As mentioned above, the two British special attacks ended in failure, although the mini-submarine offensive once damaged the power of the Tirpitz . If you haven't read the above, you can click on the homepage to view it.
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Endless aerial bombardment
In the spring of 1944, as the polar night in the Arctic region passed, the threat of the German surface ship was once again put before our eyes. Although the "Scharnhorst" battleship The cruiser was sunk by the British Royal Navy in the "Second Battle of North Cape" at the end of December last year, but the threat from the "Tirpitz" has not been eliminated. In response, the British Royal Navy formulated a new round of attack plans. This time the British have returned to the old way of air raids, but they will exclusively use the carrier-based aircraft to conduct raids.
The first round of operations was codenamed "Operation Tungsten". The person commanding this operation was Royal Navy Vice Admiral Henry Moore. As early as the end of March 1944, the British Royal Navy mobilized aircraft carriers from various aspects and assembled them in Scapa Flow. There were a total of 6 aircraft carriers (including the large aircraft carriers "Victory" and "Fencer"). , "Follower" and "Protector"). These six aircraft carriers were organized into two task forces according to different speeds, and set sail from Scapa Flow one after another under the protection of escort ships in April. After the two fleets met at sea, they turned southwest and headed straight for the Alten Fjord.
F4U Pirate
Barracuda bomber
html In the early morning of April 3, the British fleet arrived at the scheduled attack position, and the six aircraft carriers began to release carrier-based aircraft on the deck one after another. In the first wave, "Victory" and "Fury" dispatched 21 "Barracuda" carrier-based attack aircraft, 11 of which carried three 500-pound semi-armor-piercing bombs, and five each carried one 1,600-pound armor-piercing bomb. The remaining 5 aircraft are equipped with 500 pounds of incendiary bombs or 600 pounds of depth charges . Escorting these "Barracudas" are 10 F4U "Corsair" fighters, 20 F4F "Wildcat" fighters and 10 F6F-5 "Hellcat" fighters. Since there is no Luftwaffe airport near Alten, the main task of the escort fighters is to suppress the anti-aircraft firepower of the "Tirpitz".The crew members were informed of the details of the mission as early as April 1. At the mission briefing, the officers repeatedly emphasized several issues that must be paid attention to when dropping bombs: the 1,600-pound armor-piercing bomb must be dropped at an altitude of 3,500 feet to be sufficient. The kinetic energy penetrates the main horizontal armor of the "Tirpitz"; as for the 500-pound semi-armor-piercing bomb, although it is impossible to penetrate the thick main horizontal armor of the "Tirpitz", as long as the throwing height of the carrier aircraft is greater than 2,000 feet, It can still penetrate the upper deck armor and cause serious damage to the cabin below. 1,600-pound armor-piercing bombs and 500-pound semi-armor-piercing bombs will be used to concentrate bombing on the deck, while 500-pound incendiary bombs will be used to drop the anti-aircraft gun when the aircraft dives.
At 4:16 in the morning on April 3, the "Pirate" fighter jets on the "Victory" aircraft carrier were the first to eject into the air. By 4:37, all 21 aircraft in the first wave of attacks ejected into the air and completed the formation towards the Flying on heading 120. The "Tirpitz" did not notice the approaching danger, and lifted anchor as planned and headed to the open sea for further tests after repairs. Just as the "Tirpitz" began to retract the second anchor, a warning of approaching enemy planes suddenly came out, and the smoke-generating device on the shore began to operate at full speed. At 5:28, the crew on the ship were already in their positions. At this time, the first plane appeared in the sight of the Germans. Soon more planes appeared. The Germans understood that this was the largest air raid so far! When the British plane approached 5 kilometers away from the "Tirpitz", the ship's anti-aircraft guns took the lead in firing. The German anti-aircraft gun positions deployed near the "Tirpitz" anchorage also fired at the group. The unwelcome guest responded with the strongest fire. However, the British sent out this time all experienced "veterans", and they were not panicked by the dense artillery fire.
htmlAt 05:29, the attack fleet flew over the "Tirpitz". The 10 "Pirates" remained hovering at an altitude of 10,000 feet (about 3,048 meters), while the "Barracuda", "Wildcat" and "Hellcat" Then dive towards the German ship. The attack operations were carried out along the bow and stern of the German ship. Soon bombs were dropped from a height of 3,000 feet (about 914 meters) and hit the target. Three near-misses caused some damage to the hull. Everything It's as clean as it was trained to be. After dropping the bombs, the fleet immediately retreated and ignored the huge ship that was smoking everywhere. At this time, the "Tirpitz" was in a mess. The fragmented body parts and internal organs were mixed with the shattered deck teak scattered everywhere. Several bombs penetrated the upper deck and exploded inside the hull. , but thankfully none of the bombs penetrated the main deck armor. As the British planes left, the Germans did not relax their vigilance. Except for those rescuing the wounded, all sailors continued to stick to their posts. Based on experience and intuition, they knew that the British would not stop there. Their predictions soon came true! At 6:35, the British's second wave of offensive arrived as expected. 19 "Barracudas", 10 "Pirates", 19 "Wildcats" and 10 "Hellcats" approached one after another. At this time, the fjord was already occupied. Covered in smoke, the weather seemed to favor the British. From time to time, the wind lifted a corner of the smoke screen, showing the British the mast of the "Tirpitz"... The British threw bombs at the mast in the smoke, and this time 8 bombs hit, 3 nearly exploded. The British attack fleet returned to the aircraft carrier at 6:58, losing 2 "Barracudas", and another "Barracuda" and a "Hellcat" were damaged, with a total of 9 casualties. However, they damaged this giant ship that had just been repaired by the Germans, and 122 German sailors never had the chance to see their relatives. Another 316 people suffered varying degrees of injuries ranging from scraped skin to mutilated limbs. .
Lancaster Bomber
The British air raids totaled two minutes and destroyed nearly half a year of hard work by the Germans. The only good thing was that the damage was only a flesh wound compared with the X-boat attack. After checking the results of the air crew, Lieutenant General Moore believed that the purpose of the mission had been achieved, so he issued an order to return. All ships returned to Scapa Flow base at 16:30 on April 6. The Royal Navy originally wanted to further expand its results, but from April 24 to May 28, due to weather conditions, the Royal Navy conducted a series of carrier-based aircraft raids codenamed "Planet", "Arm Force" and "Tiger Claw" All were forced to cancel.
Six weeks later, on July 17, the British finally hoped for good weather and launched a raid code-named "Mascot". The power of this wave of attacks was unprecedentedly powerful. The three aircraft carriers "Formidable", "Indefatigable" and "Fury" dispatched a total of 92 carrier-based aircraft to perform attack missions. 44 of them are Barracudas carrying 1,000-pound and 500-pound armor-piercing bombs, 18 Corsair and Hellcat fighter jets are responsible for suppressing anti-aircraft firepower, and there are 12 of the latest Firefly attack aircraft. Take part in the action. But this time the Germans had already made arrangements. At 2:40, the German ship received the warning, and the smoke boats and smoke diffusers immediately began to produce smoke. At 2:20, when the British carrier-based aircraft flew over the target, the entire fjord was almost shrouded in smoke. British pilots could only blindly drop bombs at the most likely locations, and several near-misses were dropped close to the "Tirpitz" berth. In short, the British attack was very unsuccessful. The British carrier-based aircraft, which could not find the target, took down an oil tanker and a tugboat in the fjord. According to the casualty statistics afterwards, one British "Barracuda" and one "Corsair" failed to return to the aircraft carrier. The Germans quickly made preliminary repairs to the "Tirpitz". On July 31, 1944, the "Tirpitz" left the anchorage under the protection of five destroyers of the Fourth Destroyer Division stationed in Norway for a two-day trial and short training.
From August 22 to 29, 1944, British carrier-based aircraft launched a series of operations code-named "Goodwood" and conducted large-scale air raids on the "Tirpitz" four times.These operations are still carrier aviation raids, with three large aircraft carriers "Indefatigable", "Formidable" and "Fury" as well as 5 light aircraft carriers such as "Nawab" and "French Soldier". The ship is the core. In the two air raids on August 22, the British did not achieve the same success as the "Tungsten" battle. The only two results came from 6 "Hellcats" taking off from the "Tireless" at 11:00 in the evening. Fighters, they hit the "Tirpitz" with two 500-pound bombs. The two sides reported very different results on the battle. The British announced the loss of 1 "Barracuda" and 1 "Hellcat" and hit the "Tirpitz" with "several bombs", while the Germans claimed to have shot down 12 British aircraft... However, One thing is certain. On this day, the British aircraft carrier "Nawab" was damaged by a torpedo from a German submarine and was forced to return. On the afternoon of August 24, the British released a large number of aircraft from the "Indefatigable", "Formidable" and "Fury" - 33 "Barracuda" each carrying a 1,600-pound armor-piercing bomb, 10 each carrying A Wildcat carrying a 500-pound bomb and a Corsair carrying a 1,000-pound armor-piercing bomb, and 10 Fireflies were used to suppress anti-aircraft fire. At 15:47 on the afternoon of August 24, the German air defense system discovered the incoming British aircraft and immediately began to spread smoke. After approaching the target to a certain distance, the British aircraft group began to climb from 6,500 feet (about 1,981 meters) to 10,000 feet (about 3,048 meters), and began dive bombing when they reached the German ship. A 500-pound bomb was dropped on the top of the B turret, slightly denting it and destroying a quadruple anti-aircraft cannon mounted on it; another 1,600-pound armor-piercing bomb penetrated the "Tirpitz" 50 mm After penetrating the thick upper deck armor, it penetrated several decks, successfully sank the 95 mm thick main armor, and finally landed in the No. 4 motor room. What made the British vomit blood was that this was actually a stink bomb...
Picture after the bomb was dropped
In the next five days, strong winds and thick fog appeared alternately, and this ghost weather lasted until August 29. When the weather improved, the British launched a new round of offensive-Operation "Goodwood IV". This time the British dispatched 60 carrier-based aircraft. However, this attack did not achieve any results except the loss of 1 "Corsair" and 1 "Firefly". Facts have proved that the bombs mounted on the carrier-based aircraft cannot effectively destroy the "Tirpitz", and the 1,600-pound aerial bomb is also the largest load capacity of a single pylon on a British carrier-based aircraft, so the Royal Navy remembered My colleagues in the Royal Air Force. As early as 1942, the initial air raids on the "Tirpitz" were carried out by the Royal Air Force's heavy bomber force. The Navy's request was immediately approved by the Air Force. The Royal Air Force specially transferred the 9th and 617th Squadrons of the Fifth Bomber Force for this purpose. The 617th Squadron was the famous "Dam Bomber" squadron, which destroyed Germany in May 1943. The "severe punishment" operation on a series of dams in the hinterland Ruhr area was the masterpiece of this squadron, which is said to be "no target that cannot be destroyed by bombing." Of course, in addition to the elite air strike force, the British also have another "insurance"-the super bomb "Tallboy". This super bomb weighs 12,000 pounds and has a sturdy shell and a sharp warhead.
On September 10, 1944, 33 "Lancaster" and 2 "Liberator" heavy bombers of the 9th and 617th Squadron of the Royal Air Force transferred to Yagodnik Airport in the Soviet Union, because even if the flight range was long "Lancaster" also carries a "tallboy" between its home base and the Altenfjord. During the transition, even though the British army was guided by radio beacons, the monotonous scenery along the way and the clouds that reached 1,000 feet high still caused some aircraft to become lost. In the end, two "Lancasters" of the 617th Squadron and four "Lancasters" of the 9th Squadron were severely damaged when they were forced to land in the swamps of the northern Soviet Union. It rained continuously for the next three days, and the weather did not clear up until September 15.
Despite all the troubles, the British still decided to launch the attack as planned. The 9th and 617th Squadrons of the Royal Air Force Strategic Bomber Force dispatched the remaining 27 "Lancasters" to begin the bombing operation code-named "Mine Sweeper".According to the plan, 21 aircraft each carried a "tallboy" as the main bombing force, and the other 6 aircraft each carried 12 400-pound Mk II mines. The bomber group approached the "Tirpitz" shortly after 11:00, then lowered its altitude to 12,000 feet (about 3,658 meters) and entered the sky above the target. The German troops who noticed the incoming aircraft group responded immediately. The anti-aircraft guns on the shore and the ship opened fire to intercept. At the same time, the smoke-generating devices of the ships on the shore and on the water also immediately started working. The German ship was quickly shrouded in smoke. "Lancaster" "The bombardier's vision condition also deteriorated. When five bombardiers later explained why they did not drop the bombs, they claimed that they did not want to waste these expensive bombs because they could not identify the target. However, the other 16 aircraft relied on the vague black shadows and previously noted directions and even Intuition dropped their Tallboy bomb.
Image record of Lancaster bombers
All aircraft returned to Britain after dropping bombs, but the effect of their bombing is difficult to determine. Scattered information from intelligence services and the Norwegian underground resistance indicated that the Tirpitz appeared to have been hit on the bow and severely damaged. Fortunately, a German document soon fell into the hands of the British: "...it is estimated that if left undisturbed, the repairs will take at least nine months. The final decision will be submitted to the commander-in-chief on September 23, 1944 Ministry and Navy. As far as the current situation is concerned, we may no longer be able to put the "Tirpitz" back to sea and fight..."
The fact is that it is exactly what the British expected, a "high-footed" weapon. After hitting the bow of the "Tirpitz", the cabinet passed through the deck and bottom of the ship and plunged into the sea before exploding. The force of the explosion was so great that the deck at the front of the ship rolled up like a can. The explosion's seismic wave destroyed all the way along the bow. Except for the part very close to the tail, almost all cabins were destroyed. The steam pipeline in the boiler room was torn off, and the main engine in the engine room was shaken away from its original installation position. This damage is more severe the closer to the bow of the ship. Compared to the destruction of the X-boat a year ago, this time it was even worse. At this moment, the "Tirpitz" was floating on the sea like a dead fish, with all power lost and all fire control equipment destroyed. However, as the only remaining battleship of the Third Reich, the Germans did not give it up easily. They did not even need an order from the Navy Ministry. After rescuing the injured, emergency repair work on the hull began.
To be continued...
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