German battleship Tirpitz

A recognition drawing of Tirpitz prepared by the US Navy
History
Germany
Namesake	Alfred von Tirpitz
Builder	Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven
Laid down	2 November 1936
Launched	1 April 1939
Commissioned	25 February 1941
Fate	Sunk by Royal Air Force bombers on 12 November 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Bismarck-class battleship
Displacement	42,900 t (42,200 long tons) standard 52,600 t (51,800 long tons) full load
Length	241.60 m (792 ft 8 in) waterline 251 m (823 ft 6 in) overall
Beam	36 m (118 ft 1 in)
Draft	9.30 m (30 ft 6 in) standard[b]
Installed power	12 × Wagner water-tube boilers; 163,026 PS (160,796 shp; 119,905 kW)
Propulsion	3 × geared steam turbines; 3 × screw propellers
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	8,870 nmi (16,430 km; 10,210 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement	103 officers 1,962 enlisted men[a]
Sensors and processing systems	FuMO 23
Armament	As built: 8 × 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 (4 × 2) 12 × 15 cm (5.9 in) L/55 (6 × 2) 16 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/33 (8 × 2) 16 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 (8 × 2) 12 × 2 cm (0.79 in) FlaK 30 (12 × 1) Modifications: 58 × 2 cm FlaK 30 8 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 320 mm (13 in) Turrets: 360 mm (14 in) Main deck: 100 to 120 mm (3.9 to 4.7 in) Upper deck: 50 mm (2 in)
Aircraft carried	4 × Arado Ar 196 floatplanes
Aviation facilities	1 double-ended catapult

Tirpitz (German pronunciation: [ˈtɪʁpɪt͡s] ^ⓘ) was the second of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine (navy) prior to and during the Second World War. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and her hull was launched two and a half years later. Work was completed in February 1941, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Like her sister ship, Bismarck, Tirpitz was armed with a main battery of eight 38-centimetre (15 in) guns in four twin turrets. After a series of wartime modifications she was 2000 tonnes heavier than Bismarck, making her the heaviest battleship ever built by a European navy.^[3]

After completing sea trials in early 1941, Tirpitz briefly served as the centrepiece of the Baltic Fleet, which was intended to prevent a possible break-out attempt by the Soviet Baltic Fleet. In early 1942, the ship sailed to Norway to act as a deterrent against an Allied invasion. While stationed in Norway, Tirpitz was also intended to be used to intercept Allied convoys to the Soviet Union, and two such missions were attempted in 1942. This was the only feasible role for her, since the St Nazaire Raid had made operations against the Atlantic convoy lanes too risky. Tirpitz acted as a fleet in being, forcing the British Royal Navy to retain significant naval forces in the area to contain the battleship.^[4]

In September 1943, Tirpitz, along with the battleship Scharnhorst, bombarded Allied positions on Spitzbergen, the only time the ship used her main battery in an offensive role. Shortly thereafter, the ship was damaged in an attack by British mini-submarines and subsequently subjected to a series of large-scale air raids. On 12 November 1944, British Lancaster bombers equipped with 12,000-pound (5,400 kg) "Tallboy" bombs scored two direct hits and a near miss which caused the ship to capsize rapidly. A deck fire spread to the ammunition magazine for one of the main battery turrets, which caused a large explosion. Figures for the number of men killed in the attack range from 950 to 1,204. Between 1948 and 1957, the wreck was broken up by a joint Norwegian and German salvage operation.

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