Operation Tungsten

Operation Tungsten
	Part of the Second World War
	; A Fleet Air Arm crewman chalks a message on the 1,600-pound bomb carried by a Fairey Barracuda of HMS Furious
Date	3 April 1944
Location	Kaafjord, Norway
Result	British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom; Canada	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Henry Moore	Hans Meyer
Strength
40 dive bombers; 80 fighters	1 battleship; Anti-aircraft batteries and ships
Casualties and losses
9 fatalities; 4 aircraft lost	123 fatalities, 329 wounded; 1 battleship and 5 other vessels damaged

Operation Tungsten was a Second World War Royal Navy air raid that targeted the German battleship Tirpitz. The operation sought to damage or destroy Tirpitz at her base in Kaafjord in the far north of Norway before she could become fully operational again following a period of repairs.

The British decision to strike Kaafjord was motivated by fears that the battleship, upon re-entering service, would attack strategically important convoys carrying supplies to the Soviet Union. Removing the threat posed by Tirpitz would also allow the Allies to redeploy the capital ships which had to be held in the North Sea to counter her. After four months of training and preparations, the British Home Fleet sailed on 30 March 1944 and aircraft launched from five aircraft carriers struck Kaafjord on 3 April. The raid achieved surprise, and the British aircraft met little opposition. Fifteen bombs hit the battleship, and strafing by fighter aircraft inflicted heavy casualties on her gun crews. Four British aircraft and nine airmen were lost during the operation.

The damage inflicted during the attack was not sufficient to sink or disable Tirpitz, but she suffered considerable damage to her superstructure and unarmored areas, with 122 members of her crew killed and 316 were wounded. The German Kriegsmarine decided to repair the battleship, and works were completed by mid-July. The British conducted further carrier raids against Tirpitz between April and August 1944 in the hope of prolonging the period she was out of service, but none was successful. Tirpitz was eventually disabled and then sunk by Royal Air Force heavy bombers in late 1944.