211-513: 1942 1943 1944 1945 Associated articles Operation Catechism was a British air raid of World War II that destroyed the German battleship Tirpitz . It was conducted on 12 November 1944 by 29 Royal Air Force heavy bombers that attacked the battleship at its anchorage near the Norwegian city of Tromsø . The ship capsized after being hit by at least two bombs and damaged by
422-659: A Neutrality Pact in April 1941, and Japan adopted the doctrine of Nanshin-ron , promoted by the Navy, which took its focus southward and eventually led to war with the United States and the Western Allies. In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria , again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on
633-578: A cautious French probe into the Saarland . The Western Allies also began a naval blockade of Germany , which aimed to damage the country's economy and war effort. Germany responded by ordering U-boat warfare against Allied merchant and warships, which would later escalate into the Battle of the Atlantic . On 8 September, German troops reached the suburbs of Warsaw . The Polish counter-offensive to
844-550: A forced landing in Sweden after being damaged by anti-aircraft gunfire, and the remainder returned to base. Bomber Command remained determined to sink Tirpitz as soon as possible, and preparations for another attack began shortly after Operation Obviate. A report issued by the Royal Navy's Naval Intelligence Division on 3 November judged that it remained necessary to attack Tirpitz in northern Norway. The report argued that
1055-456: A Lancaster fitted out as a film aircraft from No. 463 Squadron RAAF . The role of this aircraft was to collect material for use in propaganda films. Seven No. 9 Squadron Lancasters, including that of its commanding officer Wing Commander James Bazin , were unable to participate, as they could not be cleared in time of the snow and ice that had formed on them overnight. The No. 617 Squadron aircraft took off between 2:59 and 3:25 am BST , and
1266-543: A Liberator was inadvertently shot down by a Soviet fighter during a follow-up operation to Finnmark shortly after the insertion of Moe and Arild. A meeting involving Großadmiral Karl Dönitz , the commander of the German Navy, was held in Berlin on 23 September to discuss the damage to Tirpitz . Dönitz was informed that it would take nine months to repair the ship, and that all the work had to be done at Kaafjord as
1477-460: A boat, and all other personnel slept in overcrowded underground huts. Both the boat and the huts were infested with bed bugs , and almost all of the airmen were bitten before the accommodation was fumigated by the detachment's medical officer. By the morning of 14 September, 26 Lancasters from the attack forces and the Film Unit aircraft were ready; 20 of the bombers were armed with Tallboys and
1688-463: A column of black smoke rising through the smokescreen. Some of the bombs and mines landed up to a mile from the battleship. Tirpitz ' s anti-aircraft guns and a further 98 guns located in nearby shore batteries and warships fired on the bombers throughout the attack, but only four Lancasters suffered any damage. All of the Lancasters had completed their attacks by 11:07 am GMT, and
1899-645: A gap in German radar coverage had been located. Several of the bombers flew too far to the north, and came within range of German radar stations. The attack force rendezvoused over Torneträsk lake. After making two orbits, No. 617 Squadron's commanding officer, Wing Commander "Willie" Tait , fired a flare gun from his aircraft to signal the force to proceed to Tromsø. Two No. 9 Squadron Lancasters failed to reach Torneträsk lake in time, and returned to base without attacking. The attack force proceeded north-west towards Tromsø, and climbed to 14,000 feet (4,300 m) to clear
2110-537: A lack of clear plans to coordinate the defence. He attributed the former to delays in recognising that the bombers were headed for Tirpitz , as well as inefficient chains of communication that slowed the speed with which this information could be acted on. For instance, German naval personnel could not pass information directly to their Luftwaffe equivalents, as messages had to be sent through single-service channels and could only be transmitted between services at relatively senior levels. The historian Daniel Knowles reached
2321-467: A local church minister. The remains of hundreds of other crewmembers were recovered and buried in Norwegian cemeteries. One of the No. 9 Squadron Lancasters was badly damaged by anti-aircraft gunfire, and its pilot decided to attempt a crash-landing in Sweden. The crew were able to make radio contact with Swedish military forces manning a small airfield at Naisjärv , who prepared it for the bomber. When one of
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#17327866772052532-644: A long period of operational flying" and role in leading three attacks on Tirpitz . Two other pilots received the DSO and six airmen were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross . Tirpitz ' s destruction freed up Allied resources for other theatres. More than half the Home Fleet was deployed elsewhere, including many ships sent to the Pacific to fight Japanese forces. The loss of Tirpitz
2743-473: A loose formation and the journey to northern Norway went as planned, though six Lancasters were forced to abort and return to Yagodnik. Despite passing near several German bases, the British force was undetected and no German fighters were airborne over Kaafjord at the time of the attack. Kaafjord's defenders detected the Lancasters approximately ten minutes before they arrived, and the protective smokescreen
2954-538: A meeting on 28 August between the head of Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris , and Vice-Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Douglas Evill , to discuss the feasibility of dispatching Mosquitos against Kaafjord, Harris stated that he had ready a plan to attack the battleship with Lancaster bombers. Under this plan, 24 Lancasters were to depart a base in the far north of Scotland, bomb Tirpitz , and return to an airstrip in
3165-833: A powerful force of warships with the British Home Fleet to counter the threat she posed and capital ships accompanied most convoys part of the way to the Soviet Union. Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers conducted a series of abortive raids on Tirpitz shortly after the battleship arrived in Norway from Germany in January 1942. Tirpitz was initially based at Fættenfjord near Trondheim , which lay within range of British bombers flying from Scotland. The first raid on 30 January involved nine Handley Page Halifax and seven Short Stirling bombers. Owing to cloud over
3376-554: A presence near Tirpitz occurred in August 1944, when a Norwegian Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) agent was dispatched to the nearby village of Alta . The agent infiltrated with a radio transmitter codenamed "Sinding" from neutral Sweden , but only managed to begin transmissions to the United Kingdom on 22 September, too late for the preparation stage for the operation. In a second attempt at establishing an agent group in
3587-524: A pretext to initiate the invasion. The first German attack of the war came against the Polish defences at Westerplatte . The United Kingdom responded with an ultimatum for Germany to cease military operations, and on 3 September, after the ultimatum was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany. During the Phoney War period, the alliance provided no direct military support to Poland, outside of
3798-673: A pretext to worsen relations. On 29 August, Hitler demanded that a Polish plenipotentiary immediately travel to Berlin to negotiate the handover of Danzig , and to allow a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor in which the German minority would vote on secession. The Poles refused to comply with the German demands, and on the night of 30–31 August in a confrontational meeting with the British ambassador Nevile Henderson , Ribbentrop declared that Germany considered its claims rejected. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland after having staged several false flag border incidents as
4009-448: A reconnaissance sortie over Kaafjord on the afternoon of 15 September, arriving at about 1:30 pm GMT. Its crew found that the fjord was covered with cloud and smoke. They could briefly see Tirpitz , and reported that no damage was evident to the battleship, which remained afloat. The Mosquito conducted further reconnaissance sorties on 16 September, but the fjord was completely obscured on all occasions. McMullen considered launching
4220-506: A representation of the battleship. This was initially displayed at RAF Binbrook , from which both Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons had operated during periods of World War II, but was soon stolen by No. 9 Squadron personnel who installed it at the unit's headquarters. Over the next 50 years the squadrons conducted elaborate operations to steal the trophy from one another. It was handed over to the Royal Air Force Museum in 2002, and
4431-473: A second attack, but decided against doing so as only two Tallboys and one load of JW mines were available. Tirpitz was rendered unfit for combat by Operation Paravane. The Tallboy bomb that struck the battleship passed through the foredeck and hull, and exploded in the water on the starboard side of her bow . This damage wrecked the bow, and left the battleship's forward compartments flooded with 2,000 tons of water. The explosions of several other Tallboys in
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#17327866772054642-475: A secret protocol that defined German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany; eastern Poland , Finland, Estonia , Latvia and Bessarabia for the Soviet Union), and raised the question of continuing Polish independence. The pact neutralised the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and assured that Germany would not have to face the prospect of
4853-611: A similar conclusion, and also argued that Operations Obviate and Catechism were justified as they contributed to sustaining the Fortitude North deception campaign that had led the Germans to maintain powerful ground forces in Norway in the mistaken belief that the Allies were planning amphibious landings there. The retired United States Navy Rear Admiral William H. Langenberg judged that "because of her strategic importance, all
5064-604: A similar conclusion, labelling Tirpitz ' s defences "chaotic" due to the poor communications between the battleship and Bardufoss. The British military undertook several analyses of the attack. In December 1944, No. 5 Group's headquarters investigated the accuracy of the bombing. This analysis found that No. 617 Squadron had been much more accurate than No. 9 Squadron, possibly due to the latter squadron's bombardiers inputting an inaccurate wind speed into their bombsights . The superior Stabilized Automatic Bomb Sight fitted to No. 617 Squadron's aircraft may have also contributed to
5275-713: A similar pact and rejected ceding part of its territory to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, and was subsequently expelled from the League of Nations for this crime of aggression. Despite overwhelming numerical superiority, Soviet military success during the Winter War was modest, and the Finno-Soviet war ended in March 1940 with some Finnish concessions of territory . In June 1940,
5486-542: A single Tallboy each, was to continue to Yagodnik after bombing. Force B was to comprise six Lancasters from each of the squadrons armed with twelve JW mines and return directly to either Scotland or the Shetland Islands. A Lancaster from the RAF Film Unit, which was attached to No. 463 Squadron RAAF , would accompany Force B and also return to the United Kingdom after the bombers completed their attack. It
5697-407: A smokescreen by the time they arrived over the target area. The only attack made against Tirpitz at Kaafjord by land-based aircraft prior to September 1944 was a small raid conducted by 15 Soviet bombers on the night of 10/11 February 1944, but it did not inflict any damage on the battleship. The Royal Navy attacked Tirpitz at Kaafjord from September 1943 until August 1944. On 23 September 1943,
5908-422: A static artillery battery to protect the town of Tromsø . The Allies were unable to confirm the extent of the battleship's damage, and conducted two more heavy bomber raids against her in late 1944, Operation Obviate on 29 October, and Operation Catechism on 12 November. Tirpitz was sunk with considerable loss of life during the second of these attacks. From early 1942, Tirpitz posed a significant threat to
6119-599: A symbol of the Nazi regime, and her destruction provided further evidence that the war was coming to an end. Tait was privately sceptical of the value of the operation though, and later noted in his private papers that it "had not contributed much to the Allied victory" as the crippled battleship had not posed a threat. Many of the aircrew involved in Operation Catechism were decorated in recognition of their part in
6330-467: A two-front war, as it had in World War I. Immediately afterwards, Hitler ordered the attack to proceed on 26 August, but upon hearing that the United Kingdom had concluded a formal mutual assistance pact with Poland and that Italy would maintain neutrality, he decided to delay it. In response to British requests for direct negotiations to avoid war, Germany made demands on Poland, which served as
6541-708: Is currently on display at Royal Air Force Museum London . World War II Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers . Nearly all the world's countries —including all the great powers —participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of total war , blurring
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6752-697: The Allied convoys transporting supplies through the Norwegian Sea to the Soviet Union. Stationed in fjords on the Norwegian coast, the battleship was capable of overwhelming the close-escort forces of Arctic convoys or breaking out into the North Atlantic. Owing to the superiority of the Allied navies, Tirpitz rarely put to sea and only conducted three brief combat operations into the Norwegian Sea during her career. The Allies needed to keep
6963-604: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish declaration of non-aggression . The situation became a crisis in late August as German troops continued to mobilise against the Polish border. On 23 August the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, after tripartite negotiations for a military alliance between France, the United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had stalled. This pact had
7174-581: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , and a democratic government, later known as the Weimar Republic , was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the political right and left. Italy, as an Entente ally, had made some post-war territorial gains; however, Italian nationalists were angered that the promises made by the United Kingdom and France to secure Italian entrance into
7385-710: The Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939. Others view the Spanish Civil War as the start or prelude to World War II. The exact date of the war's end also is not universally agreed upon. It
7596-695: The League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, but the League did little when the former clearly violated Article X of the League's Covenant . The United Kingdom and France supported imposing sanctions on Italy for the invasion, but the sanctions were not fully enforced and failed to end the Italian invasion. Italy subsequently dropped its objections to Germany's goal of absorbing Austria . When civil war broke out in Spain, Hitler and Mussolini lent military support to
7807-731: The Nationalist rebels , led by General Francisco Franco . Italy supported the Nationalists to a greater extent than the Nazis: Mussolini sent more than 70,000 ground troops, 6,000 aviation personnel, and 720 aircraft to Spain. The Soviet Union supported the existing government of the Spanish Republic . More than 30,000 foreign volunteers, known as the International Brigades , also fought against
8018-589: The Paris Peace Conference . The organisation's primary goals were to prevent armed conflict through collective security, military, and naval disarmament , as well as settling international disputes through peaceful negotiations and arbitration. Despite strong pacifist sentiment after World War I , irredentist and revanchist nationalism had emerged in several European states. These sentiments were especially marked in Germany because of
8229-690: The Rome–Berlin Axis . A month later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact , which Italy joined the following year. The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allies and new regional warlords . In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Empire of Japan , which had long sought influence in China as
8440-508: The Shetland Islands . If the return trip was judged impossible, the bombers would instead land at Murmansk in northern Russia before returning to the United Kingdom. Bomber Command's staff had contacted Soviet officials about the latter element of the plan, and concluded that it would be feasible. Owing to the complex nature of the mission, Bomber Command's two elite special duties units, No. 9 and No. 617 Squadrons , would conduct
8651-535: The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, massing forces on the Soviet border. Hitler believed that the United Kingdom's refusal to end the war was based on the hope that the United States and the Soviet Union would enter the war against Germany sooner or later. On 31 July 1940, Hitler decided that
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8862-543: The Stresa Front in April 1935 in order to contain Germany, a key step towards military globalisation ; however, that June, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The Soviet Union, concerned by Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of Eastern Europe , drafted a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect, though, the Franco-Soviet pact
9073-709: The Sudetenland , an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population. Soon the United Kingdom and France followed the appeasement policy of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and conceded this territory to Germany in the Munich Agreement , which was made against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. Soon afterwards, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary, and Poland annexed
9284-707: The Tanggu Truce was signed in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria , and Chahar and Suiyuan . After the 1936 Xi'an Incident , the Kuomintang and CCP forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan. The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war began with
9495-524: The Trans-Olza region of Czechoslovakia. Although all of Germany's stated demands had been satisfied by the agreement, privately Hitler was furious that British interference had prevented him from seizing all of Czechoslovakia in one operation. In subsequent speeches Hitler attacked British and Jewish "war-mongers" and in January 1939 secretly ordered a major build-up of the German navy to challenge British naval supremacy. In March 1939, Germany invaded
9706-609: The Treaty of Craiova . The loss of one-third of Romania's 1939 territory caused a coup against King Carol II, turning Romania into a fascist dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu , with a course set towards the Axis in the hopes of a German guarantee. Meanwhile, German-Soviet political relations and economic co-operation gradually stalled, and both states began preparations for war. In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to protect shipments of iron ore from Sweden , which
9917-656: The Wehrmacht rapidly advanced to the Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium, trapping the bulk of the Allied armies in a cauldron on the Franco-Belgian border near Lille. The United Kingdom was able to evacuate a significant number of Allied troops from the continent by early June, although they had to abandon almost all their equipment. On 10 June, Italy invaded France , declaring war on both France and
10128-470: The "Aslaug" transmitter left the area, sending their last transmission to the United Kingdom on 22 October. Moe and Arild made their way on foot across the Finnmarksvidda plateau to Kautokeino and from there through Finland to Karesuando in Sweden, arriving on 5 December. The agents carried out the march without resupplies of food, as Operation Carpetbagger had ceased using Soviet airbases after
10339-501: The "Highball" bouncing bombs during the year were unsuccessful and the plan was abandoned in September. Tirpitz was transferred to a new base at Kaafjord in the far north of Norway in late May 1943. This anchorage was well protected, with the defences including equipment capable of rapidly generating an artificial smokescreen as well as many anti-aircraft guns located in shore batteries and warships. During June 1943, consideration
10550-419: The 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia , which led to the founding of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the victorious Allies of World War I , such as France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Greece, gained territory, and new nation-states were created out of the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires. To prevent a future world war, the League of Nations was established in 1920 by
10761-464: The 21 bombers began the return journey to Yagodnik. The Force A aircraft which had not been able to bomb brought their Tallboys back. This flight proved uneventful, and all 27 Lancasters landed at Yagodnik in the evening. The Film Unit aircraft flew directly from Kaafjord to the United Kingdom, and arrived at its home station after a fifteen-and-a-half hour flight; this was the longest operational Lancaster mission of World War II. The Mosquito conducted
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#173278667720510972-459: The Allied airmen were disturbed to see political prisoners being beaten by overseers while undertaking forced labour. Work on repairing the damaged Lancasters also continued on 14 September, and an additional Tallboy-armed aircraft was ready by the next morning. The plans for the raid were further adjusted while No. 9 and No. 617 Squadrons were waiting at Yagodnik. The Lancasters were to take off together, and fly at low altitude until they reached
11183-468: The Allied attempts to disable or sink Tirpitz were justified". There is consensus that the engagement was well executed by the Allied forces while the German forces failed. Konstam noted that Operations Paravane, Obviate and Catechism were "well-planned and conducted" and "provided a neat ending to what had been a long and often tortuous aerial campaign". Sweetman wrote that while the Royal Navy's aircraft and bombs could have destroyed Tirpitz "with luck",
11394-409: The Allies were attempting to cut off . Denmark capitulated after six hours , and despite Allied support , Norway was conquered within two months. British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , who was replaced by Winston Churchill on 10 May 1940. On the same day, Germany launched an offensive against France . To circumvent
11605-453: The Arctic convoys or breaking out into the North Atlantic. To counter this threat, the Allies needed to keep a powerful force of warships with the British Home Fleet , and capital ships accompanied most convoys part of the way to the Soviet Union. Tirpitz was repeatedly attacked by British forces over several years. Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers made four unsuccessful raids on the battleship between January and April 1942 while she
11816-410: The Asia-Pacific , and by 1937 was at war with the Republic of China . In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories in Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific , including Pearl Harbor in Hawaii , which resulted in the US and the UK declaring war against Japan, and the European Axis declaring war on the US. Japan conquered much of coastal China and Southeast Asia , but its advances in
12027-400: The Axis war against the Soviet Union, in Romania's case partially to recapture territory ceded to the Soviet Union . In early June 1940, the Italian Regia Aeronautica attacked and besieged Malta , a British possession. From late summer to early autumn, Italy conquered British Somaliland and made an incursion into British-held Egypt . In October, Italy attacked Greece , but the attack
12238-421: The Blitz , but largely ended in May 1941 after failing to significantly disrupt the British war effort. Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy , using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic . The British Home Fleet scored a significant victory on 27 May 1941 by sinking the German battleship Bismarck . In November 1939,
12449-587: The British aircraft arrived over the target area. Moreover, the Barracudas were unable to carry bombs large enough to significantly damage Tirpitz when hits were achieved. As a result, before and after Operation Goodwood, further consideration was given to using Mosquitos to attack the battleship; under initial plans developed in mid-August these aircraft would have been launched from aircraft carriers and attacked Tirpitz with 2,000-pound (910 kg) or 4,000-pound (1,800 kg) armour-piercing bombs before landing in northern Russia. These proposals came to nothing as
12660-410: The Command's two elite squadrons flew to their staging airfield in the Soviet Union on the night of 11/12 September, and attacked on 15 September using heavy bombs and air-dropped mines. All of the British aircraft returned to base, though one of the Lancasters later crashed during its flight back to the United Kingdom. Following Operation Paravane, the German Navy's commander decided to use Tirpitz as
12871-410: The French possessions of Syria and Lebanon , assisted by the Free French . With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations for war. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany, and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia , the two powers signed
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#173278667720513082-409: The German high command was "quite remarkable" in light of the previous British attacks. Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons have had a long-running rivalry over which unit deserves credit for destroying Tirpitz . This rivalry began immediately after Operation Catechism. In 1950 the Norwegian Government presented the RAF with part of a bulkhead removed from the wreck which Tirpitz ' s crew had painted with
13293-418: The Germans would not expect an attack from this direction. Despite clear weather for most of the flight, Tirpitz was covered by cloud shortly before the Lancasters reached the point where they were to release their Tallboy bombs. This made it impossible to accurately target the battleship, and the 33 aircraft which bombed achieved no hits. Tirpitz was slightly damaged by a near miss. One of the Lancasters made
13504-426: The Germans, and the last large operational unit of the Polish Army surrendered on 6 October . Despite the military defeat, Poland never surrendered; instead, it formed the Polish government-in-exile and a clandestine state apparatus remained in occupied Poland. A significant part of Polish military personnel evacuated to Romania and Latvia; many of them later fought against the Axis in other theatres of
13715-445: The Holocaust of European Jews, as well as from massacres, starvation, and disease. Following the Allied powers' victory, Germany , Austria , Japan , and Korea were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders . The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in the aftermath of World War I and the rise of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan . Key events leading up to
13926-413: The JW mines. As none of the Force B aircrew were able to spot Tirpitz due to the smokescreen, they dropped the mines on the battleship's estimated position. These weapons did not cause any damage. The smokescreen over Kaafjord prevented the Allied aircrew from being able to assess the results of their bombing, though several large spouts of water and explosions were observed. Tait was also pleased to see
14137-420: The Lancaster's engines cut out while attempting to land, the pilot made a belly landing in a field near a village. None of the crew were injured, and all were interned by the Swedish Government. They were subsequently repatriated to the UK. The other Lancasters' return flights were complicated by adverse winds. Due to shortages of fuel, many had to divert to alternative airfields but all landed safely during
14348-413: The Lancasters very vulnerable to German fighter aircraft , and they would have to fly without escort as no British fighters had the range needed to reach Tromsø. During Operation Obviate, the bombers flew north over the Norwegian Sea, and met up over Torneträsk lake in Northern Sweden. This violated Sweden's neutrality , but allowed the bombers to approach Tromsø from the south-east. The Allies believed
14559-411: The Lancasters were airborne, the Soviet military quickly agreed to the changed arrangements. The Lancasters' flight to Yagodnik initially went well. After departing their bases, the 39 aircraft flew north to Shetland before turning east. During the early stages of the flight one of the No. 9 Squadron Lancasters was forced to dump its Tallboy into the North Sea after it became decoupled from its mounting;
14770-450: The Nationalists. Both Germany and the Soviet Union used this proxy war as an opportunity to test in combat their most advanced weapons and tactics. The Nationalists won the civil war in April 1939; Franco, now dictator, remained officially neutral during World War II but generally favoured the Axis . His greatest collaboration with Germany was the sending of volunteers to fight on the Eastern Front . In July 1937, Japan captured
14981-400: The No. 540 Squadron Mosquito and a Soviet aircraft on 20 September indicated that the bow of the ship was damaged, though it was not possible to determine how badly. Drawing on this evidence, the Royal Navy's Naval Intelligence Division concluded on 30 September that Tirpitz had "almost certainly" been struck by a Tallboy and may have been further damaged by near misses, and that the damage to
15192-408: The No. 9 Squadron aircraft between 3:00 and 3:35 am BST. The aircraft flown by No. 9 Squadron's deputy commander, Squadron Leader Bill Williams, was among those able to take off and he assumed command of the unit. The Lancasters flew individually over the Norwegian Sea. As had been the case during Operation Obviate, they crossed the Norwegian coast between the towns of Mosjøen and Namsos where
15403-623: The Pacific were halted in mid-1942 after its defeat in the naval Battle of Midway ; Germany and Italy were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Key setbacks in 1943—including German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland , and Allied offensives in the Pacific—cost the Axis powers their initiative and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944,
15614-631: The RAF and capable of penetrating well-protected targets. Some of the bombers were to be armed with "Johnnie Walker" (commonly called "JW") mines , which were designed to be dropped from aircraft and move through the water by rapidly diving and surfacing until they struck their target. The Tallboy had been successfully used by No. 617 Squadron against tunnels and other facilities, but the mines had not been used in combat, and Harris and several other senior RAF officers were sceptical of their effectiveness. As test flights conducted by No. 617 Squadron proved that it
15825-474: The RAF's elite Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons , who unsuccessfully attempted to strike Tirpitz again at Tromsø on 29 October during Operation Obviate . Operation Catechism re-used the plans for Operation Obviate, and was conducted by the same squadrons. The aircraft departed from bases in northern Scotland and, due to clear weather conditions, the Commonwealth airmen were able to accurately target and bomb
16036-452: The Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission after a carrier attack at Taranto , and neutralising several more warships at the Battle of Cape Matapan . Italian defeats prompted Germany to deploy an expeditionary force to North Africa; at the end of March 1941, Rommel 's Afrika Korps launched an offensive which drove back Commonwealth forces. In less than a month, Axis forces advanced to western Egypt and besieged
16247-452: The SIS team, codenamed "Aslaug", was operational by 13 September, sending weather reports to the United Kingdom every other hour. As well as reporting on the weather, Moe and Arild radioed assessments of the damage Tirpitz had suffered in the air attacks prior to Operation Paravane. Local contacts helped the agents in spying on Tirpitz before and after the 15 September attack. By the time of
16458-602: The Soviet Union occupied the entire territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the Romanian regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Hertsa region . In August 1940, Hitler imposed the Second Vienna Award on Romania which led to the transfer of Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In September 1940, Bulgaria demanded Southern Dobruja from Romania with German and Italian support, leading to
16669-592: The Soviet Union and Mongolia . The Japanese doctrine of Hokushin-ron , which emphasised Japan's expansion northward, was favoured by the Imperial Army during this time. This policy would prove difficult to maintain in light of the Japanese defeat at Khalkin Gol in 1939, the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War and ally Nazi Germany pursuing neutrality with the Soviets. Japan and the Soviet Union eventually signed
16880-756: The Soviet Union should be eliminated and aimed for the conquest of Ukraine , the Baltic states and Byelorussia . However, other senior German officials like Ribbentrop saw an opportunity to create a Euro-Asian bloc against the British Empire by inviting the Soviet Union into the Tripartite Pact. In November 1940, negotiations took place to determine if the Soviet Union would join the pact. The Soviets showed some interest but asked for concessions from Finland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Japan that Germany considered unacceptable. On 18 December 1940, Hitler issued
17091-601: The Soviet Union was ever signed, although the state of war between the two countries was terminated by the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 , which also restored full diplomatic relations between them. World War I had radically altered the political European map with the defeat of the Central Powers —including Austria-Hungary , Germany , Bulgaria , and the Ottoman Empire —and
17302-698: The Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, General Dwight D. Eisenhower , was unwilling to release any Mosquitos in July, and in August the Mosquitos were also judged to be too slow to successfully reach Kaafjord from aircraft carriers before it was covered by smoke. In August RAF Bomber Command , which controlled the force's heavy bombers, began developing plans to strike Tirpitz at Kaafjord. During
17513-500: The Tromsø area and torpedo nets were laid around the battleship. These augmented the protection offered by the anti-aircraft ships Nymphe and Thetis and several anti-aircraft batteries on the shore. Dredging operations to reduce the water level below the battleship's hull began on 1 November. By 12 November these were half complete. The smoke generators that had previously protected Tirpitz at Kaafjord were still being installed at
17724-418: The Tromsø area endeavoured to rescue the surviving members of Tirpitz ' s crew. Within two hours, 596 had swum to shore or been rescued from the water. Others were trapped in air pockets within the wreck. These men were doomed unless they were able to move to what was once the bottom of the ship, and be rescued before their air supply ran out. Shortly after Tirpitz capsized, parties of sailors climbed onto
17935-458: The USSR continued to work with the relevant Soviet headquarters to finalise the arrangements for Force A's flight from Norway to Yagodnik. Subsequent forecasts indicated that weather conditions at Kaafjord were changing rapidly, and during the morning of 11 September Harris judged that it would not be feasible to launch the bombers from Scotland with confidence that Kaafjord would be free of cloud by
18146-581: The United Kingdom and France guaranteed their support for Polish independence ; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to the Kingdoms of Romania and Greece . Shortly after the Franco - British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel . Hitler accused the United Kingdom and Poland of trying to "encircle" Germany and renounced
18357-489: The United Kingdom attacked on 3 July in an attempt to prevent its seizure by Germany. The air Battle of Britain began in early July with Luftwaffe attacks on shipping and harbours . The German campaign for air superiority started in August but its failure to defeat RAF Fighter Command forced the indefinite postponement of the proposed German invasion of Britain . The German strategic bombing offensive intensified with night attacks on London and other cities in
18568-420: The United Kingdom in several groups. Tait led 16 Lancasters out of Yagodnik in the evening of 16 September; most of these aircraft flew over southern Finland, Sweden and Denmark. One of the Lancasters went off course and crashed on a mountain near Nesbyen in Norway, killing all eleven airmen aboard, the only Allied casualties of Operation Paravane. Nine other Lancasters departed on 17 September, followed by five
18779-461: The United Kingdom. The Germans turned south against the weakened French army, and Paris fell to them on 14 June. Eight days later France signed an armistice with Germany ; it was divided into German and Italian occupation zones , and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime , which, though officially neutral, was generally aligned with Germany. France kept its fleet, which
18990-660: The United States was assisting China and the Western Allies, and had amended the Neutrality Act to allow "cash and carry" purchases by the Allies. In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased . In September the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases . Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention in
19201-530: The Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the fall of Berlin to Soviet troops; Hitler's suicide ; and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 . Following the refusal of Japan to surrender on the terms of the Potsdam Declaration , the US dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August. Faced with an imminent invasion of the Japanese archipelago ,
19412-528: The Western Allies invaded German-occupied France at Normandy , while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and pushed Germany and its allies westward. At the same time, Japan suffered reversals in mainland Asia, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy and captured key islands . The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories ; the invasion of Germany by
19623-606: The Yellow River ; this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan , but the city was taken by October. Japanese military victories did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve; instead, the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing and continued the war. In the mid-to-late 1930s, Japanese forces in Manchukuo had sporadic border clashes with
19834-629: The aerial Battle of Britain and the Blitz , and naval Battle of the Atlantic . Through a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany took control of much of continental Europe and formed the Axis alliance with Italy , Japan , and other countries. In June 1941, Germany led the European Axis in an invasion of the Soviet Union , opening the Eastern Front and initially making large territorial gains. Japan aimed to dominate East Asia and
20045-495: The afternoon of 12 November. Two Lancasters landed at RAF Banff , one of which still carried its Tallboy which had hung up. After it taxied to a halt, and moments after the crew left the aircraft, the Tallboy released itself and clattered to the concrete. The film aircraft flew directly to its home station, RAF Waddington , where its pilot was debriefed by Air Commodore Cochrane. The bomber squadrons returned to their home bases over
20256-468: The airstrips were vulnerable to attack from fighters operating from nearby German bases. Instead, it was decided that the attack force should fly over northern Sweden and Finland after raiding Kaafjord and refuel at Yagodnik airstrip, which was on an island near Arkhangelsk . This plan was accepted by the Air Ministry on 6 September. Soviet Naval Aviation offered to attack German fighter bases at
20467-503: The anti-aircraft gunfire rising from the ship; 17 of the weapons were dropped. Several Lancasters made more than one pass over the target area as their bomb aimers sought to locate Tirpitz or technical problems prevented their Tallboy from being dropped on the initial pass. Force B commenced its attack after the Tallboy Lancasters had completed theirs so that the shock waves from bomb explosions did not prematurely set off
20678-436: The area from attack. Dönitz hoped that this would also convince the Allies that Tirpitz continued to pose a threat. An anchorage was selected just off the coast of the island of Håkøya where it was believed the water was shallow enough to prevent the battleship from sinking if another attack was successful. Tirpitz arrived there on 16 October. The depth of water at the mooring was found to be greater than anticipated, leaving
20889-539: The area, the Norwegian SIS agents Knut Moe and Anton Arild were dropped by parachute into the wilderness between Kaafjord and Alta on 8 September by an American Operation Carpetbagger Liberator. During the drop the agents became separated from most of their equipment, with the exception of the radio transmitter. Without weapons and equipment, the agents were forced to relocate to the village of Bossekop , where Moe's mother lived. The radio transmitter operated by
21100-454: The attack force was readied to strike Kaafjord. The Soviet personnel at the airfield provided considerable assistance, but the process of refuelling the aircraft could not be completed until 13 September due to inadequate facilities. The ground crew also repaired some of the damaged bombers, in some cases with parts salvaged from the aircraft which had been written off. The British officers and senior non-commissioned officers were accommodated in
21311-566: The attack, Moe and Arild had established an observation post overlooking Tirpitz ' s anchorage in Kaafjord. The attack force was placed on alert to launch what had been designated Operation Paravane on 8 September. Good weather was vital for the operation, and the airmen waited at their home bases for the next two days as forecasts proved unfavourable. Meanwhile, the Air Ministry, No. 5 Group and British military liaison officers in
21522-420: The attack, the British intelligence services sought to determine the extent of Tirpitz ' s damage. During late September, Norwegian SIS agents in the Kaafjord area reported that the battleship had been struck by a bomb and appeared damaged. German radio signals that were intercepted and decoded on 25 and 29 September also stated that Tirpitz had suffered a single hit from a large bomb. Photographs taken by
21733-477: The attack. Cochrane recommended Tait for the Victoria Cross . While the recommendation was endorsed by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris , the head of Bomber Command, the medal was not awarded. Instead, Tait was awarded a third bar to his Distinguished Service Order (DSO). The citation recognised his "conspicuous bravery and extreme devotion to duty in the face of the enemy, constantly exemplified over
21944-433: The attack. The battleship's destruction was celebrated in Allied countries and Norway, and is commemorated by several memorials and displays in museums. From early 1942, Tirpitz posed a significant threat to the Allied convoys transporting supplies through the Norwegian Sea to the Soviet Union . Stationed in fjords on the Norwegian coast, the battleship was capable of overwhelming the close-escort forces assigned to
22155-424: The attack. This proposal was viewed favourably, and was approved by Eisenhower's headquarters on 5 September. No. 5 Group was assigned responsibility for planning the attack on Tirpitz in late August. The group's staff officers judged that it was essential for the raid to surprise Kaafjord's defenders so that the battleship was not covered in smoke by the time the Lancasters arrived. As the seaward approaches to
22366-421: The battleship at Kaafjord during what was designated Operation Paravane . This operation employed Avro Lancaster heavy bombers armed with Tallboy heavy bombs and "Johnnie Walker" mines . The Tallboy bomb weighed 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg) and had been developed to destroy heavily armoured targets. When dropped from a high altitude, the bomb could penetrate a battleship's deck armour before exploding within
22577-488: The battleship at her anchorage, so that she no longer posed a threat to Allied convoys travelling to and from the Soviet Union. The first of these raids was successful, but the other attacks failed due to shortcomings with the Fleet Air Arm 's strike aircraft and the formidable German defences. As a result, the task of attacking the battleship was transferred to the RAF's Bomber Command . Avro Lancaster bombers from
22788-401: The battleship could potentially be repaired and made fully operational if she was left unmolested and able to reach a major port. As it would be difficult to target the battleship during the period of near perpetual darkness in the northern winter, further attacks needed to be made within the 23 days before this commenced. No. 5 Group RAF directed on 3 November that the next attack on Tirpitz
22999-461: The battleship had been directly hit by two Tallboys. A team from the Royal Navy's Directorate of Naval Construction also inspected the wreck between 4 September and 14 October 1945, and interviewed witnesses to the attack. This team judged that a lack of watertight integrity resulting from flaws in Tirpitz ' s design, as well as the watertight doors that divided compartments being left open as
23210-638: The battleship neared completion. Tirpitz did not suffer heavy damage in this operation but was out of action for several more months while repairs were completed. The Home Fleet sortied to attack Kaafjord on a further four occasions between April and July; all but the last of these operations were frustrated by bad weather and the Operation Mascot raid on 17 July did not inflict any damage on Tirpitz . Four more carrier attacks targeting Tirpitz were undertaken between 22 and 29 August during Operation Goodwood but again resulted in only minor damage to
23421-544: The battleship posed no threat to Allied shipping from April 1944 due to the damage inflicted in Operations Source and Tungsten. He argued that the subsequent attacks were motivated by Churchill and other members of the War Cabinet having an "obsession" with destroying Tirpitz , and that Operations Obviate and Catechism were mainly undertaken for propaganda purposes. Patrick Bishop has observed that "the zeal of
23632-472: The battleship to tie down Allied resources was successful, and "in her last days she briefly excelled" in this role. Other historians believe that the attacks were justified. Sweetman has written that while the Allied intelligence services erred in believing that Tirpitz could be repaired and returned to service following Operation Paravane, the British leadership acted correctly on the information available to them by ordering further attacks. John Ellis reached
23843-481: The battleship vulnerable to capsizing. Because of the space needed by Tirpitz ' s torpedo nets , it was not possible to move her closer to shore. RAF and Royal Navy reconnaissance aircraft located Tirpitz at Tromsø on 18 October. As the Allied intelligence services had not been able to confirm that the battleship had been crippled, it was considered necessary to conduct further air raids against her. Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons attacked Tirpitz on 29 October in what
24054-429: The battleship was on fire and covered in smoke. The last bomb was released at 9:49 am BST. Tirpitz was rapidly destroyed. She was struck by two Tallboys that penetrated her armoured deck. One hit to the port of "Bruno" turret in the forward section of the ship but did not explode. The other was dropped by Tait's aircraft, struck the port side amidships near the tracks for the aircraft catapult , and exploded over
24265-412: The battleship would be extremely vulnerable if she tried to sail to a major port. As Soviet forces were also rapidly advancing towards northern Norway, Dönitz judged that it was not feasible to either return the ship to ocean-going service or retain her at Kaafjord. Instead, he decided to use Tirpitz as a floating artillery battery to defend the town of Tromsø . Dönitz also expressed hope that retaining
24476-552: The battleship. Senior Royal Navy officers attributed the failure of the raids conducted between April and August 1944 to shortcomings with the Fleet Air Arm's main attack aircraft, the Fairey Barracuda . Although Operation Tungsten succeeded because the Germans were taken by surprise, during subsequent raids the slow speed of the Barracudas gave Kaafjord's defenders time to cover the area with artificial smoke before
24687-442: The battleship. The bombers were unmolested by a unit of German fighter aircraft that failed to take off from nearby Tromsø in time. One bomber was significantly damaged by anti-aircraft artillery. Tirpitz capsized within minutes of being hit. Rescuers picked up hundreds of her crew from the water, but few of those trapped within the hull were saved. Several German military personnel were convicted of dereliction of duty following
24898-640: The beginning of the Pacific War include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria , on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor , who stated that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously, and the two wars became World War II in 1941. Other proposed starting dates for World War II include
25109-531: The bomber returned to base. The remaining aircraft passed over neutral Sweden where the aircrew, most of whom had only conducted night flying over countries observing blackouts , were pleased to see towns lit up. After crossing the Gulf of Bothnia the Lancasters continued over Finland towards the USSR. Several aircraft were fired on by Swedish, Finnish and Soviet anti-aircraft defences, but only one suffered any damage. Despite pre-departure forecasts of good weather,
25320-408: The bombers arrived. The local Luftwaffe command ordered the fighters to be scrambled at 9:18 am. Due to various delays, the aircraft did not begin taking off from Bardufoss until approximately 9:32 am. Ehrler took off first, but the others were delayed from doing so for several minutes while a Ju-52 transport aircraft landed on the runway. Ehrler proceeded to the Tromsø area by himself, but
25531-434: The border between Finland and the USSR to avoid detection by German radar stations located around Kirkenes . The Force A aircraft would then climb to around 20,000 feet (6,100 m) and the six Force B bombers to 16,000 feet (4,900 m). Three Lancasters from No. 9 Squadron would proceed ahead of the main body to determine wind conditions over Kaafjord. When the main body reached a position around 60 miles (97 km) from
25742-461: The capital Nanking in December 1937. After the fall of Nanking, tens or hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants were murdered by the Japanese . In March 1938, Nationalist Chinese forces won their first major victory at Taierzhuang , but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding
25953-456: The combination of the highly-capable Lancaster bomber and the powerful Tallboy bomb was better suited to this task as it removed "any element of luck, provided accuracy could be obtained". Bishop stated that while Tirpitz ' s crew "did their duty and defended their ship to the last", the Luftwaffe failed. Jan Forsgren observed that the lack of attention given to the battleship's defence by
26164-405: The command of a non-commissioned officer on 12 November. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, but was released after a month and demoted. He was killed in combat on 4 April 1945. Many commentators and members of JG 5 believe that Ehrler was treated as a scapegoat . Dönitz also ordered that an inquiry be held into why the battleship capsized. The inquiry concluded that "the actual depth of
26375-430: The commander of No. 9 Squadron's home base of RAF Bardney , was appointed the overall leader of the detachment. No. 617 Squadron's commanding officer, Wing Commander "Willy" Tait , was selected to lead the strike force. To provide weather reports and damage assessments from Kaafjord, agents on the ground were needed, but the last radio group in the area had exfiltrated in May 1944. The first attempt at re-establishing
26586-403: The conflict well into 1941. In December 1940, Roosevelt accused Hitler of planning world conquest and ruled out any negotiations as useless, calling for the United States to become an " arsenal of democracy " and promoting Lend-Lease programmes of military and humanitarian aid to support the British war effort; Lend-Lease was later extended to the other Allies, including the Soviet Union after it
26797-526: The creation of a " New Roman Empire ". Adolf Hitler , after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, eventually became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 when Paul von Hindenburg and the Reichstag appointed him. Following Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler proclaimed himself Führer of Germany and abolished democracy, espousing a radical, racially motivated revision of
27008-413: The crew evacuated, led the battleship to rapidly capsize. Sweetman noted that "there was, thus, no single cause of Tirpitz ' s ultimate loss", as it resulted from the combination of two direct hits, the damage caused by five near misses and problems with the battleship's design. Historians hold differing views over whether the final attacks on Tirpitz were necessary. Angus Konstam has written that
27219-450: The crews of two British midget submarines penetrated the defences around the battleship during Operation Source , and placed explosive charges in the water beneath her. This attack caused extensive damage to Tirpitz , putting her out of service for six months. Further midget submarine attacks were not considered feasible and an air raid designated Operation Tungsten was conducted by Royal Navy aircraft carriers on 3 April 1944 as repairs to
27430-422: The difference. On 21–22 May 1945, after the end of the war in Europe , an RAF team travelled to Norway to investigate the causes of Tirpitz ' s sinking. During the trip they inspected the wreck of the battleship and interviewed key German officers. In their report, the team noted that the damage inflicted on Tirpitz during Operations Source and Paravane had never been fully repaired. The team concluded that
27641-523: The directive to prepare for an invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation Paravane 1942 1943 1944 1945 Associated articles Operation Paravane was a British air raid of World War II that inflicted heavy damage on the German battleship Tirpitz , at anchor in Kaafjord in the far north of German-occupied Norway . The attack was conducted on 15 September 1944 by 21 Royal Air Force heavy bombers , which flew from an airfield in
27852-402: The distinction between military and civilian resources. Tanks and aircraft played major roles , with the latter enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million deaths , more than half being civilians. Millions died in genocides , including
28063-662: The end of May completed the German conquest of the Balkans. Partisan warfare subsequently broke out against the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia , which continued until the end of the war. In the Middle East in May, Commonwealth forces quashed an uprising in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria . Between June and July, British-led forces invaded and occupied
28274-466: The end of an order requiring that they billet members of her crew. Several civilians who showed pleasure at the event in public were arrested by the Gestapo . Other Norwegians were saddened by the way that the battleship's crew had died. Work began on stripping Tirpitz ' s wreck soon after rescue efforts ended, and continued until the late 1950s. Before the end of the war, German personnel removed
28485-434: The explosions of others, killing between 940 and 1,204 members of the crew; the British suffered no casualties. The attack ended a long-running series of air and naval operations against Tirpitz that sought to eliminate the threat she posed to Allied shipping. The battleship had been moved to the Tromsø area in October 1944 after being crippled on 15 September during Operation Paravane . This attack had been carried out by
28696-575: The first step of what its government saw as the country's right to rule Asia , staged the Mukden incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo . China appealed to the League of Nations to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion into Manchuria. The two nations then fought several battles, in Shanghai , Rehe and Hebei , until
28907-461: The fjord were covered by a comprehensive radar network, the planners decided that the attack force should approach the region overland from the south-east and at a high speed to limit the defenders' warning time to eight minutes or less. Due to the difficulty of damaging the heavily armoured battleship, the main weapon selected for this operation was the Tallboy bomb , the largest then in service with
29118-452: The fjord, at which point the British expected that the Germans would have detected the bombers, the Lancasters would move into attack formations and commence their bombing run. It was decided that all of the aircraft should attack simultaneously, with Force A flying in four groups of five aircraft which would approach Kaafjord from the south and drop Tallboys from altitudes between 18,000 feet (5,500 m) and 14,000 feet (4,300 m). Force B
29329-481: The force encountered thick clouds after entering Finnish airspace; this continued for the remainder of the flight. The conditions made navigation difficult, and forced the pilots to fly at a low altitude so that they could use features on the ground to determine their location. Only 26 of the Lancasters were able to locate Yagodnik and land there during the morning of 12 September, the other 13 touching down at other airfields or crash landing in open spaces. Five or six of
29540-864: The former Chinese imperial capital of Peking after instigating the Marco Polo Bridge incident , which culminated in the Japanese campaign to invade all of China. The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively ending China's prior cooperation with Germany . From September to November, the Japanese attacked Taiyuan , engaged the Kuomintang Army around Xinkou , and fought Communist forces in Pingxingguan . Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to defend Shanghai , but after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push Chinese forces back, capturing
29751-409: The hull and painted marks on locations where they heard signs of life. Acetylene torches were needed to cut into the thick hull, and none were initially available. Local Norwegian civilians who owned torches hid them, and only one could be found. A total of 87 men were rescued from within the hull in the 24 hours after the attack. Cutting continued for two further days, and was finally abandoned when it
29962-498: The hull. The crews of several Lancasters observed Tirpitz capsize. The No. 463 Squadron film aircraft made a final pass over the battleship at an altitude of just 50 feet (15 m) to capture footage of the event. Just after 11:00 am BST a photo reconnaissance Mosquito overflew the Tromsø region, and photographed the wreck. The Secret Intelligence Service agent Egil Lindberg also sent radio reports from Tromsø confirming that Tirpitz had been destroyed. The German forces in
30173-509: The intelligence available to them was not conclusive, the Allies believed that Tirpitz still posed a potential threat. Accordingly, Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons made two further attacks on the battleship after she moved to Tromsø on 15 October; these operations were more straightforward to conduct than Operation Paravane as the port was within the range of Lancasters flying from airfields in northern Scotland. The first raid, Operation Obviate , took place on 29 October but caused only minor damage to
30384-525: The invasion of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia ) by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d'Italia ), which was launched from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea . The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa ( Africa Orientale Italiana , or AOI); in addition it exposed the weakness of
30595-458: The latter aircraft were written off, and two of the seven which eventually reached Yagodnik were too badly damaged to be used in operations. Despite the number of crashes, none of the airmen on board these aircraft were injured. McMullen recorded that it was "extraordinary that so few crashes occurred" given the adverse circumstances, and that the majority of the aircraft dispatched could have been destroyed. After being concentrated at Yagodnik,
30806-549: The morning of 12 November to oversee an emergency training programme for the fighter pilots. The decision to launch Operation Catechism was made in the early hours of 12 November. A weather forecast issued on the afternoon of 11 November predicted that clouds might be encountered over northern Norway. One of the Mosquito meteorological aircraft flew over the area that evening, and its crew reported encountering patches of cloud when they returned to Scotland shortly after midnight on
31017-663: The mountains along the border of Sweden and Norway. They were guided by radio homing signals transmitted by a Norwegian Milorg agent stationed near the border between the two countries. By the time they reached the Tromsø area, both of the squadrons had formed up into loose formations. No. 617 Squadron led the attack, followed by No. 9 Squadron. The Lancasters were grouped into "gaggles" of four to six aircraft that flew at altitudes of between 14,000 feet (4,300 m) and 15,000 feet (4,600 m). The No. 463 Squadron film aircraft approached Tromsø at 6,000 feet (1,800 m), and dropped to 2,000 feet (610 m) to evade anti-aircraft fire at
31228-414: The next day and two on 21 September. The remaining Lancasters had been judged to be damaged beyond repair, and were handed over to the Soviets. The Mosquito, which had been damaged by anti-aircraft fire during a sortie over Kaafjord, returned once repairs were complete on 26 September. The two Liberators were the final aircraft to depart, and flew out of Yagodnik carrying McMullen on 27 September. Following
31439-410: The next day. The story was also prominently reported in many other countries. Tait and Williams travelled to London on 14 November for a press conference . The two airmen also gave interviews; Tait described the raid in a BBC broadcast and Williams spoke with American CBS correspondent Edward R. Murrow . The success of Operation Catechism led to celebrations in Allied countries. Tirpitz was seen as
31650-549: The next two days. In the days after the attack, the airmen received congratulations from King George VI , Prime Minister Winston Churchill , the War Cabinet and many others. They were also all granted a 48-hour period of leave. Churchill was congratulated by his fellow Allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin . The Air Ministry issued a communique announcing Tirpitz ' s destruction on 13 November, leading to celebratory stories in many British newspapers
31861-587: The night of 11–12 November. Nevertheless, the commander of No. 5 Group, Air Commodore Ralph Cochrane , decided to attempt another attack in the hope that the bombers would encounter clear weather over Tromsø. The plan for this operation remained the same as that used in Operation Obviate, with the attack force to use identical routes. A total of 32 Lancasters were dispatched. No. 617 Squadron contributed eighteen bombers, and No. 9 Squadron thirteen. As with Operations Paravane and Obviate, they were joined by
32072-464: The north of the Soviet Union . The battleship was struck by one bomb, and further damaged by several near misses. This damage rendered Tirpitz unfit for combat, and she could not be repaired as it was no longer possible for the Germans to sail her to a major port. The attack on 15 September followed a series of raids conducted against Tirpitz with limited success by Royal Navy carrier aircraft between April and August 1944, seeking to sink or disable
32283-813: The operation. A gale warning was issued that night and the raid was cancelled as a result on the morning of 5 November. Both squadrons returned to their home bases during the day. The two squadrons deployed again to Scotland on 7 November, but soon returned to their home bases when the attack was cancelled. On 10 November, the Lancaster crews were briefed for another attack on Tirpitz . Both squadrons moved to northern Scotland on 11 November when meteorological reports indicated that there would be clear weather over Tromsø for up to two days. The aircraft were split between RAF Kinloss , RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Milltown . Tirpitz ' s defences were improved after Operation Obviate. Additional anti-aircraft guns were emplaced in
32494-487: The options considered was to stage the bombers through a base in the northern Soviet Union but this was judged impractical as little was known about the suitability of Soviet airfields for heavy bombers. Two squadrons of RAF Coastal Command Handley Page Hampden torpedo bombers operated from Vaenga in northern Russia during mid-September 1942 to counter Tirpitz or any other German warships which attempted to attack Allied convoys but these aircraft did not make contact with
32705-480: The port boiler room . This explosion caused severe damage that resulted in extensive flooding, fires throughout the ship and a list of 15 to 20 degrees to port. Several other bombs detonated in the water near Tirpitz , which caused further damage to her hull and additional flooding. These explosions also created large craters below the ship, and blew away much of the gravel that had been dumped beneath her. Another Tallboy probably hit Tirpitz . It either ricocheted off
32916-599: The port of Tobruk . By late March 1941, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact ; however, the Yugoslav government was overthrown two days later by pro-British nationalists. Germany and Italy responded with simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece , commencing on 6 April 1941; both nations were forced to surrender within the month. The airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete at
33127-414: The possibility of further atomic bombings, and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria , Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15 August and signed a surrender document on 2 September 1945 , marking the end of the war. World War II changed the political alignment and social structure of the world, and it set the foundation of international relations for
33338-415: The prepared berth did not conform with the requirements and directions of the commander-in-chief". It is unclear why the fighters at Bardufoss failed to protect the battleship. Much of the relevant documentation did not survive the war, and accounts from survivors are at times contradictory. Sweetman judged that the failure ultimately resulted from the order to intercept the bombers being issued too late, and
33549-562: The pursuit, whipped on by Churchill, seems excessive now, but wartime created its own dynamic", and that Operation Catechism contributed little towards ending the war. Similarly, Niklas Zetterling and Michael Tamelander have judged that although "the British were not fully aware that the Germans had written off Tirpitz as an offensive weapon in autumn 1944, their final efforts appear almost overzealous". The official history of British intelligence in World War II states that Dönitz's use of
33760-458: The raid was to be conducted was issued by No. 5 Group on 7 September. It stated that Kaafjord was believed to be protected by 16 heavy and 16 light anti-aircraft guns , as well as Tirpitz ' s guns, and that it took the defenders ten minutes to cover the battleship with a smokescreen. The attack force was to be organised into two groups. Force A, comprising twelve Lancasters from No. 9 Squadron and an equal number from No. 617 Squadron armed with
33971-722: The remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a pro-German client state , the Slovak Republic . Hitler also delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania on 20 March 1939, forcing the concession of the Klaipėda Region , formerly the German Memelland . Greatly alarmed and with Hitler making further demands on the Free City of Danzig ,
34182-471: The remainder with JW mines. The Film Unit Lancaster also flew out of Bardney carrying three RAF cameramen as well as an Associated Press journalist and a radio reporter from the BBC . The Liberators departed Bardney just before the bombers, carrying McMullen, maintenance personnel and spare parts. The No. 540 Squadron Mosquito left Bardney the next day. Despite not being notified of the new plan until after all of
34393-410: The remainder with JW mines. The Mosquito took off bound for Kaafjord at 2:10 am, but the planned departure of the bombers at 8:00 am was cancelled when it returned to Yagodnik at 6:45 and reported that conditions over the target area were unsuitable. For the remainder of the day the Soviets provided hospitality including a formal lunch, a football tournament and a film that night. Some of
34604-482: The reports until 8:15 am BST and few reports were passed on to the JG 5 detachment at Bardufoss. Tirpitz ' s air raid siren was sounded at 8:51 am, and Weber informed the ship's crew seven minutes later that an attack was possible. At around 9:15 am BST, Tirpitz contacted Bardufoss to request that fighters be dispatched to provide air cover. This was too late for any of the fighters to reach Tromsø before
34815-565: The rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent conflicts, with the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the US—becoming the permanent members of its security council . The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers , setting the stage for the Cold War . In
35026-454: The same time as the British bombers arrived over the target area, but No. 5 Group rejected this proposal and requested that Soviet aircraft not fly near Kaafjord, to avoid alerting the Germans. Also in early September, five aircraft from No. 192 Squadron , which specialised in monitoring enemy radars, conducted sorties to locate German radar stations in northern Norway and identify any gaps in their coverage. The operation order setting out how
35237-539: The shells did not reach the distance and altitude of the bombers. Other anti-aircraft guns also fired on the Lancasters as they approached, but did not disrupt them. No smokescreen was present as they flew north-west towards their bombing positions. The attack commenced at 9:41 am BST. Tait's aircraft was the first to drop its Tallboy, which hit Tirpitz . No. 617 Squadron completed its attack at 9:44 am BST with all aircraft bombing. No. 9 Squadron aircraft began dropping their Tallboys at 9:45 am BST. By this time
35448-424: The ship in commission would "continue to tie down enemy forces and by her presence ... confound the enemies' intentions". The commander of the German Navy's task force in northern Norway, Konteradmiral Rudolf Peters , was accordingly directed to anchor Tirpitz at a location near Tromsø where the water was shallow enough to prevent the battleship from sinking completely if she suffered further damage. As
35659-407: The ship may have been "considerable" and rendered her unable to put to sea. A report from a Norwegian agent on 30 September was more specific, stating that Tirpitz had suffered a direct hit, which had opened a 17-metre (56 ft) gash on her bow. Further agent reports in early October provided little new evidence. By late October, with no major German warships left in Kaafjord, the agents operating
35870-440: The ship's bronze propellers and some other components so they could be melted down. The wreck was sold to a Norwegian scrap dealing company in 1948, and was broken up in situ . Salvage work concluded in 1957, by which time most remnants of the battleship had been removed. The corpses which were recovered from the wreck by scrappers were initially buried alongside unwanted parts of Tirpitz , but this ceased following complaints by
36081-475: The ship. Further plans for air attacks on Tirpitz were developed during 1943 but none took place. During 1942 and 1943 British inventor Barnes Wallis tried to develop a version of his " bouncing bomb " for use against Tirpitz alongside the larger weapons that were used to attack several German dams during Operation Chastise on 16/17 May 1943. No. 618 Squadron was formed in April 1943 and equipped with de Havilland Mosquitos for this attack but trials of
36292-423: The side of the ship, or penetrated the armoured deck near "Caesar" turret in the stern of the ship and started a fire near a powder or shell magazine . Almost all the hits and near misses were on the port side of Tirpitz , which destabilised her and led the list to rapidly increase. Many sailors manning Tirpitz ' s anti-aircraft guns were killed or wounded by the bombs, resulting in a significant reduction in
36503-410: The significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses imposed by the Treaty of Versailles . Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all its overseas possessions , while German annexation of other states was prohibited, reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the size and capability of the country's armed forces . The German Empire was dissolved in
36714-405: The start of the attack. The German forces in the Tromsø area failed to adequately respond to multiple warnings of the approaching British bombers. Between 7:39 am and 8:50 am BST several observation posts in the area reported sighting Lancasters. As the first aircraft to be spotted were flying east, it was thought that they might be headed to the Soviet Union. Tirpitz was not notified of
36925-593: The strong Maginot Line fortifications on the Franco-German border, Germany directed its attack at the neutral nations of Belgium , the Netherlands , and Luxembourg . The Germans carried out a flanking manoeuvre through the Ardennes region, which was mistakenly perceived by the Allies as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles. By successfully implementing new Blitzkrieg tactics,
37136-508: The target area, only one of the bombers sighted Tirpitz and none inflicted damage. One Halifax crashed into the sea on its way back to Scotland and its crew were rescued. The next raid on Fættenfjord took place on 30 March, with the attacking force comprising 33 Halifaxes. The operation was again frustrated by heavy clouds over the target area. Four of the Halifaxes were shot down and two others crashed while returning to base. Another attack
37347-487: The temporary command of Major Heinrich Ehrler . The unit had been evacuated from Kirkenes in the far northeastern region of Norway as Soviet forces advanced towards the town , and was disorganised at the time of Operation Catechism. Most of the pilots at Bardufoss were inexperienced and ill-trained, and the unit had not been properly briefed on Tirpitz ' s presence in the area. Ehrler arrived at Bardufoss on 9 November en route to Alta , and decided to remain there until
37558-508: The time of Operation Catechism and were not yet operational. In their place, seven fishing boats fitted with smoke generators were positioned near the battleship; these were not capable of generating a smokescreen that could completely cover Tirpitz . The battleship's crew continued regular training exercises, and remained concerned about further air attacks. On 4 November Tirpitz ' s commanding officer Captain Wolf Junge departed. He
37769-569: The time they arrived. Accordingly, he decided to change the plans for the operation, with all of the bombers now flying to Yagodnik first and mounting the attack from that airfield. Harris ordered the attack force to depart that afternoon, before advising the Air Ministry or Soviets of the change in plans. Both British bomber squadrons began to take off at 5 pm local time. No. 9 Squadron dispatched 18 Lancasters from RAF Bardney and 20 No. 617 Squadron Lancasters departed from RAF Woodhall Spa . A total of 26 Lancasters were armed with Tallboys and
37980-445: The vessel. Tirpitz was struck by a single Tallboy during the attack that caused extensive damage to her bow and rendered her unfit for combat. As Tirpitz could not be repaired and Soviet forces were advancing towards Kaafjord, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz , the commander of the Kriegsmarine (the German Navy), ordered that she be transferred to near the northern Norwegian city of Tromsø and used as an immobile battery to defend
38191-417: The volume of fire directed at the Lancasters. After the first bomb struck his ship, Weber ordered the crew to evacuate the armoured citadel and attempt to counter the flooding. Despite the list, Weber expected that Tirpitz would not sink as the water beneath her hull was too shallow. Counter flooding proved impossible as the controls for the necessary systems had been abandoned, and the volume of water that
38402-433: The wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia . Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion . World War II began in Europe on 1 September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland and the United Kingdom and France 's declaration of war on Germany two days later on 3 September 1939. Dates for
38613-401: The war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria , the Spanish Civil War , the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , and Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland . World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany , under Adolf Hitler , invaded Poland , prompting the United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany. Poland
38824-407: The war were not fulfilled in the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian , and class collaborationist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left-wing, and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive expansionist foreign policy aimed at making Italy a world power, promising
39035-475: The war. Germany annexed western Poland and occupied central Poland ; the Soviet Union annexed eastern Poland ; small shares of Polish territory were transferred to Lithuania and Slovakia . On 6 October, Hitler made a public peace overture to the United Kingdom and France but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. The proposal was rejected and Hitler ordered an immediate offensive against France, which
39246-465: The water near Tirpitz also buckled some of her hull plates and bulkheads . The battleship's casualties were not heavy, with five men killed and fifteen wounded. The damage was assessed as needing nine months' worth of work to repair. After reporting on the damage, Tirpitz ' s commanding officer, Kapitän zur See Wolf Junge , recommended to the German Navy's high command that the battleship be removed from service. The attack force returned to
39457-404: The west halted the German advance for several days, but it was outflanked and encircled by the Wehrmacht . Remnants of the Polish army broke through to besieged Warsaw . On 17 September 1939, two days after signing a cease-fire with Japan , the Soviet Union invaded Poland under the supposed pretext that the Polish state had ceased to exist. On 27 September, the Warsaw garrison surrendered to
39668-483: The world order , and soon began a massive rearmament campaign . France, seeking to secure its alliance with Italy, allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia , which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany, and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, accelerated his rearmament programme, and introduced conscription. The United Kingdom, France and Italy formed
39879-554: Was invaded by Germany. The United States started strategic planning to prepare for a full-scale offensive against Germany. At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact formally united Japan, Italy, and Germany as the Axis powers . The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country—with the exception of the Soviet Union—that attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three. The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary , Slovakia , and Romania joined. Romania and Hungary later made major contributions to
40090-424: Was "lying squat and black among her torpedo nets like a spider in her web, silhouetted against the glittering blue and green waters of the fjord". Tirpitz fired the first shots of the battle at 9:38 am BST when she opened fire on the bombers with her 15-inch (380 mm) calibre main guns from a range of 13.5 miles (22 km), firing timed-fuze fragmentation shells designed for barrage antiaircraft fire, but
40301-438: Was a disaster for the German military units in northern Norway. In addition to the heavy loss of life, the destruction of the battleship left the Kriegsmarine without any of the capital ships needed to threaten Allied convoy routes. Ehrler and several personnel assigned to observer posts, anti-aircraft guns and ships were court martialled and imprisoned. Ehrler was convicted in relation to leaving his unit's operations room under
40512-417: Was assessed that the oxygen supply inside the wreck would have been exhausted; no survivors were recovered during this period. Estimates of the total number of sailors and officers killed vary, with the most common figures lying between 940 and 1,204. Weber and all of his senior officers were among the dead. Many Norwegian civilians in Tromsø were pleased that Tirpitz had been destroyed, not least as it meant
40723-406: Was beginning to form when the attack commenced at 10:55 am GMT . Only the first group of Lancasters, led by Tait, were able to aim their bombs at Tirpitz before she was obscured by smoke. It is believed that the bomb dropped from Tait's aircraft struck the battleship, and the other bombs dropped by this group landed in the water nearby. All the other Force A aircraft aimed their Tallboys at
40934-408: Was conducted between 22 and 29 August 1944. After the failure of Operation Goodwood, it was decided that further carrier attacks against Tirpitz would be fruitless due to the inadequacies of the Royal Navy's aircraft and their armament. Accordingly, responsibility for sinking Tirpitz was transferred to the RAF's Bomber Command . On 15 September 1944, the elite Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons attacked
41145-420: Was designated Operation Obviate . As the Tromsø area was within range of RAF bases in northern Scotland if the Lancasters were modified, this attack was somewhat simpler to conduct than Operation Paravane. To extend their range, the Lancasters were fitted with extra fuel tanks and more powerful engines, and their forward and mid-upper gun turrets and pilot's armour plate were removed. The reduction in armament left
41356-420: Was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , in which they had agreed on " spheres of influence " in Eastern Europe. In 1940, the Soviets annexed the Baltic states and parts of Finland and Romania . After the fall of France in June 1940, the war continued mainly between Germany and the British Empire , with fighting in the Balkans , Mediterranean, and Middle East ,
41567-574: Was entering the ship was well beyond their ability to fight had they been operational. Weber ordered that the lower decks be evacuated at 9:45 am, by which time the list had reached between 30 and 40 degrees. At 9:50 am the magazine for "Caesar" turret exploded, causing extensive damage. Tirpitz ' s list rapidly increased, and she was soon lying on her side. Weber then gave the order to abandon ship. The battleship continued to heel over, and capsized at 9:52 am. Almost 1,000 of her crew had either been killed by this time, or were trapped inside
41778-485: Was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 15 August 1945 ( V-J Day ), rather than with the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, which officially ended the war in Asia . A peace treaty between Japan and the Allies was signed in 1951. A 1990 treaty regarding Germany's future allowed the reunification of East and West Germany to take place and resolved most post–World War II issues. No formal peace treaty between Japan and
41989-442: Was given to attacking the battleship with United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers. These aircraft would have flown from the United Kingdom to Kaafjord, landed in the Soviet Union and made another attack against Tirpitz on their return flight. Such a mission was judged to be impractical by the RAF as it was expected that German fighter aircraft would attack the bombers and Kaafjord would be covered by
42200-419: Was intended that the attack would be conducted in daylight, and that the Lancasters would assemble into formations near Kaafjord before attacking. If the fjord was covered by cloud or smoke, Force A was ordered to not drop its valuable bombs and continue onto Yagodnik. Force B was directed to drop the JW mines regardless of cloud or smoke cover as long as an aiming point could be identified. The entire attack group
42411-553: Was mounted by 30 Halifaxes and 11 Avro Lancasters on the night of 27/28 April. Aircraft of the first wave located and attacked Tirpitz but no damage was inflicted and five bombers were lost. The final raid in this series took place the next night and involved 21 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters. The attackers found Tirpitz covered in a protective smokescreen and the battleship again escaped damage; two British aircraft were destroyed. Plans for further heavy bomber attacks on Tirpitz were developed throughout 1942, none took place. One of
42622-463: Was not possible to make a return trip to Kaafjord from Scotland, and an evaluation of the main airstrip in Shetland determined that it was unsuitable for Lancasters, No. 5 Group's staff officers judged that it would be necessary for the aircraft to refuel in the Soviet Union. Detailed investigation of the airstrips near Murmansk found that they were at best marginal for heavy bombers and had almost no accommodation or aircraft servicing facilities. Moreover,
42833-403: Was postponed until the spring of 1940 due to bad weather. After the outbreak of war in Poland, Stalin threatened Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania with military invasion, forcing the three Baltic countries to sign pacts allowing the creation of Soviet military bases in these countries; in October 1939, significant Soviet military contingents were moved there. Finland refused to sign
43044-418: Was replaced by the executive officer, Captain Robert Weber . Weber believed that within three weeks the days would be short enough to prevent further air attacks. On 12 November around 1,700 men were on board Tirpitz . A force of 38 fighters was transferred to Bardufoss after Operation Obviate to bolster the Tromsø region's air defences. These aircraft formed part of Jagdgeschwader 5 (JG 5), and were under
43255-657: Was repulsed with heavy Italian casualties; the campaign ended within months with minor territorial changes. To assist Italy and prevent Britain from gaining a foothold, Germany prepared to invade the Balkans, which would threaten Romanian oil fields and strike against British dominance of the Mediterranean. In December 1940, British Empire forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa . The offensives were successful; by early February 1941, Italy had lost control of eastern Libya, and large numbers of Italian troops had been taken prisoner. The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with
43466-441: Was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations, which rendered it essentially toothless. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August of the same year. Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno Treaties by remilitarising the Rhineland in March 1936, encountering little opposition due to the policy of appeasement . In October 1936, Germany and Italy formed
43677-577: Was stationed at Fættenfjord . From March 1943, Tirpitz was based at Kaafjord in the far north of Norway. During Operation Source on 22 September, she was severely damaged by explosives placed on her hull by Royal Navy personnel who had used midget submarines to penetrate Kaafjord. On 3 April 1944, aircraft flying from Royal Navy aircraft carriers attacked Tirpitz during Operation Tungsten and inflicted further damage. A series of subsequent aircraft carrier attacks were unsuccessful, including Operation Mascot on 17 July and Operation Goodwood which
43888-462: Was to fly in two lines abreast, pass over the fjord from south-east to north-west, and release the JW mines from between 12,000 feet (3,700 m) and 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The No. 540 Squadron Mosquito reconnoitred Kaafjord again in the morning of 15 September, and at 7 am Yagodnik time reported that conditions were suitable for an attack. The 27 bombers and the Film Unit Lancaster began taking off shortly afterwards. The aircraft flew in
44099-422: Was to maintain strict radio silence . Two No. 511 Squadron Consolidated B-24 Liberator transport aircraft were assigned to carry maintenance personnel and supplies from the United Kingdom to Yagodnik, and a Mosquito fitted for photo reconnaissance tasks from No. 540 Squadron would scout ahead of the attack force. All aircrew were briefed on this plan on either 8 or 9 September. Group Captain C.C. McMullen ,
44310-480: Was to take place on 5 November, and would re-use the plans developed for Operation Obviate. The raid was designated Operation Catechism. Two de Havilland Mosquito meteorological aircraft were stationed at RAF Sumburgh from 4 November, from where they conducted daily sorties to monitor weather conditions in the Tromsø area. On the same day, twenty No. 9 Squadron and nineteen No. 617 Squadron Lancasters were dispatched to airfields in northern Scotland in preparation for
44521-485: Was unable to locate the British bombers before they attacked. It is not clear where the other fighters were sent. One post-attack report stated they were sent to the border with Sweden, another that they proceeded to Kaafjord and two pilots claimed to have reached Tromsø after Tirpitz was destroyed. Weather conditions over Tromsø continued to be clear when the attack force arrived in the area. Tait spotted Tirpitz from 20 miles (32 km) away, and later recalled that she
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