British Royal Air Force (RAF) bomber aircraft attacked the German battleship Tirpitz on multiple occasions between 1940 and 1942. None of these attacks inflicted any damage on the battleship.
The attacks commenced on the night of 9/10 October 1940 when 17 bombers attempted to bomb Tirpitz at Wilhelmshaven in Germany. Three further, much larger, attacks took place against the battleship there on the nights of 8/9 January, 29/30 January and 28 February/1 March 1941. Two attacks were made on Tirpitz after she moved to Kiel on the nights of 28/29 May and 20/21 June 1941. The battleship deployed to Norway in January 1942, and the RAF attempted to bomb her at Åsenfjorden on the night of 28/29 January. Three raids were made against Tirpitz at her anchorage at Fættenfjord on the nights of 30/31 March, 27/28 April and 28/29 April.
The failure of these attacks led to a decision to use midget submarines to attack Tirpitz instead. Royal Navy carrier aircraft attempted to bomb the battleship on several occasions in mid 1944. In August 1944 responsibility for sinking Tirpitz was handed back to the RAF, which conducted a further three heavy bomber raids. The last such attack, Operation Catechism, resulted in the destruction of the battleship on 12 November 1944.
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