Naval/Maritime History
Naval/Maritime History
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Operation Catechism – the Tirpitz is finally sunk November 12, 1944.
On 12th November thirty two RAF and RAAF Lancaster bombers left England in the early hours of the morning, arriving over Norway at low level. All the aircraft had been modified to accommodate the the Tallboy bombs that they carried, and all had the specialist Stabilized Automatic Bomb Sight that enabled them to aim the bombs with pinpoint accuracy from the altitude that the bombs needed.
It was the ninth attempt by the RAF to sink the German battleship Tirpitz, the twenty-fifth by British forces – including actions by Royal Navy aircraft and midget submarines. The ship had been hit by bombs before – but they had not been able to penetrate the four inch thick deck armour.
At 0930 the Lancasters began to rise to bombing height, 14,000 feet, and in doing so revealed themselves to German radar. German fighters at Bardufoss should have been in a good position to intervene but for some reason they did not appear. One factor was that the Luftwaffe had not been informed that the Tirpitz had recently been moved to a new location.
Wing Commander Willy Tait led the attack:
She was a black shape clearly seen against the clear waters of the fjord, surrounded by the snow-covered hills, which were glowing pink in the low Arctic sun. A plume of smoke rose slowly from the big ship’s funnel.
When the force was about ten miles away the peaceful scene changed suddenly; the ship opened fire with her main armament and billows of orange-brown smoke, shot through by the flashes of the guns, hid her for a moment and then drifted away.
At 0941 the first of 29 Tallboy bombs was released, from 14,000 feet they accelerated to 750 mph (1,210 km/h), approaching the speed of sound, for maximum damage on impact. Eight minutes later it was all over.
One 12,000 pounder apparently hit the Tirpitz amidships, another in the bows and a third towards the stern and there were also two very near misses which must themselves have done serious underwater damage. These displaced sandbanks that had been dredged to prevent the ship keeling over.
The last significant German naval threat to arctic convoys had at last been conclusively neutralised. Around a thousand German sailors were trapped below decks, doomed to a watery grave.
A special 463 Squadron RAAF movie-Lancaster captained by Flight Lieutenant Bruce Buckham DFC RAAF was the last aircraft on the scene, they went in low, despite the shore batteries which remained in action after the Tirpitz herself had ceased firing:
We flew over it, around it, all about it and still it sat there with dignity under a huge mushroom of smoke which plumed up a few thousand feet in the air.
There were fires and more explosions on board; a huge gaping hole existed on the port side where a section had been blown out. We had now been flying close around Tirpitz for 30 minutes or so and decided to call it a day, so we headed out towards the mouth of the fjord.
Just then Flying Officer Eric Giersch the rear gunner called out, ‘I think she is turning over.’ I turned back to port to have a look and sure enough she was, so back we went again. This time we flew in at 50 feet and watched with baited breath as Tirpitz heeled over to port, ever so slowly and gracefully.
We could see German sailors swimming, diving, jumping and by the time she was over to 85° and subsiding slowly into the water of Tromso Fjord, there must have been the best part of 60 men on her side as we skimmed over for the last pass.
That was the final glimpse we had as we flew out of the fjord and over the North Sea. After a 14-hour flight we landed back at Waddington where the interrogation was conducted by Air Vice Marshal Sir Ralph Cochrane. When asked how it went, my one remark was, ‘Well we won’t have to go back after this one; Tirpitz is finished’
These account appears in Martin Bowman: Bomber Command: Armageddon (27 September 1944 – May 1945) v. 5: Reflections of War .
http://ww2today.com/12-november-1944-operation-catechism-the-tirpitz-is-finally-sunk
https://www.bismarck-class.dk/tirpitz/history/tiropercatechism.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Catechism
Additional video footage :
https://youtu.be/Ss2K4fF1jEs
https://youtu.be/DVJIgsEkZ_E
@ col mikel COL Mikel J. Burroughs @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen C. @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen F. @ ltc jeff LTC Jeff Shearer @ maj william Maj William W. 'Bill' Price @ maj stephen LTC (Join to see) @ capt tom Capt Tom Brown @ capt marty Maj Marty Hogan @ smsgt doc SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas @ tsgt joe TSgt Joe C. @ ssgt robert SSgt Robert Marx @ sra christopher SrA Christopher Wright @ msg andrew MSG Andrew White @ sfc joe SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG Robert Webster @ sgt jim SGT Jim Arnold @ sgt david SGT (Join to see) @ sp5 mark SP5 Mark Kuzinski SCPO Morris Ramsey @ po1 chip PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
On 12th November thirty two RAF and RAAF Lancaster bombers left England in the early hours of the morning, arriving over Norway at low level. All the aircraft had been modified to accommodate the the Tallboy bombs that they carried, and all had the specialist Stabilized Automatic Bomb Sight that enabled them to aim the bombs with pinpoint accuracy from the altitude that the bombs needed.
It was the ninth attempt by the RAF to sink the German battleship Tirpitz, the twenty-fifth by British forces – including actions by Royal Navy aircraft and midget submarines. The ship had been hit by bombs before – but they had not been able to penetrate the four inch thick deck armour.
At 0930 the Lancasters began to rise to bombing height, 14,000 feet, and in doing so revealed themselves to German radar. German fighters at Bardufoss should have been in a good position to intervene but for some reason they did not appear. One factor was that the Luftwaffe had not been informed that the Tirpitz had recently been moved to a new location.
Wing Commander Willy Tait led the attack:
She was a black shape clearly seen against the clear waters of the fjord, surrounded by the snow-covered hills, which were glowing pink in the low Arctic sun. A plume of smoke rose slowly from the big ship’s funnel.
When the force was about ten miles away the peaceful scene changed suddenly; the ship opened fire with her main armament and billows of orange-brown smoke, shot through by the flashes of the guns, hid her for a moment and then drifted away.
At 0941 the first of 29 Tallboy bombs was released, from 14,000 feet they accelerated to 750 mph (1,210 km/h), approaching the speed of sound, for maximum damage on impact. Eight minutes later it was all over.
One 12,000 pounder apparently hit the Tirpitz amidships, another in the bows and a third towards the stern and there were also two very near misses which must themselves have done serious underwater damage. These displaced sandbanks that had been dredged to prevent the ship keeling over.
The last significant German naval threat to arctic convoys had at last been conclusively neutralised. Around a thousand German sailors were trapped below decks, doomed to a watery grave.
A special 463 Squadron RAAF movie-Lancaster captained by Flight Lieutenant Bruce Buckham DFC RAAF was the last aircraft on the scene, they went in low, despite the shore batteries which remained in action after the Tirpitz herself had ceased firing:
We flew over it, around it, all about it and still it sat there with dignity under a huge mushroom of smoke which plumed up a few thousand feet in the air.
There were fires and more explosions on board; a huge gaping hole existed on the port side where a section had been blown out. We had now been flying close around Tirpitz for 30 minutes or so and decided to call it a day, so we headed out towards the mouth of the fjord.
Just then Flying Officer Eric Giersch the rear gunner called out, ‘I think she is turning over.’ I turned back to port to have a look and sure enough she was, so back we went again. This time we flew in at 50 feet and watched with baited breath as Tirpitz heeled over to port, ever so slowly and gracefully.
We could see German sailors swimming, diving, jumping and by the time she was over to 85° and subsiding slowly into the water of Tromso Fjord, there must have been the best part of 60 men on her side as we skimmed over for the last pass.
That was the final glimpse we had as we flew out of the fjord and over the North Sea. After a 14-hour flight we landed back at Waddington where the interrogation was conducted by Air Vice Marshal Sir Ralph Cochrane. When asked how it went, my one remark was, ‘Well we won’t have to go back after this one; Tirpitz is finished’
These account appears in Martin Bowman: Bomber Command: Armageddon (27 September 1944 – May 1945) v. 5: Reflections of War .
http://ww2today.com/12-november-1944-operation-catechism-the-tirpitz-is-finally-sunk
https://www.bismarck-class.dk/tirpitz/history/tiropercatechism.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Catechism
Additional video footage :
https://youtu.be/Ss2K4fF1jEs
https://youtu.be/DVJIgsEkZ_E
@ col mikel COL Mikel J. Burroughs @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen C. @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen F. @ ltc jeff LTC Jeff Shearer @ maj william Maj William W. 'Bill' Price @ maj stephen LTC (Join to see) @ capt tom Capt Tom Brown @ capt marty Maj Marty Hogan @ smsgt doc SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas @ tsgt joe TSgt Joe C. @ ssgt robert SSgt Robert Marx @ sra christopher SrA Christopher Wright @ msg andrew MSG Andrew White @ sfc joe SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG Robert Webster @ sgt jim SGT Jim Arnold @ sgt david SGT (Join to see) @ sp5 mark SP5 Mark Kuzinski SCPO Morris Ramsey @ po1 chip PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
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Thanks for reminding us SGT John " Mac " McConnell that the SS Tirpitz which was the second of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine was finally sunk November 12, 1944 by the combined assault of thirty two Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Lancaster bombers.
Image:
1. German Battleship SS Tirpitz
2. 1944 German Battleship Tirpitz in Norwegian Fjord
3. 1944 Map of Tirpitz area of operations
4. Lancaster Bomber
"A Lancaster Bomber pilot describes the raid on the Tirpitz and evading a Me262
Born in 1920, Lawrence “Benny” Goodman joined the Royal Air Force in 1940 and the new, but legendary, 617 “Dambusters” Squadron in 1944, as a pilot with the rank of flight lieutenant. He took part in 30 operations with the squadron, attacking everything from U-boat and E-boat pens to viaducts, railway bridges, dams, battleships and even Adolf Hitler’s infamous ‘Eagles Nest’ at Berchtesgaden. He left the RAF in 1964 as a squadron leader. Now in his mid-90s, he spoke to History of War in issue 32 about his extraordinary flying experiences.
What did you know of 617 Squadron before you joined?
I heard about 617 and Operation Chastise [the “Dambusters Raid”] when I was in the RAF in 1943 and we all thought what a wonderful mission it was. I joined the RAF at the end of 1940 and went to an EFTS [Elementary Flying Training School] at Peterborough and then went on an instructor’s course at Reading. 617 was my first operational squadron, which was quite unusual.
How did you find flying Lancaster bombers?
I enjoyed it. They were a great aircraft and easy to fly. It was a beautifully designed aeroplane. It always did its job and could be modified to carry the Grand Slam bomb. The bomb bay doors were taken away and other small modifications were made so we could carry it, but the Lancaster itself didn’t murmur on takeoff. Once it got airborne it was a slower climb but it responded to everything. I did 30 operations on a Lancaster and on every one, the aircraft responded exactly as it should have done. Sometimes it was damaged but it took it in its stride.
It was rather small from about 20,000 feet. As far as the pilot was concerned, the bomb aimer dictated your course. Once we’d started the run in he controlled you as he was focussed on the target. He adjusted my course from his bombsight so that we could try to keep within one or two degrees of the direction he wanted.
My raid was the second attempt to sink the Tirpitz and it was rather cloudy. We had a great deal of trouble spotting the ship, big though it was. It was not only cloudy but the Germans put up a smoke screen. My bomb aimer finally saw it, but the trip itself was called off. Although he dropped the bomb I don’t think it had much effect. We didn’t encounter any fighters but we later learned that they watched us going over the airfield and decided that we were transport or cargo planes of the Luftwaffe carrying supplies, so they didn’t bother.
On 12 January 1945, you were attacked by German fighter planes while dropping Tallboy bombs on submarine pens at Bergen. What are your memories of that experience?
We did come under fire sometimes and some trips, like Bergen, were bad. It was a daylight raid and we were after the ports there. We had a fighter escort but they went down to deal with the heavy flak. As they did, a mixed squadron of Focke-Wulf 190s and Me109s came up and played a little bit of havoc with us. Several of the squadron were shot down or damaged but we did bomb. When you’re in the moment quite a lot of things go through your mind. The main thing is, particularly as the pilot of the aircraft, you must keep cool and make sure everybody else does, but I never encountered any panic among the crew ever. Discipline was maintained because you had to, you were trained for that. We were pretty lucky.
How did it feel to be followed by a Me262 fighter jet on 9 April 1945 and what was your knowledge of jet aircraft before that?
When we bombed Hamburg on a daylight raid, about 10-20 minutes after we left the target we saw a Me262, which was the latest jet fighter. I’d never seen one before and I think very few of us had. I must say it was more than a surprise to have my flight engineer nudge me in the ribs and nod his head towards the starboard side. I didn’t look the first time as I thought he was indicating the fuel gauges. He did it again more vigorously and I looked up and was amazed to see the latest German jet on our starboard wing. That didn’t please me to say the least and several things went through my mind such as “What do I do?” We had an evasion tactic called the ‘Five Group Corkscrew’ but this aircraft was sitting by us and I’m sure his ability to corkscrew in the air as a fighter would have been far more than flying a bomber so I dismissed that immediately. We had no mid-upper turret; he could see that and knew he wasn’t going to be fired on. He just sat there for what felt like hours but the flight engineer later told me it was just under a minute. There was no comradeship in the air, we didn’t salute each other or wave. He was staring at us and we back at him. I was wondering what the hell to do of course. Fortunately, I don’t know whether he ran out of ammunition or not but he had been firing at another aircraft of our squadron and hadn’t hit that either. He was either a new pilot or new to the jet but as far as we were concerned it was a lucky escape.
What was your role in the attack on ‘The Eagle’s Nest’ – Hitler’s mountain retreat near Berchtesgaden – on 25 April 1945? Did it feel symbolic?
We had no idea it was going to be the last operation of the war but I know that we certainly destroyed the SS barracks at Berchtesgaden. We were the first of eight aircraft to bomb so anything could have happened behind us but I don’t think Berchtesgaden itself was damaged. Certainly the barracks were shattered as far as we could see. There was quite a lot of destruction, I don’t quite know who hit it but I would never claim any individual success, we always did it as a squadron. It didn’t feel symbolic at the time but we realised what it meant to Hitler and the German people having it bombed.
What are your thoughts on Bomber Command’s wartime legacy?
I think Bomber Command had a very unfortunate legacy after the war because people criticised politicians. Therefore it bounced back on us because we’d bombed civilians, and it left a nasty taste in a lot of people’s mouths. I went to the unveiling of a statue to do with Bomber Command at the RAF church on the Strand and people threw things at us and I was horrified. We weren’t very popular, which I think was a bit unfair considering that the Germans had destroyed British cities first. My view is that we had an excellent C-in-C in Sir Arthur Harris. He was the sort of man that was absolutely needed for a large force like Bomber Command. Now that’s the opinion of a 20-something as I was then. We really knew, tough though it was sometimes, that he knew what he was doing. We say we had faith in our leaders."
https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/history-of-war/stanley-kubricks-paths-of-glory-mixes-world-war-1-fiction-with-fact/
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx Maj Marty Hogan PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt Jason McClish AN Christopher Crayne LTC Bill Koski SPC Tom DeSmet SGT Charles H. Hawes LTC Wayne Brandon SGT (Join to see) SGT Michael Thorin
Image:
1. German Battleship SS Tirpitz
2. 1944 German Battleship Tirpitz in Norwegian Fjord
3. 1944 Map of Tirpitz area of operations
4. Lancaster Bomber
"A Lancaster Bomber pilot describes the raid on the Tirpitz and evading a Me262
Born in 1920, Lawrence “Benny” Goodman joined the Royal Air Force in 1940 and the new, but legendary, 617 “Dambusters” Squadron in 1944, as a pilot with the rank of flight lieutenant. He took part in 30 operations with the squadron, attacking everything from U-boat and E-boat pens to viaducts, railway bridges, dams, battleships and even Adolf Hitler’s infamous ‘Eagles Nest’ at Berchtesgaden. He left the RAF in 1964 as a squadron leader. Now in his mid-90s, he spoke to History of War in issue 32 about his extraordinary flying experiences.
What did you know of 617 Squadron before you joined?
I heard about 617 and Operation Chastise [the “Dambusters Raid”] when I was in the RAF in 1943 and we all thought what a wonderful mission it was. I joined the RAF at the end of 1940 and went to an EFTS [Elementary Flying Training School] at Peterborough and then went on an instructor’s course at Reading. 617 was my first operational squadron, which was quite unusual.
How did you find flying Lancaster bombers?
I enjoyed it. They were a great aircraft and easy to fly. It was a beautifully designed aeroplane. It always did its job and could be modified to carry the Grand Slam bomb. The bomb bay doors were taken away and other small modifications were made so we could carry it, but the Lancaster itself didn’t murmur on takeoff. Once it got airborne it was a slower climb but it responded to everything. I did 30 operations on a Lancaster and on every one, the aircraft responded exactly as it should have done. Sometimes it was damaged but it took it in its stride.
It was rather small from about 20,000 feet. As far as the pilot was concerned, the bomb aimer dictated your course. Once we’d started the run in he controlled you as he was focussed on the target. He adjusted my course from his bombsight so that we could try to keep within one or two degrees of the direction he wanted.
My raid was the second attempt to sink the Tirpitz and it was rather cloudy. We had a great deal of trouble spotting the ship, big though it was. It was not only cloudy but the Germans put up a smoke screen. My bomb aimer finally saw it, but the trip itself was called off. Although he dropped the bomb I don’t think it had much effect. We didn’t encounter any fighters but we later learned that they watched us going over the airfield and decided that we were transport or cargo planes of the Luftwaffe carrying supplies, so they didn’t bother.
On 12 January 1945, you were attacked by German fighter planes while dropping Tallboy bombs on submarine pens at Bergen. What are your memories of that experience?
We did come under fire sometimes and some trips, like Bergen, were bad. It was a daylight raid and we were after the ports there. We had a fighter escort but they went down to deal with the heavy flak. As they did, a mixed squadron of Focke-Wulf 190s and Me109s came up and played a little bit of havoc with us. Several of the squadron were shot down or damaged but we did bomb. When you’re in the moment quite a lot of things go through your mind. The main thing is, particularly as the pilot of the aircraft, you must keep cool and make sure everybody else does, but I never encountered any panic among the crew ever. Discipline was maintained because you had to, you were trained for that. We were pretty lucky.
How did it feel to be followed by a Me262 fighter jet on 9 April 1945 and what was your knowledge of jet aircraft before that?
When we bombed Hamburg on a daylight raid, about 10-20 minutes after we left the target we saw a Me262, which was the latest jet fighter. I’d never seen one before and I think very few of us had. I must say it was more than a surprise to have my flight engineer nudge me in the ribs and nod his head towards the starboard side. I didn’t look the first time as I thought he was indicating the fuel gauges. He did it again more vigorously and I looked up and was amazed to see the latest German jet on our starboard wing. That didn’t please me to say the least and several things went through my mind such as “What do I do?” We had an evasion tactic called the ‘Five Group Corkscrew’ but this aircraft was sitting by us and I’m sure his ability to corkscrew in the air as a fighter would have been far more than flying a bomber so I dismissed that immediately. We had no mid-upper turret; he could see that and knew he wasn’t going to be fired on. He just sat there for what felt like hours but the flight engineer later told me it was just under a minute. There was no comradeship in the air, we didn’t salute each other or wave. He was staring at us and we back at him. I was wondering what the hell to do of course. Fortunately, I don’t know whether he ran out of ammunition or not but he had been firing at another aircraft of our squadron and hadn’t hit that either. He was either a new pilot or new to the jet but as far as we were concerned it was a lucky escape.
What was your role in the attack on ‘The Eagle’s Nest’ – Hitler’s mountain retreat near Berchtesgaden – on 25 April 1945? Did it feel symbolic?
We had no idea it was going to be the last operation of the war but I know that we certainly destroyed the SS barracks at Berchtesgaden. We were the first of eight aircraft to bomb so anything could have happened behind us but I don’t think Berchtesgaden itself was damaged. Certainly the barracks were shattered as far as we could see. There was quite a lot of destruction, I don’t quite know who hit it but I would never claim any individual success, we always did it as a squadron. It didn’t feel symbolic at the time but we realised what it meant to Hitler and the German people having it bombed.
What are your thoughts on Bomber Command’s wartime legacy?
I think Bomber Command had a very unfortunate legacy after the war because people criticised politicians. Therefore it bounced back on us because we’d bombed civilians, and it left a nasty taste in a lot of people’s mouths. I went to the unveiling of a statue to do with Bomber Command at the RAF church on the Strand and people threw things at us and I was horrified. We weren’t very popular, which I think was a bit unfair considering that the Germans had destroyed British cities first. My view is that we had an excellent C-in-C in Sir Arthur Harris. He was the sort of man that was absolutely needed for a large force like Bomber Command. Now that’s the opinion of a 20-something as I was then. We really knew, tough though it was sometimes, that he knew what he was doing. We say we had faith in our leaders."
https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/history-of-war/stanley-kubricks-paths-of-glory-mixes-world-war-1-fiction-with-fact/
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx Maj Marty Hogan PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt Jason McClish AN Christopher Crayne LTC Bill Koski SPC Tom DeSmet SGT Charles H. Hawes LTC Wayne Brandon SGT (Join to see) SGT Michael Thorin
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The sinking of the German warship Tirpitz took a massive sharing of information which was difficult back in 1944.
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