KMS Tirpitz
The Tirpitz, last of the Kriegsmarine battleships, is today’s subject.
The Tirpitz, second and last battleship of the Bismarck class, was the largest warship built in Germany. She was commissioned on February 1941, and afterwards went to the Baltic to conduct sea trials. At the beginning of 1942, she was sent to Trondheim, Norway in order to repel a possible allied invasion, and to attack the Russia-bound Arctic convoys. As part of the “Fleet in being”, her mere presence forced the Allies to maintain a considerable force in Scapa Flow that could have been otherwise employed in other theatres of operations. In July 1942, she was indirectly responsible for the destruction of convoy PQ-17 without firing a single shot. In September 1943, while anchored in Kåfjord/Altafjord, she was attacked by British midget submarines and put out of action for the first time. Later subjected to continuous aerial bombings, the Tirpitz was finally sunk off Håkøy Island near Tromsø on 12 November 1944 after being hit by 5.4-ton “Tallboy” bombs.
Credit to : Drachinifel
