz, 1944" (http://www.navy.mil.nz/know-your-navy/official-documents/navy-today/nt11webformat/nt160/op-tungsten.htm). Navy Today (160). April 2011. Retrieved 28January 2013.

35. ^ Bishop (2012), pp. 299–300

36. ^ Tactical, Torpedo and Staff Duties Division (Historical Section) (2012), p. 151

37. ^ Barnett (2000), p. 275

38. ̂a b c Tactical, Torpedo and Staff Duties Division (Historical Section) (2012), p. 135

39. ^ Blair (2000), p. 516

40. ^ Blair (2000), pp. 516–517

41. ^ Woodman (2004), pp. 390–394

42. ̂a b Roskill (1960), p. 275

43. ^ Bishop (2012), pp. 300–301

44. ̂a b Tactical, Torpedo and Staff Duties Division (Historical Section) (2012), p. 140

45. ^ Levy (2003), p. 144

46. ^ Bishop (2012), p. 301

47. ^ Bishop (2012), pp. 301–302

48. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), pp. 268–269

49. ^ Brown (1977), p. 34

50. ̂a b Bishop (2012), p. 302

51. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 270

52. ^ Bishop (2012), p. 303

53. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), pp. 271–272

54. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 272

55. ̂a b c Tactical, Torpedo and Staff Duties Division (Historical Section) (2012), p. 144

56. ̂a b Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 275

57. ^ Garzke and Dulin (1985), pp. 266–267

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57. ^ Garzke and Dulin (1985), pp. 266–267

58. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), pp. 275–277

59. ^ Bishop (2012), p. 305

60. ̂a b c d Brown (1977), p. 35

61. ^ Tactical, Torpedo and Staff Duties Division (Historical Section) (2012), p. 158

62. ^ Tillman (1996), p. 74

63. ̂a b Tactical, Torpedo and Staff Duties Division (Historical Section) (2012), p. 145

64. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 277

65. ̂a b Bishop (2012), p. 306

66. ̂a b c Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 279

67. ^ Tactical, Torpedo and Staff Duties Division (Historical Section) (2012), p. 147

68. ̂a b Levy (2003), p. 145

69. ^ Tactical, Torpedo and Staff Duties Division (Historical Section) (2012), pp. 148, 176

70. ^ Bishop (2012), p. 308

71. ^ Hinsley et al. (1984), p. 275

72. ̂a b Bishop (2012), p. 309

73. ^ Roskill (1960), p. 276

74. ^ Bennett (2012), p. 17

75. ̂a b Bishop (2012), p. 307

76. ̂a b Brown (1977), p. 36

77. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 281

78. ^ Garzke and Dulin (1985), p. 265

79. ^ Garzke and Dulin (1985), pp. 265–267

80. ^ Rørholt and Thorsen (1990), pp. 255, 257

81. ̂a b Garzke and Dulin (1985), p. 267

82. ^ Brown (1977), p. 37

83. ^ "Tromso Cemetery" (http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2016262/TROMSO%20CEMETERY).Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 20 September 2013.

84. ^ Roskill (1960), p. 278

85. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), p. 280

86. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), pp. 282–284

87. ^ Zetterling and Tamelander (2009), pp. 285–286

88. ^ Bennett (2012), pp. 19–21

Works consulted

Barnett, Correlli (2000). Engage the Enemy More Closely: The Royal Navy in the Second World War

(Classic Penguin ed.). London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0141390085.Bennett, G.H. (2012). "Introduction". In Bennett, G.H. Hunting Tirpitz: Naval Operations Against

Bismarck's Sister Ship. Plymouth, United Kingdom: University of Plymouth Press. pp. 7–25.

ISBN 9781841023106.

Bishop, Patrick (2012). Target Tirpitz. London: Harper Press. ISBN 9780007431199.

Blair, Clay (2000). Hitler's U-boat War: The Hunted, 1942–1945. New York: Modern Library.

ISBN 0679640339.

Brown, David (1977). Tirpitz: The Floating Fortress. London: Arms and Armour Press.ISBN 0853683417.

Dear, I. C. B. and Foot, M. R. D., ed. (2005). "Arctic convoys". The Oxford Companion to World War

II. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 35–38. ISBN 9780192806703.

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Faulkner, Marcus; Wilkinson, Peter (2012). War at Sea: A Naval Atlas, 1939–1945. Annapolis,

Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781591145608.

Garzke, William H.; Dulin, Robert O. (1985). Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II.

Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9780870211010.

Hinsley, F.H.; et al. (1984). British Intelligence in the Second World War: Its Influence on Strategy and

Operations. Volume Three, Part I. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 0116309350.

Levy, James P. (2003). The Royal Navy's Home Fleet in World War II. Houndmills, United Kingdom:Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1403917736.

Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea: 1939–1945: The Naval History of World WarII (Third revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1591141192.

Rørholt, Bjørn; Thorsen, Bjarne (1990). Usynlige soldater: nordmenn i Secret Service forteller(http://www.nb.no/nbsok/nb/ecd4c816d3e56c9be326a0344b339303?index=38#0) (in Norwegian). Oslo:Aschehoug. ISBN 8203160468.

Roskill, S.W. (1960). The War at Sea 1939–1945. Volume III: The Offensive Part I. London: HerMajesty's Stationery Office. OCLC 58588186 (//www.worldcat.org/oclc/58588186).

Tactical, Torpedo and Staff Duties Division (Historical Section) (2012) [1944]. "Naval Aircraft Attack onthe Tirpitz (Operation 'Tungsten') 3 April 1944". In Bennett, G.H. Hunting Tirpitz: Naval Operations

Against Bismarck's Sister Ship. Plymouth, United Kingdom: University of Plymouth Press. pp. 133–177.ISBN 9781841023106.Tillman, Barrett (1996). Hellcat Aces of World War 2. London: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1855325969.

Woodman, Richard (2004). The Arctic Convoys: 1941–1945 (Paperback ed.). London: John Murray.ISBN 0719566177.

Zetterling, Niklas; Tamelander, Michael (2009). Tirpitz: The Life and Death of Germany's Last SuperBattleship. Philadelphia: Casemate. ISBN 9781935149187.

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