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Osprey Air Campaign #7
Sink the Tirpitz 1942–44: The RAF and Fleet Air Arm duel with Germany's mighty battleship
The story of the high-stakes air campaign to sink the battleship Tirpitz in her Norwegian lair, when a single bomb could end her threat to the Arctic Convoys and alter the war.
This is the story of an air campaign in which each bomb could dramatically influence the course of the war.
In January 1942, the powerful German battleship Tirpitz sailed into her new base in a Norwegian fjord, within easy reach of the Arctic Convoys. Her destruction suddenly became a top Allied priority. But sinking a modern and formidably armed battleship was no easy task, especially when she lay secure in a remote, mountainous fjord, protected by anti-torpedo nets, radar, flak guns and smoke generators.
This book charts the full, complex story of the air war against Tirpitz , from the Fleet Air Arm’s failed torpedo attack at sea, the RAF’s early Halifax raids, and the carrier-borne Barracuda airstrikes of Operations Mascot , Tungsten and Goodwood , to the three Tallboy attacks that finally crippled and sank her. With detailed maps and diagrams, it explains the aircraft and ordnance the British had to work with, the evolving strategic situation, and why the task was so difficult.
This is the story of an air campaign in which each bomb could dramatically influence the course of the war.
In January 1942, the powerful German battleship Tirpitz sailed into her new base in a Norwegian fjord, within easy reach of the Arctic Convoys. Her destruction suddenly became a top Allied priority. But sinking a modern and formidably armed battleship was no easy task, especially when she lay secure in a remote, mountainous fjord, protected by anti-torpedo nets, radar, flak guns and smoke generators.
This book charts the full, complex story of the air war against Tirpitz , from the Fleet Air Arm’s failed torpedo attack at sea, the RAF’s early Halifax raids, and the carrier-borne Barracuda airstrikes of Operations Mascot , Tungsten and Goodwood , to the three Tallboy attacks that finally crippled and sank her. With detailed maps and diagrams, it explains the aircraft and ordnance the British had to work with, the evolving strategic situation, and why the task was so difficult.
96 pages, Paperback
Published October 23, 2018
4 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Angus Konstam
219 books61 followersAngus Konstam is a Scottish writer of popular history. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland and raised on the Orkney Islands, he has written more than a hundred books on maritime history, naval history, historical atlases, with a special focus on the history of piracy.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 29, 2023
A Very Good Overview of the Campaign
Any review of this book would have to start out by mentioning that it is part of Osprey Publishing's Air Campaign" series. For the uninitiated these books are relatively short, at only 96 pages in Length. In addition they contain a relatively high percentage of illustrations of one type or another (i.e. maps, contemporaneous photographs of aircraft, Leading personalities, etc.) so the number of pages of text is considerably Less (more Like 60 or so on a crude basis). Hence if one is Looking for an academic
tome on the subject this is not the book to read. Thus the question becomes, considering this format restriction, how well does the book do? The answer is very well. This is especially helped by the fact
it is covers a very niche topic.
It provides a good analysis, on a high Level, with respect to the threat posed by the Tirpitz during the time period (as well as the non-threat as, towards the end of its Lifetime, it could only function as a floating battery that served in an area where the allies had no intentions of Landing). It also provides a good coverage with respect to specifics of the vessel, its anchorages and its defenses. The only thing this reviewer wished it would have had was more detailed maps on anchorages, especially in regard to flak Locations. These are on maps but there is no detailon whether the Locations had heavy (i.e., 88 mm guns) or Lighter guns (i.e.., 20 and 37 mm). A Little more detailon the AA guns themselves would have been nice too as they formed the backbone of the defense. In addition, the very poor coordination and cooperation between the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine that played such an important role in the ship's survivalcould have been discussed in more detail. But, as stated earlier, this is a pretty short book.
From the allied side there is adequate coverage of the many carrier and heavy bomber strikes and the damage they caused (in most cases none but in the basically rendering the vessel Less and Less operationally useful until the final coup de grace was administered on a non-operational vessel).
The book also is very well illustrated with contemporaneous photographs (one photo was even from Norwegian resistance sources), especially from British aerial reconnaissance. Also included are photographs of various aircraft and vessels involved as well as leading personalities.
The book also only makes use of secondary English sources (nor archival or German sources), as illustrated in its bibliography. Plus, as is unfortunately common in the Osprey Air Campaign series formats, there are no footnotes. This is real disservice to both the reader and author (hope someone form Osprey Publishing is reading this). These Last weaknesses are why this reviewer give this book a four star review instead of a five. Nevertheless, a very good overview of this topic for the reader who desires to get up to speed in about 2 hours or so.
Any review of this book would have to start out by mentioning that it is part of Osprey Publishing's Air Campaign" series. For the uninitiated these books are relatively short, at only 96 pages in Length. In addition they contain a relatively high percentage of illustrations of one type or another (i.e. maps, contemporaneous photographs of aircraft, Leading personalities, etc.) so the number of pages of text is considerably Less (more Like 60 or so on a crude basis). Hence if one is Looking for an academic
tome on the subject this is not the book to read. Thus the question becomes, considering this format restriction, how well does the book do? The answer is very well. This is especially helped by the fact
it is covers a very niche topic.
It provides a good analysis, on a high Level, with respect to the threat posed by the Tirpitz during the time period (as well as the non-threat as, towards the end of its Lifetime, it could only function as a floating battery that served in an area where the allies had no intentions of Landing). It also provides a good coverage with respect to specifics of the vessel, its anchorages and its defenses. The only thing this reviewer wished it would have had was more detailed maps on anchorages, especially in regard to flak Locations. These are on maps but there is no detailon whether the Locations had heavy (i.e., 88 mm guns) or Lighter guns (i.e.., 20 and 37 mm). A Little more detailon the AA guns themselves would have been nice too as they formed the backbone of the defense. In addition, the very poor coordination and cooperation between the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine that played such an important role in the ship's survivalcould have been discussed in more detail. But, as stated earlier, this is a pretty short book.
From the allied side there is adequate coverage of the many carrier and heavy bomber strikes and the damage they caused (in most cases none but in the basically rendering the vessel Less and Less operationally useful until the final coup de grace was administered on a non-operational vessel).
The book also is very well illustrated with contemporaneous photographs (one photo was even from Norwegian resistance sources), especially from British aerial reconnaissance. Also included are photographs of various aircraft and vessels involved as well as leading personalities.
The book also only makes use of secondary English sources (nor archival or German sources), as illustrated in its bibliography. Plus, as is unfortunately common in the Osprey Air Campaign series formats, there are no footnotes. This is real disservice to both the reader and author (hope someone form Osprey Publishing is reading this). These Last weaknesses are why this reviewer give this book a four star review instead of a five. Nevertheless, a very good overview of this topic for the reader who desires to get up to speed in about 2 hours or so.
February 27, 2019
A vey thorough, if a bit dry, look at the many campaigns to sink Germany’s battleship Tirpitz.
August 11, 2020
Glaring mistake of misplacing an important town on the maps
makes for confusing reading plus typos.....
makes for confusing reading plus typos.....
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews