and Tirpitz. Germany did not build anything comparable in size either before or after that. These battleships have become a visible symbol of the resurgent power of the Third Reich. Appearance battleships made such an impression on Hitler that he gave the order to start designing an even more powerful ship with a displacement of 144 thousand tons, but the war crossed out these plans.
It was with these ships that the Germans hoped to turn their country into a first-class maritime power. But this was not destined to come true. The battleships were well armed, had excellent protection, could reach speeds of up to 30 knots and travel 8,000 nautical miles without entering the port.
The British sent the Bismarck to the bottom already during his first campaign, and the Tirpitz practically did not take part in the hostilities. However, by the very fact of his presence, he posed a threat to the allied Arctic convoys and attracted significant forces of the British Navy. Once upon a time, American Admiral Alfred Mahan said that the fleet, by the very fact of its existence, influences politics. "Tirpitz" can be called a clear proof of this assertion.
Throughout the war, the British tried to destroy the battleship, but they were only able to sink the pride of the German fleet at the end of 1944.
The battleship Tirpitz is one of the most famous ships in history: the fate of this ship and its death still attracts the attention of researchers.
Design and construction
After coming to power, the Nazis began to restore the former power of the German navy. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forbidden to launch ships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons. This led to the creation of the so-called pocket battleships - ships with a small displacement (about 10 thousand tons) and powerful weapons (280 mm guns).
It was clear that his main rival in the upcoming war would be the British Navy. In the military department of Germany, a discussion unfolded about which better ships build to be successful fighting on enemy communications: underwater or surface.
In the mid-30s, they adopted a secret plan Z, according to which the German fleet was to be significantly replenished and become one of the strongest on the planet within 10-15 years. This program was never implemented, however, the battleships envisaged by the plan were nevertheless launched.
The battleship Tirpitz was laid down on November 2, 1936 at the shipyard in Wilhelmshaven (Bismarck was laid down on July 1). According to the original design, the ship was supposed to have a displacement of 35 thousand tons, but in 1935 Germany refused to comply with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, and the tonnage of the battleship was increased to 42 thousand tons. He got his name in honor of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz - an outstanding naval commander and the actual creator of the German Navy.
The ship was originally conceived as a raider - having high speed course and a significant cruising range, the Tirpitz was supposed to work on English communications, destroying transport ships.
In January 1941, the crew was formed, then tests of the ship began in the eastern Baltic. The battleship was declared fit for further operation.
Description
The battleship Tirpitz had a maximum displacement of 53,500 tons, a total length of 253.6 meters and a width of 36 meters. The ship was perfectly protected: the armor belt covered 70% of its length. The thickness of the armor ranged from 170 to 320 mm, the wheelhouse and turrets of the main caliber had even more serious protection - 360 mm.
Each tower of the main caliber had given name. In addition, it should be noted the excellent fire control system of naval artillery, excellent German optics and excellent training of gunners. The Tirpitz guns could hit 350-mm armor at a distance of up to twenty kilometers.
Armament "Tirpitz" consisted of eight guns of the main caliber (380 mm), located in four towers (two bow and two stern), twelve 150 mm guns and sixteen 105 mm guns. The anti-aircraft armament of the ship, consisting of 37-mm and 20-mm guns, was also very powerful. Tirpitz also had its own aircraft: there were four Arado Ar196A-3 aircraft and a catapult to launch them on board.
The ship's power plant consisted of twelve Wagner steam boilers and three Brown Boveri & Cie turbines. She developed a capacity of more than 163 thousand liters. with., which allowed the ship to have a speed above 30 knots.
The cruising range of the Tirpitz (at a speed of 19 knots) was 8,870 nautical miles.
Summing up all of the above, we can conclude that the Tirpitz could withstand any Allied ship and posed a serious threat to them. The only problem was that the number of pennants in the American and English navies was much greater than in the German one, and the tactics of warfare at sea preclude jousting "one on one".
The British were afraid of the German battleships and closely followed their movements. After the Bismarck battleship went to sea in the spring of 1941, the main forces of the British fleet were thrown to intercept it, and the British eventually managed to sink it, although it cost them the loss of the first-class battleship Hood.
Operations involving "Tirpitz"
After the loss of the Bismarck, Hitler became somewhat disillusioned with the surface fleet. The Germans did not want to lose the last real battleship and used it extremely rarely. The superiority of the English fleet in the Atlantic was almost overwhelming, so the Tirpitz was sent to Norway, where she stood almost idle until the moment of her death.
However, despite such a passive behavior of the flagship of the German fleet, the British did not give him rest and made a lot of efforts to destroy him.
On September 20, 1941, Hitler ordered the formation of a group of ships (Baltenflotte) in the Baltic Sea to prevent a possible breakthrough of the remnants of the USSR Baltic Fleet into neutral Sweden. "Tirpitz" was appointed the flagship of this connection. However, this group was soon disbanded, and the military leadership of the Reich decided to send a battleship to Norway to ensure its greater security.
In March 1942, the German command received information about two allied convoys: PQ-12 and QP-8. PQ-12 came from Iceland and consisted of 16 transport ships. QP-8 left the first of March from Murmansk. On March 5, Tirpitz left Fattenfjord and, accompanied by three destroyers, went to intercept convoys. Through the Arctic Ocean, the battleship headed for Bear Island.
At the same time, significant forces of the British Navy were at sea, including the main forces of the Home Fleet, under the command of Admiral Tovey, who sank the Bismarck. They were looking for the Tirpitz.
Bad weather conditions precluded the use of aerial reconnaissance by both sides. Because of this, the British were unable to find the German battleship, and the Germans missed both convoys. One of the German destroyers discovered the Soviet timber carrier Izhora and sank it. On March 9, an English reconnaissance aircraft managed to find the Tirpitz, after which the Germans decided to return the ship to the base.
It was Tirpitz that played a dramatic role in the fate of the PQ-17 convoy. In the summer of 1942, the Germans decided to conduct a swift operation involving a large number of heavy ships to completely destroy this convoy. The operation was called Rösselsprung ("Knight's move"). In addition to Tirpitz, the cruisers Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper were supposed to participate in it. German ships were forbidden to engage in battle with equal or superior enemy forces.
Having learned about the loss of the Tirpitz from its permanent anchorage, the British naval leadership ordered the convoy to be disbanded and recalled the cruisers and destroyers of its escort to the west.
On July 1, the battleship was discovered by the British submarine HMS Unshaken, which transmitted the data to the leadership. The Germans intercepted this message and were able to decipher it. Realizing that the Tirpitz had been discovered, the Germans decided to stop the operation and return the battleship to the base. The PQ-17 convoy, left without cover, was badly damaged by submarine and aircraft actions.
Another story is connected with this exit of the Tirpitz at sea, namely the attack on the battleship of the Soviet submarine K-21 under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Lunin. The boat fired a salvo of four torpedoes at the Tirpitz. They could not see the results of their attack, but they heard several strong and weak explosions. Lunin considered that as a result of his attack, the Tirpitz was damaged and one of the escort destroyers was sunk.
Information about the damage to the battleship as a result of the K-21 attack can be found in Soviet and Russian literature; there is no information about it at all in German sources. The Germans simply did not notice this attack. Some of the modern experts believe that in those conditions (firing range, its angle), the Soviet submarine could not hit the German ships, and the explosions were the result of the detonation of torpedoes on the seabed.
Another operation that Tirpitz was involved in was the attack of German forces on Svalbard. It began in September 1943 and was named Sizilien ("Sicily"). The Germans approached the island and, after shelling it from battleships and destroyers, landed troops. This was the only operation in which Tirpitz used its artillery. It should be noted that this ship did not fire a single shell at any enemy ship.
Operations against Tirpitz and the death of the battleship
The battleship Tirpitz haunted the British military leadership. After the loss of Hood, the British understood perfectly well what the German flagship was capable of.
In the last days of October 1942, Operation Title began. The British decided to sink the Tirpitz with human-guided torpedoes. They planned to be towed to the battleship's parking lot in a submerged position using a fishing boat. However, almost at the very entrance to the harbor with the Tirpitz, a strong wave arose, which caused the loss of both torpedoes. The British scuttled the boat, and the sabotage team went on foot to Sweden.
Almost a year after these events, the British launched a new operation to destroy the ship, it was called Source (“Source”). This time, they planned to destroy the battleship with the help of midget submarines (project X), which were supposed to drop explosive charges under the Tirpitz hull. Each of these boats had a displacement of 30 tons, a length of 15.7 m and carried two charges, each of which contained almost two tons of explosive. Six mini-submarines took part in the operation; conventional submarines towed them to the place of its conduct.
The sabotage submarines were supposed to attack not only the Tirpitz, the Scharnhost and Lutzow were additional targets.
Only two boats (X6 and X7) managed to drop their charges under the bottom of the ship. After which they surfaced, and their crews were captured. "Tirpitz" did not have time to leave the parking lot, the explosions caused him significant damage. One of the turbines was torn off the frame, the frames were damaged, the turret of the main caliber "C" was jammed, several compartments were flooded. All rangefinders and fire control devices were destroyed. The battleship was disabled for a long time. The captains of the X6 and X7 submarines at home were awarded the Victoria Crosses - the highest military awards of the empire.
The Germans managed to repair the Tirpitz only by the spring of 1944, and he again became dangerous. It should be noted that the repair of the battleship after very severe damage, carried out without a dry dock, is a real achievement of German sailors and engineers.
At this time, the British begin a new operation against Tirpitz - Tungsten ("Tungsten"). This time the emphasis was on the use of aviation. Several British aircraft carriers were involved in the operation. Two waves of Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers carried not torpedoes, but various types of bombs. As a result of the raids, the ship was badly damaged. The bombs failed to penetrate the battleship's armored hull, but the superstructures were severely damaged. 123 members of the ship's crew were killed and another 300 were wounded. The restoration of the Tirpitz took three months. On September 15, Operation Paravane began. Avro Lancaster aircraft of the British Air Force took off from the airfield near Arkhangelsk and headed for Norway. They were armed with 5-ton Tallboy bombs and underwater mines. One of the bombs hit the bow of the ship and caused such damage that the battleship practically lost its seaworthiness. The Germans no longer had the opportunity to transport the Tirpitz to dry dock and carry out major repairs at the end of 1944.
The battleship was transferred to Sørbotn Bay near Hokoya Island and turned into a floating artillery battery. In this place of deployment, he was within the reach of aviation from British airfields. The next raid (Operation Obviate) was unsuccessful due to bad weather.
Fatal for the ship was a raid on November 12 (Operation Catechism), during which three super-powerful Tallboy bombs hit the battleship. One of them bounced off the armor of the tower, but the other two pierced the armor belt and led to the flooding of the Tirpitz. Of the 1,700 crew members, 1,000 were killed, including the ship's commander. Still incomprehensible is the passive behavior of the Luftwaffe, whose planes made no attempt to interfere with the bombardment.
After the end of the war, the wreckage of the battleship was sold to a Norwegian company, which dismantled the remains of the ship until 1957. The bow of the Tirpitz remained lying where the ship took its last battle.
Not far from the place of death of the battleship, a monument was erected to the dead crew members.
Tirpitz is one of the most famous warships. Hundreds of articles and books have been written about the battleship, films have been made about it. Of course, the history of this ship is one of the brightest pages of the Second World War.
Despite the fact that the Tirpitz practically did not use its guns in battle, its influence on the course of the war in the North Atlantic and the Arctic was enormous. After its destruction, the Allies were able to transfer significant naval forces to other theaters of operations: the Pacific and Indian Ocean, which significantly worsened the position of Japan.
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Before the advent atomic bomb only one weapon evoked the same fear and worship - the battleship. At one time, it was the largest and most complex mobile structure ever created.
History is full of contradictions, it tells us about one of the most expensive projects implemented by mankind, which determined the modern political map of the world. During the arms race, emperors, admirals, politicians, all were influenced by the majesty and firepower of the floating fortress. Battleships were considered an instrument of world politics and demonstrated the real possibilities of the power on the world stage. Battleship "» — this is the story of the struggle for world domination, which ended with large-scale battles of the 20th century.
After Germany's defiant refusal to comply with the Treaty of Versailles, a discussion began in the military department about which ships - surface or underwater - to build for cruising warfare on enemy communications. The supporter of the surface fleet, Admiral Raeder, won the upper hand. In 1939, the largest Bismarck and Tirpitz in the history of the German fleet descend from the stocks of Germany. The imposing appearance of the new warships so impressed the imagination of the Fuhrer, prone to gigantic structures, that he ordered the design of an even larger battleship with a displacement of about 144 thousand tons, but the course of the war crossed out his plans and put an end to his dreams.
Battleship"Tirpitz" was built at the shipyard " Wilhelmshaven in Hamburg in April 1939. He was called the "battleship" for the thickness of the armor. Reservation of the main belt 320 mm, upper belt 145 mm, bow and stern belts 80 mm, main deck from 50 to 120 mm, main gun turret from 130 to 360 mm, conning tower - 360 mm. The cruising range allowed the warship to make campaigns up to 8000 miles. After the death of the “elder brother” and Hitler’s upset feelings, the Tirpitz practically failed to take part in the hostilities, but with its presence in Norway it threatened convoys to the USSR and fettered significant forces of the British fleet.
There was a hunt for battleships of this class. They haunted British aircraft carriers and Soviet submarines. Finally, on the morning of November 12, 1944, after a devastating barrage of fire coming from 121 aircraft, the Allied aviation achieved a rupture of the armor plating and » began to roll rapidly to the port side. Soon, a powerful explosion was heard in the area of \u200b\u200bthe cellars and the warship turned upside down with a keel. So the last point was put in the history of Germany beyond the battleships.
From the point of view of history, you can look at any and say - this is the most powerful non-nuclear weapon that man has created.
battleship Tirpitz photo
battleship Tirpitz demonstration firing
battleship Tirpitz wheelhouse
gun of the battleship Tirpitz, photo taken in the port of Fættenfjord, Norway
battleship Tirpitz preparing for battle
Tirpitz in one of the campaigns
battleship "Tirpitz" in the port of Fættenfjord near Trondheim, Norway, June 1942
battleship Tirpitz in Scheerhafen, Kiel, 1941
battleship "Tirpitz" twin brother of the battleship "Bismarck", whom they never saw
battleship "Tirpitz" in the port of the fortress Altenfjord, Northern Norway
battleship "Tirpitz" the Germans were in no hurry to put into battle
Technical characteristics of the battleship "Tirpitz":
Length - 251 m;
Width - 36 m;
Height - 15 m;
Draft - 10.6 m;
Displacement - 53500 tons;
Ship power plant- 12 Wagner steam boilers and three Brown Boveri turbines;
Power - 163026 hp;
Speed - 30.8 knots;
Cruising range - up to 10,000 miles;
Crew:
Command staff - 108 people;
Personnel - 2500 people;
Armament:
380 mm gun - 8;
Gun 150 mm - 12;
Gun 105 mm - 16;
Torpedo tubes 533 mm - 2X4;
Anti-aircraft weapons 37 mm - 16;
Anti-aircraft weapons 20 mm - 12;
Aviation:
Aircraft "Arado" - 4;
battleship tirpitz illustration
the Germans had high hopes for the battleship Tirpitz
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Engineering and industry work well in Germany. Together they created many useful and efficient machines and equipment. In the event of war, their symbiosis was dangerous for a potential adversary - the USSR during the Great Patriotic War felt it for itself. But it was not without "punctures".
Some of the monsters of the German military industry were terrible on paper and by eye, but the practical result from their use tended to be zero. Among these "scarecrows" is the battleship Tirpitz. The British were afraid of him not because he had done them significant damage, but because he simply existed.
What do you call the yacht ... It is clear that the German sailors did not know this song by Captain Vrungel. Otherwise, they would have chosen a different name for the superlinkor. And so the history of the ship fully corresponded to the history of the person whose name it received.
Father of the German Navy
Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz enjoyed a good reputation among German naval sailors. He was praised for a specific biography fact: he did not lose a single battle. There is a good reason for this - he did not participate in a single one.
But the admiral had merit. Before the First World War, he actively advocated the development and strengthening of the German fleet. The goal was to end English dominance at sea. Tirpitz liked big ships with thick armor - he believed that these floating tanks would defeat the British.
The result was so-so - the British were in maritime affairs more experienced, and for each German ship they built 2 of their own.
The submarine warfare, of which Tirpitz was a fan, did not succeed either. She only called on the opponents of Germany and the United States, outraged by the submarine attack on the Lusitania (this passenger liner sank after being torpedoed by the U-20 submarine. 1198 people died).
But in the minds of the German military, Tirpitz remained the "father of the fleet" and a symbol of the coming victory over England on the water. That's his name and used to title the new ship.
Chancellor and Admiral
In 1935, the military ordered two battleships to be built. Hitler, having come to power, immediately began to ignore the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, which limited the German military potential, and this turned out to be an issue in which the Germans were really at one with him (the victors set too humiliating conditions).
It was decided to build ships in the country capable of putting British dreadnoughts in their place. One of them was named "Bismarck", and the second was honored to become "Tirpitz".
There was something wrong with them in the beginning. went on the only voyage in his life, and the British sank him (not without damage to themselves, but all the same).
"Tirpitz" survived until 1944, but its combat effectiveness was insignificant. The main occupation of the battleship was ... playing hide and seek with the British military. The ship repeated the fate of the admiral - he did not have a chance to participate in any noticeable battle.
Giant transport hunter
It is known that with regard to weapons, Hitler was characterized by gigantomania. He was fascinated by large and scary-looking devices. In fact, the giants did not justify the resources spent on their construction (for example, the giant Dora cannon, which was never able to properly fire at the 30th Sevastopol battery).
The same thing happened with Bismarck and Tirpitz. But the characteristics of the ships commanded respect. Battleships with the best performance participated in the war (the same Japanese Yamato), but German ships also represented a considerable force.
German postscript system
She (the system) accompanied the ship already at the design stage. But it was the opposite of the one used by the Soviet bureaucrats.
In order to please the requirements of the Versailles Peace, which limited the German military potential, the data on the ships were not overestimated, but underestimated.
Thus, the officially declared displacement of the Tirpitz was to be 35 thousand tons. But already in the project "for internal use" there was an indicator of 45.5 thousand tons. Further, the displacement of the battleship was further increased during the reconstruction (up to 53 thousand tons), but no one hid this - the war began.
A similar miracle happened with the armament of the Tirpitz - officially the main caliber was supposed to be 350 mm, but for some reason in reality it turned out that it was 380 mm.
Technologically advanced scarecrow
"Tirpitz" was launched in 1939, and immediately completed its first task - the British were still scared. They had a habit of keeping 2 of their own in reserve against each German ship of a similar class (in a war, there is no dueling code). Battleships were required against the battleship. But the British lacked confidence that they had a similar reserve against Tirpitz and Bismarck.
The battleships of the King George series failed in the best way, and then the Germans presented a really powerful battleship. The German battleship Tirpitz was not perfect, but its power was impressive.
Tactical and technical characteristics (linear, armored, running, firing) of the Tirpitz were not record-breaking, but good. Here you can simply refer to the numbers.
- Dimensions - 253.6 m overall length, 15 m overall height (from the keel), 36 meters wide.
- The thickness of the armor - from 145 to 320 mm, on the towers of the main caliber and wheelhouse - 360 mm.
- The maximum speed is over 30 knots.
- Main caliber - 380 mm (8 guns); plus 12 more 150 mm guns and 116 anti-aircraft guns of various calibers.
- The autonomous navigation range is up to 16,500 km.
- Carrier-based aviation - Arado aircraft 4 pcs.
The ship was driven by 12 boilers and 3 turbines. He had a radar station and, in addition to artillery, carried torpedo tubes. During operation, it was modernized several times; in particular, the number of anti-aircraft installations increased.
But at the same time, the Tirpitz was originally planned to be used not for battles with an equal enemy, but for hunting transport ships. The fad of the Nazis was the English maritime trade, and they wanted to stop it. The ship was to be used not as a battleship, but as a cruiser.
So he was sent to the North Sea - both safer and production at hand (transport convoys carrying equipment, weapons and materials under Lend-Lease to the northern ports of the USSR).
The clear superiority of the British in the west and the fate of the Bismarck forced the Nazi command to save the second maritime miracle.
The battleship was prepared for a pleasant sinecure - to wag the Arctic convoys. The command was afraid that something unforeseen would happen to the Fuhrer's favorite marine toy. And kept her out of harm's way.
Captains and maritime law
It remains to mention the people who were supposed to set in motion the floating miracle. The battleship's crew better days consisted of 2608 people, of which 108 officers.
The commanders on the Tirpitz have changed several times during the existence of the ship, but they were all in the rank of captains of the zur see (according to Russian system- captains of the 1st rank). In February 1941, the battleship was first received by F.K. Topp (before that, he happened to lead the construction and testing of the ship).
The fate of the last commander deserves attention. Robert Weber knew the unwritten law of the sea well. He did not leave his ship, and, together with the Tirpitz, went to the bottom. Together with him, 1700 people of the team died; part of the crew managed to escape.
Symbolic thunderstorm of the Arctic convoys
From January 1942, the Tirpitz served in the North Sea. In the Norwegian fjords, one could find a convenient parking lot for a battleship, hardly noticeable to the enemy. The German command wanted to save the only remaining newfangled ship and hoped that its very existence would reduce the courage of the British.
In addition, the Nazis expected the imminent fall of Leningrad and for some reason decided that in this case the Baltic Fleet of the USSR was guaranteed to rush to flee to Sweden.
Leningrad held out, the Baltic Fleet did not escape anywhere, even the Arctic convoys mostly suffered from aircraft and other ships, but not from the Tirpitz.
He basically tried the "grab and tick" tactic - showing up for a moment, and back to base.
But still, the battleship had a chance to participate in several real operations. Their scale is such that it allows one to believe that the Tirpitz took out of the parking lot only so that the Fuhrer would not have any questions about what he was doing at all.
Timber truck racing
Among his exploits is an attempt to intercept two convoys at once in March 1942. The first of them, PQ-12, went from Iceland to Murmansk, the second (QP-8) - towards him, from Murmansk.
The German squadron, in which the formidable Tirpitz sailed, managed to slip right in front of the nose of one and behind the stern of the second caravan. Then everyone justified themselves, referring to the weather - they say, fog, visibility is zero, and aerial reconnaissance has gone awry.
The only victim of the convoy hunt was the Izhora, a Soviet timber carrier that accidentally fell behind its own in the fog. The Tirpitz commander had the good sense not to waste expensive charges on him - one of the destroyers of the squadron was catching up and sinking the unfortunate vessel. And still, the Izhora, practically unarmed, held out against a heavily armed sea wolf for an hour and a half! At the same time, he managed to warn the others about the attack.
A futile knight's move
Another anti-escort operation (codenamed "Knight's Move") was carried out in July of the same year. For the PQ-17 convoy, things ended badly - more than half of the ships sank. But Tirpitz did not touch them.
He just went to sea, and that was enough to start a panic in the British Admiralty.
Having received intelligence data on the performance of the German "scarecrow", the convoy was ordered to disperse, and the escort ships to fall behind. It turned out that the British command deliberately sacrificed transports, saving the cruisers.
The convoy complied with the order. There was no loot for the battleship. The command decided that small German ships would cope with the task of catching the ships of the convoy one at a time. And so it happened. And the Tirpitz went back to the parking lot - away from the British aviation and submarines. It was a brilliant victory - in order to win it, the battleship did not have to uncover the guns.
From cannons to mines
The Tirpitz also had a chance to take part in firing along the coast. In September 1943, he advanced to the shores of Svalbard. The buildings of the mining town remained there (before the war, coal was mined by the USSR and Norway) and German meteorologists worked for some time. They were fired upon by the British pursuing their own goals during the landing on Svalbard.
Revenge for the "vile attack" (of which as many as 1 person turned out to be a victim) was the visit of "Tirpitz". The operation was beautifully called "Citronella" (otherwise "Sicily").
The huge battleship brought with it several hundred marines and tested its main caliber in real combat, firing at the mining barracks. It looked scary, but the practical result would have been greater when shooting at sparrows.
With these three operations, the combat biography of the battleship is exhausted. The rest of the time he was at anchor, repaired and spoiled the nerves of the British.
The fate of a tempting target
England did not see the Tirpitz in action, but was afraid of it - apparently due to the lack of confidence that at the right time it would not have 2 or more battleships at hand against one "German".
The British military went out of their way to destroy the German battleship.
Bombs of all calibers (including heavy-duty Tallboys), conventional and guided torpedoes were used. But for almost 3 years the battleship seemed to be charmed.
Simple conspiracy methods for invulnerability
In fact, everything was simple. The battleship was invulnerable due to its own merits, the peculiarities of the northern nature, but even more so - the British blunders.
- Visibility in Norway is poor. The battleship changed colors in June 1942 - the coloring acquired northern camouflage. So the British bombed at random.
- The air defense of the Tirpitz was good - a rare raid did not cost the British a few aircraft.
- The battleship team achieved excellent results in the installation of smoke screens.
- English pilots were taught to bomb the squares. It got off in Dresden, but the area of the battleship is much smaller. So the bombs basically reduced the fish stocks in the North Sea.
- Several guided torpedoes inexplicably... got lost along the way.
- One of the armor-piercing bombs that damaged the Tirpitz, according to the results of the test (it was carried out by the Germans), contained explosives half as much as it should be according to the standard.
It is clear that it is not easy to fight such “conspiracies”. But some blows reached their goal - before the final sinking, the Tirpitz was damaged several times, excluding an independent move (in September 1943 and April 1944).
Some bombing and mining by mini-submarines yielded results. As a result, this ruined the battleship - he could not fully defend himself from the last attack.
Captain Lunin and the attack on the Tirpitz
The question of who sank the Tirpitz is closed. This was done by British bombers on November 12, 1944. But the USSR also claims merit in the battleship hunt.
The captain of the K-21 submarine, N.A. Lunin, in the course of countering the "Knight's move", fired torpedoes at the Tirpitz and the destroyer accompanying it. Then, in a report, he reported on the explosions he heard and suggested that he damaged the Tirpitz and sank the second ship.
But such losses were not recorded by the Germans.
Almost certainly, Lunin's torpedoes missed and exploded from falling to the bottom. The data on his course indicate that his chances of hitting the battleship were minimal. This does not denigrate the honesty of the captain - at least he tried, and did not claim to have observed the hit. But Tirpitz is not his prey.
Posthumous glory
During the implementation of Operation Catechism on November 12, 1944, the British dropped several Tallboys on the Tirpitz. One reached the goal; the hit caused a fire and detonation of ammunition. The battleship capsized and sank.
There was no need to look for the place of death on the map - the battleship's hull was visible in Hockeybotn Bay above the surface. There he waited for the end of the war.
After the conclusion of peace, Norway cut the Tirpitz until 1957. A significant part of the metal ... was sold to Germany. Museums adorn a lot of fragments, souvenir decorations were made from some of them. Several pieces of the battleship were used to repair roads. The bow is still at the bottom.
Not far from the final resting place of the Tirpitz, a monument was erected to the dead crew members. The monument is doubtful, but not to fight with the dead ...
The fate of the battleship also affected the surrounding nature.
After the war, new lakes appeared in the Hockeybotn Bay area. They were formed when the funnels from the Tallboys were filled with water - the well-aimed British contrived to miss the ship for kilometers.
After the death of the battleship, a new, glorious biography was invented for him. The British were proud of its destruction as if the Tirpitz had personally sent half of their fleet to the bottom. In modern computer games“Destroying the Tirpitz is a common task for a superhero.
Well, at least fight on the screen. In reality, the Tirpitz did not pay back even a tenth of the funds invested in it, and what the British were afraid of was their shortcoming, and not the dignity of the ship. Let it work now.
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The attack on the German battleship Tirpitz by the Soviet submarine K-21 on July 5, 1942 is still one of the most controversial episodes in the history of the Soviet Navy in the Great Patriotic War. The essence of the discussion boils down to the question: did the commander of the K-21 hit the captain of the 3rd rank N.A. Lunin "Tirpitz" torpedo or not. At the same time, with the light hand of the seascape writer V.S. Pikul, various indirect arguments about the uncleanliness of German sailors when maintaining combat documentation appear as evidence - after all, the opposite side categorically denies the fact of torpedoing. Let's try, abstracting from "political" reasoning, to disassemble the K-21 attack from the point of view of tactics and technology.
"K-21" entered service with the Northern Fleet on September 10, 1941. In connection with the beginning of the war, its crew did not pass the required combat training course, limiting itself to passing only the introductory tasks of the KPL-41 submarine training course. In the period from November 7, 1941 to January 28, 1942, under the command of Lieutenant Commander A.A. Zhukov's submarine made two combat campaigns against enemy communications off the coast of Northern Norway, during which it had 8 combat collisions, made 4 torpedo and 1 artillery attacks, 2 mines, sank a Norwegian motorboat with artillery fire, transport and a submarine hunter - with mine weapons. Nevertheless, the actions of the submarine commander were assessed by the command as unsatisfactory, as a result of which Hero was appointed the new commander on 4/3/1942. Soviet Union(title awarded by decree of 04/3/1942 for the successful command of Shch-421) Captain 3rd Rank N.A. Lunin. Under his command, in the spring of 1942, K-21 made 1 combat campaign (during which 1 unsuccessful torpedo attack was made) and 1 campaign to assist the Shch-402 submarine.
6/18/1942 "K-21" entered the fourth combat campaign for operations on German communications in the Vardø area. On the morning of the 19th, the submarine was suddenly attacked by an enemy seaplane. As a result of the close explosions of the bombs he dropped, the line of the surge tank and the kingston of the quick-dive tank were damaged. Because of this, when swimming under water, the trimming of the submarine was constantly disturbed. On June 28, in accordance with the cover plan for the allied convoy PQ-17, K-21 took up a position north of Rolfsø Island. With the exception of a single detection on the afternoon of July 1, the boat had no other contacts with the enemy in the new position.
ON THE. Lunin
At 16.22 on July 5, when the K-21 was submerged, obscure noises were detected by hydroacoustics along the nose. Heading for the source of the noise, the watch officer at 17.00 discovered through the periscope the cabin of the "submarine" of the enemy, which, as subsequent observation showed, turned out to be the bridge of one of the two destroyers of the head guard of the German squadron. Immediately after the discovery of the “submarine”, Lunin took control of the ship and announced a torpedo attack.
According to German documents, at the time of discovery, the squadron was heading 30 ° at a speed of 24 knots. Large ships were lined up front, from left to right, Admiral Hipper, Tirpitz, Admiral Scheer. Ahead of them, seven destroyers and two destroyers were moving in front line, each of which performed an irregular zigzag. The PLO order was reinforced by the He-115 floatplane.
Battleship "Tirpitz"
The torpedo attack was complicated by the following factors:
- Exclusively good conditions visibility and low (2-3 points) excitement, in which the breaker from the raised periscope could be viewed from a great distance;
- Random approach at the beginning of the attack of two destroyers and a submarine at a distance of 20-50 kbt;
- The absence of the K-21 commander (as well as any other commander of the Soviet submarine fleet) of the experience of attacking fast moving targets with strong guards;
- Ignorance of N.A. Lunin of the true capabilities of German sonar equipment and anti-submarine weapons, and the fears that arose, as a result, for the fate of the ship and crew.
Tirpitz, Hipper and destroyers in Altenfjord
Conventionally, the K-21 attack can be divided into five phases:
1. 17.00-17.18. Maneuvering to attack an escort destroyer. The phase ended with the discovery of the masts of large warships.
2. 17.18-17.36. Submarine exit to the general course of the squadron to attack with bow tubes from the port side of the target. The phase ended with the discovery of a change in the course of the squadron from 60 ° to a course of 330 ° (the course values are given in accordance with Lunin's report; the change of course is not confirmed by German materials). The incorrect results of these observations ultimately led to the fact that the submarine had to fire a volley from a very disadvantageous position - from the stern torpedo tubes on divergent courses.
3. 17.36-17.50. Exit "K-21" to the "new" general course of the squadron to attack the bow apparatus from the starboard side of the target. The phase ended with the detection of the squadron's "change of course" from 330° to the old course of 60°. As a result of observation at 17.50, Lunin determined that the boat was almost straight ahead of the Tirpitz (heading angle of the target 5-7 ° port side) at a distance of 35-40 kbt. Nasal attacks are not possible.
4. 17.50-18.01. The departure of the submarine from the Tirpitz course to attack with stern vehicles from the port side of the target. At the same time, at about 17.55, K-21 made a breakthrough in the squadron's forward guard line. The phase ended with a torpedo salvo.
5. 18.01-19.05. Exit from the attack - separation from the squadron by moving counter-course at a depth of 30 m.
Scheme of the attack "Tirpitz" K-21 according to Yuan
The torpedo salvo deserves special attention. According to Lunin's report, it was fired from all four stern torpedo tubes at a distance of 18-20 kbt, with a time interval of 4 seconds, at a lead angle of 28 °, a meeting angle of 100 °. The target speed was determined at 22 knots, and its true course at 60 °. From a comparison with German materials, it is known that at the time of the attack, the squadron was moving at a speed of 24 knots on a course of 90 °. Such a significant error in determining the elements of the movement of the target (EDC) was explained by the above factors, as well as by the fact that, due to the extremely short periscope rise time, the EDC were determined by the K-21 commander by eye. Volley fire with a time interval ensured the overlap of errors in the determination of the EDC only in cases where the error in determining the course did not exceed 10 °, and in determining the speed - 2 knots. It should also be noted that, in accordance with the current tables, Lunin should have fired at intervals not of 4, but of 14 seconds. By choosing a smaller interval, the commander, obviously, tried to reduce the time spent on the combat course and quickly go to the depth.
Scheme of the attack "Tirpitz" K-21 according to Emelyanov
The second negative point was the large distance from which the submarine fired a salvo. If at the time of the salvo the boat and the battleship were heading approximately perpendicular to each other, and the distance was 18-20 kbt, then the torpedoes had to go about 18.5-19 kbt. In fact, due to a gross error in determining the true course of the target, the K-21 and Tirpitz were diverging courses, and the meeting angle should have been not 100, but about 130 °. At the same time, the torpedoes needed to pass about 23.8 kbt. The maximum range of the 53-38 torpedoes with the mode setting that the boat fired was 4000 m (21.6 kbt). Shooting from such a distance was a direct consequence of the wrong choice of combat course, which in turn was explained by the haste with which Lunin had to change his decision to attack at 17.50-17.53. It should be emphasized that by the order of the Navy Naval Forces No. 0219 dated 10.3.1942 "Rules for firing torpedoes from submarines" put into effect, firing from distances of 16-20 kbt at a moving ship at encounter angles over 90 ° was prohibited as useless. Undoubtedly, in the current situation, Lunin was obliged to use every chance, but the commander's zeal alone was not enough to ensure the success of the attack.
Scheme of the attack "Tirpitz" K-21 according to Morozov
In sum, all the miscalculations and errors made could not but lead to a negative result - the K-21 torpedoes were supposed to sink after passing the maximum distance, without crossing the target's course. Those explosions that were heard on the boat at 18.04, apparently, were the result of the firing of torpedo strikers when they hit the rocky bottom after passing the maximum distance, and around 18.30 - explosions of depth charges of German destroyers dropped on the British submarine Ansheikn discovered before the attack. Based on the direction and speed of the movement of the German squadron, it can be argued that the explosions of torpedoes at the bottom could not be recorded on German ships either by visual or hydroacoustic observation. Therefore, information about the K-21 attack was received by the enemy only in the evening of the same day after the direction finding of the transmission site by German radio intelligence.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasize once again that the K-21 attack was carried out in exceptionally difficult conditions and by the same crew, who worked and passed only the introductory tasks of the CPL and had rather limited combat experience. Despite this, N.A. Lunin and his subordinates demonstrated great personal courage by being able to launch an attack on the largest warship of the Kriegsmarine, moving in a powerful anti-submarine escort. This achievement is all the more remarkable given the fact that no other Soviet submarine was able to launch an attack on a warship larger than a destroyer, although there were potential opportunities for this.
Miroslav Morozov
The article was published as an appendix to the book by Malov A. and Patyanin S. "Bismarck and Tirpitz battleships".
For the design of the article, the materials of the author and materials from the sites kbismarck.com, wiesel.wlb-stuttgart.de, uboat.net were used
From Petersburg to the North Cape. Without a number. How the Tirpitz was destroyed. August 24th, 2015
I forgot to write...
On the way to Alta we passed along the coast of the Kafjord. Famous place.
During the Second World War, in the side branch of the Alta Fjord, the Kafjord was the naval base of German ships. Here is the place:
The battleship Tirpitz was based there in 1942-1944. Now here is the "Museum of the battleship Tirpitz".
We drove past the museum ... And so I wanted to go there!
Tirpitz practically did not participate in hostilities, however, with its presence in Norway, it threatened the Arctic convoys to the USSR and fettered significant forces of the British fleet.
The ship was launched on April 1, 1939. It got its name in honor of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz - the founder of the modern German fleet.
In January 1942, the Tirpitz was sent to Norwegian waters to hunt Arctic convoys to Russia.
Even the mere presence of the Tirpitz tied up significant Royal Navy forces, although she made only three offensive operations during her entire stay in Norway.
Despite this, the British fleet took into account the potential danger of the battleship and did not stop efforts to destroy it.
Not only the British tried to destroy it.
In July 1942, the German command planned to use the Tirpitz and the heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper to attack the PQ-17 convoy (Plan Rösselsprung - "Knight's Move").
On July 5, the battleship was attacked by the Soviet submarine K-21 under the command of N. A. Lunin.
The boat fired a salvo of four stern torpedo tubes. The crew of the boat did not directly observe the result of the attack, however, they heard 2 strong explosions and a series of weaker explosions.
Lunin in his report suggested that the explosions were due to torpedoes hitting the battleship, while simultaneously allowing for the possibility that the torpedoes hit one of the escort destroyers; at the headquarters of the submarine brigade, his report was interpreted as a report about the sinking of the destroyer and damage to the battleship.
In Soviet and Russian memoirs, popular and journalistic literature, there are repeated statements about the damage to the Tirpitz during the K-21 attack, however, these statements do not have documentary evidence: the explosions heard by modern researchers are explained by the explosion of torpedoes when they hit the ground or distant explosions of deep bombs dropped by convoy ships.
The British attacks on the Tirpitz did not stop them until they sank the battleship.
On October 30-31, 1942, there was an attempt to destroy the Tirpitz with the help of guided underwater vehicles code-named "Chariot", which were human-guided torpedoes. The devices were to be delivered to the Tirpitz parking lot by covert towing in a submerged position using the Arthur fishing boat (captain - Leif Larsen).
On October 30, a boat with torpedoes in tow managed to enter the Trondheim fjord. When there was no more than 15 miles (24 km) left to the Tirpitz parking lot, a strong headwind with a wave arose. October 31 at 22-00 a loud rattle was heard astern. "Arthur" went to the nearest harbor, where the diver discovered the loss of both torpedoes. At this point Tirpitz was less than 10 miles away. The boat was flooded and the team went on foot to the Swedish border.
The Germans later discovered the submerged boat and after examination came to the conclusion that it was intended for a special operation.
September 1943: First successful operation against Tirpitz.
For the attack, mini-submarines of the class "Ex" (Eng. X) were used. Most of the way the mini boats were towed by ordinary submarines. Of the six midget submarines, three were to attack the Tirpitz: X5, X6 and X7.
The boat X5 was discovered and sunk, but X6 and X7 dropped four 2-ton mines filled with ammothol under the battleship. After that, the boats were also discovered, and their crews were captured.
Despite the detected danger, the Tirpitz could not leave the parking lot until the mines exploded. The explosion caused serious damage to the battleship. As a result of the damage received, the battleship was out of action for six months and its maximum speed was significantly reduced.
For the successful conduct of the operation, the captains of mini-submarines X6 and X7 were awarded the Victoria Crosses - the highest military awards of the British Empire.
By April 1944, the Tirpitz had been repaired and could again be dangerous.
In response to this threat, the British Navy undertook Operation Wolfram. Significant fleet forces participated in the attack, including: two battleships, two attack aircraft carriers, two escort aircraft carriers, two cruisers and sixteen destroyers. The attack began on April 3, on the eve of the release of the Tirpitz for sea trials after repairs.
The raid consisted of two waves of Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers escorted by fighter escorts. The attacking aircraft carried, however, not torpedoes, but bombs. various types: armor-piercing, deep-seated, high-explosive and fragmentation.
The first wave struck at 05:30.
By 08:00, the attack was completed: the losses amounted to three aircraft. Tirpitz lost 123 men killed and 300 wounded. The armored hull was not damaged, but the superstructures suffered significant damage, requiring three months to repair.
Tirpitz was still a threat, so the British Admiralty continued to plan operations against her.
The next attack using aircraft carriers (Operation Mascot) took place in July 1944. However, by this time the Germans had organized air defense, especially the system smoke screen, as a result of which the attack ended unsuccessfully: the attacking aircraft did not achieve hits.
In August 1944, the Tirpitz finally passed sea trials. Shortly thereafter, the British again launched raids (Operations Goodwood I and Goodwood II), which ended in vain due to bad weather.
Operation Paravane (English paravane) was undertaken by the Royal Air Force of Great Britain on September 15 from the Yagodnik base near Arkhangelsk.
Avro Lancaster aircraft were armed with 5-ton Tallboy bombs and experimental 500-pound (230 kg) underwater "walking" mines. Despite the smoke screen placed to protect Tirpitz, one of the bombs still hit the bow of the ship, making it unseaworthy.
The Germans had little opportunity to put Tirpitz in dry dock for repairs, so in October the battleship was transferred to Tromsø, as a floating artillery battery in case of the expected Allied invasion of Norway.
The new location of the ship was already within range of the air fleet from Scotland, and the British continued their attacks on it, unaware of the German decision not to restore the ship.
On October 28, another raid on Tirpitz was launched from the Lossiemouth base in Scotland, called Operation Obviate, but at the last moment the ship was hidden by clouds, and only one Tallboy bomb, exploding near the ship, bent the propeller shaft.
But the next time, on November 12, 1944, during Operation Catechism (English catechism; interrogation), there was no smoke screen or clouds over Tirpitz.
The ship was hit by 3 Tallboy bombs: one bounced off the turret armor, but the other two penetrated the armor and made a 200-foot (61 m) hole in her port side and caused a fire and explosion in the gunpowder store.
As a result, Tirpitz sank to the west of Tromsø, in the bay of Hockeybotn, a few minutes after the attack, taking with her to the bottom 1,000 people from a crew of 1,700.
For reasons not fully understood, the Luftwaffe failed to stop the bombing. The German air defense only managed to damage the engine of one of the aircraft involved in the raid, but his team escaped by landing "hard" in Sweden. As a result of this failure, the commander of the Luftwaffe in Norway, Major Heinrich Erler, was charged with neglect of duty and sentenced to death, commuted to three years in prison and sent to the front.
The destruction of Tirpitz removed the last major threat to the Allies on the surface of the North Atlantic. This made it possible to transfer the main forces - battleships and aircraft carriers - from the European region, where they were kept as deterrent forces, to the Indian and Pacific Oceans where they took part in the fighting against Japan.
After the war, the wreckage of the Tirpitz was sold and broken up on the spot by a Norwegian company. Almost the entire ship was cut up and taken out. However, a significant part of the bow of the Tirpitz remains where it sank in 1944.
In addition, the ship's power generators were used as a temporary power plant, supplying electricity to the fishing industry around the town of Honningsvåg.
Not far from the site of the flooding of the Tirpitz, there are artificial lakes that appeared in the craters from explosions of Tallboy bombs (weighing more than 5 tons) that fell past the Tirpitz. Currently, some parts of the battleship are used by the Norwegian Road Department as a temporary roadway for repairs.
Some parts of the battleship were melted down into brooches and other jewelry. In addition, a significant part of the armor plating is stored in the Royal Naval Museum "Explosion!" in Gosport, Hampshire.
Well, in Hammerfest)
Information about the ship here.
