Operation Catechism

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Operation Catechism
Part of the Battle of the Atlantic
Tirpitz
German battleship Tirpitz capsized after Operation Catechism
Date12 November 1944
Locationnear Tromsø, Norway
Result British victory
Tirpitz sunk
Belligerents
Air Force Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg RAF Bomber Command Kriegsmarine Jack Kriegsmarine
Balkenkreuz.svg Luftwaffe
Commanders and leaders
Group Captain James Brian Tait Kapitan zur See Robert Weber 
Major Heinrich Ehrler
Strength
30 Avro Lancasters Tirpitz (Bismarck-class battleship)
Thetis (Tordenskjold-class flak ship)
Nymphe (Tordenskjold-class flak ship) [1]
Casualties and losses
1 bomber damaged 1 battleship sunk
971 dead or missing

Operation Catechism was the last of nine attempts to sink or sabotage the Kriegsmarine battleship Tirpitz during the Second World War. The ship was finally sunk in this attempt.

Action[edit]

On 12 November 1944, RAF Bomber Command dispatched thirty Avro Lancaster heavy bombers from No. 9 Squadron RAF and No. 617 Squadron RAF (including a film unit aircraft from No. 463 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force) from RAF Lossiemouth to Tirpitz's mooring in Tromsø, Norway. Each bomber carried a single 12,000 pound (5,400 kg) Tallboy bomb.[2][3] No. 9 Squadron was led by S/L A.G. Williams DFC and No. 617 Squadron led by Wing Commander J.B. "Willie" Tait DSO DFC.[4] In spite of calls for air cover to the German fighter base at Bardufoss Air Station, the Germans did not send the requested support in time.[5] (The base commander Heinrich Ehrler was later sentenced to 3 years in prison because of the failure to provide prompt fighter support.)[6]

Two Tallboy bombs[7][8] hit Tirpitz, which suffered a violent internal explosion in its ammunition stores magazine. Within ten minutes the ship rolled over to port and capsized.[9] It remained bottom upwards.[7] Approximately 1,000 of the 1,900 men on board were killed.[10]

RAF Flight Lieutenant John Leavitt (center) and crew prior to taking off on Operation Catechism

None of the attacking aircraft were seriously damaged and were able to continue flying. [11] The Lancasters continued to Russia for refueling.[12]

Aftermath[edit]

The destruction of Tirpitz meant that the threat from German surface ship attack against the Allied Arctic convoys supplying the Soviet Union was considerably lessened. According to the Bomber Command Museum of Canada, "Hitler lost the last influential ship of his surface battle fleet and this marked the end of Germany's naval war in northern waters" when the Tirpitz was destroyed.[13]

References and notes[edit]

  1. ^ Konstam, Angus (2018). Sink the Tirpitz 1942–44: The RAF and Fleet Air Arm duel with Germany's mighty battleship. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 1472831586.
  2. ^ "Catechism - Operations & Codenames of WWII". codenames.info.
  3. ^ "The Men Who Sank The Tirpitz: Air Force, Part 54 - Legion Magazine". legionmagazine.com.
  4. ^ [http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/tirpitz.html The Sinking of the Battleship Tirpitz Bomber Command Museum of Canada
  5. ^ [http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/tirpitz.html The Sinking of the Battleship Tirpitz Bomber Command Museum of Canada
  6. ^ |Aces of the Reich: The Making of a Luftwaffe Pilot |By Mike Spick| page 231
  7. ^ a b "Tirpitz, November 12, 1944". Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. UK Crown. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  8. ^ "How the Nazis' Largest Battleship Is Still Affecting Norway Today". 11 April 2018.
  9. ^ [http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/tirpitz.html The Sinking of the Battleship Tirpitz Bomber Command Museum of Canada
  10. ^ "Fact File : 'Tirpitz' Sunk". WW2 People's War, BBC. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  11. ^ [http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/tirpitz.html The Sinking of the Battleship Tirpitz Bomber Command Museum of Canada
  12. ^ Sinking the Beast: The RAF 1944 Lancaster Raids Against Tirpitz. Fonthill Media. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  13. ^ The Sinking of the Battleship Tirpitz Bomber Command Museum]

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 69°38′55″N 18°48′16″E / 69.64861°N 18.80444°E / 69.64861; 18.80444