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N0KFQ > TODAY 12.11.14 17:00l 54 Lines 2318 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 39903_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Nov 12
Path: IZ3LSV<IW8PGT<IW7BFZ<I3XTY<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 141112/1600Z 39903@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.61
Nov 12, 1944:
Brits sink the battleship Tirpitz
On this day in 1944, 32 British Lancaster bombers attack and sink
the mighty German battleship Tirpitz.
In January 1942, Hitler ordered the Germany navy to base the
Tirpitz in Norway, in order to attack Soviet convoys transporting
supplies from Iceland to the USSR. The Tirpitz also prevented
British naval forces from making their way to the Pacific.
Winston Churchill summed up the situation this way: "The
destruction or even crippling of this ship is the greatest event
at the present time... The whole strategy of the war turns at
this period on this ship..."
Attacks had already been made against the Tirpitz. RAF raids were
made against it in January 1942, but they failed to damage it.
Another raid was made in March; dozens of RAF bombers sought out
the Tirpitz, which was now reinforced with cruisers, pocket
battleships, and destroyers. All of the British bombers, once
again, missed their target.
Sporadic attacks continued to be made against the German
battleship, including an attempt in October 1942 to literally
drive a two-man craft up to the ship and plant explosives on the
Tirpitz's hull. This too failed because of brutal water
conditions and an alert German defense. But in September 1943,
six midget British subs set out to take the Tirpitz down for
good. The midgets had to be towed to Norway by conventional subs.
Only three of the six midgets made it to their target. This time,
they were successful in attaching explosives to the Tirpitz's
keel and doing enough damage to put it out of action for six
months. Two British commanders and four crewmen were taken
captive by the Germans and spent the rest of the war as POWs.
But it wasn't until November 1944 that the Tirpitz was undone
permanently. As the battleship lay at anchor in Norway's Tromso
Fjord, 32 British Lancaster bombers, taking off from Scotland,
attacked. Each bomber dropped a 12,000-pound Tallboy bomb and two
hit their target, causing the Tirpitz to capsize, and killing
almost 1,000 crewmen.
Ironically, the mighty Tirpitz fired its guns only once in
aggression during the entire extent of the war-against a British
coaling station on the island of Spitsbergen.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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