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Northern operations
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Sinking of the Tirpitz
Sinking of the Tirpitz
The Germans had repaired the Tirpitz after damage by X-craft and were about to begin operational duties again, when the Fleet Air Arm successfully attacked it, in the fjords of Norway. The British named their plan “Operation Tungsten” and scheduled it for the 4 April 1944, allowing enough time for HMS Victorious to work up after her post refit trials. Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Moore led the attacking Force.
Preparation to advance
On the 1 April 1944 with the weather clear and little chance of surface attack, the combined force prepared to advance the operation time by 24 hours. The Navy used an elaborate set of dummy wireless radio messages to simulate the fleet’s presence in its usual area much further west.
So it came to the morning of the 3 April and the weather and subterfuge favoured the Allied fleet. HMS Victorious and Furious with 827 and 831 Squadrons respectively launched their Barracuda dive-bombers. Senior officers used Corsairs launched by HMS Victorious as fighter escort for the Barracudas. At the same time, they used Wildcats and Hellcats from HMS Searcher, Pursuer and Emperor. Finally Seafires and Wildcats from HMS Fencer formed a protective umbrella above the force.
The attack
As the Barracudas began their attacking run Corsairs covered them from above whilst Wildcats and Hellcats came in low over the hills, strafing the battleship with machine gunfire. The Barracudas in an effort for greater accuracy flew lower than their bombs were fused for and although many hit the Tirpitz some failed to explode. The first attack lasted 1 minute and six direct hits were claimed. As the first strike attacked, the second strike were taking off. The smoke screen the Tirpitz had created made very little difference and at 06:35 the second raid began. As before the Wildcats and Hellcats attacked the AA positions and the exposed deck whilst the Barracudas again dive-bombed from above. This attack saw eight definite and five probable hits.
By 07:58 all aircraft had landed back on deck minus two Barracudas shot down and one damaged Hellcat that had to ditch. British casualties were nine dead. On the Tirpitz 122 men had been killed with 316 wounded including the Captain. The success of the operation led to the cancelling of a repeat attack the next day. During the whole attack, British pilots encountered no German aircraft and the Tirpitz was not able to recommence trials until 22 June 1944.
