Tirpitz: The Life and Death of Germany's Last Super Battleship

by Niklas Zetterling, Michael Tamelander

Overview

The authors of Bismarck deliver “a very good account of the Tirpitz and of the naval war in the North Atlantic and Norwegian waters” during World War II (NYMAS Review).
 
After the Royal Navy’s bloody high seas campaign to kill the mighty Bismarck, the Allies were left with an uncomfortable truth—the German behemoth had a twin sister. Slightly larger than her sibling, the Tirpitz was equally capable of destroying any other battleship afloat, as well as wreaking havoc on Allied troop and supply convoys. For the next three and a half years, the Allies launched a variety of attacks to remove Germany’s last serious surface threat, hidden within fjords along the Norwegian coast.
 
Trying an indirect approach, the British launched one of the war’s most daring commando raids—at St. Nazaire—in order to knock out the last drydock in Europe capable of servicing the Tirpitz. Of over six hundred commandos and sailors in the raid, more than half were lost during an all-night battle that succeeded, at least, in knocking out the drydock. It was not until November 1944 that the Tirpitz finally succumbed to British aircraft armed with ten-thousand–pound Tallboy bombs, the ship capsizing at last with the loss of one thousand sailors.
 
In this book, military historians Niklas Zetterling and Michael Tamelander, authors of Bismarck: The Final Days of Germany’s Greatest Battleship, illuminate the strategic implications and dramatic battles surrounding the Tirpitz, a ship that may have had greater influence on the course of World War II than her more famous sister.
 
“A riveting story . . . keeps the reader engaged.” —Nautilus, A Maritime Journal of Literature, History and Culture

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612000497
Publisher:	Casemate Publishers
Publication date:	01/10/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	365
Sales rank:	482,178
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Niklas Zetterling is a military historian and researcher at the Swedish Defense College. His previous books include Bismarck, The Korsun Pocket, and The Drive on Moscow, 1941.
Niklas Zetterling is a military historian and researcher at the Swedish Defense College. His previous books include Bismarck, The Korsun Pocket, and The Drive on Moscow, 1941.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

Prologue 11

Nordmeer 18

"A Wonderful Opportunity" 37

The War at Sea-The Initial Years 45

New Weapons, Indirect Strategies 59

Operation Chariot 64

The Arctic Convoys 86

PQ15 and PQ16 97

Prelude to Operation Rösselsprung 106

PQ17-The Tragedy 115

"Convoy is to Scatter" 133

Operation Title-The Human Torpedos 142

Wunderland 148

PQ18-The Battling Convoy 153

Shetlands-Larsen and the Fishing Boat 162

"Have you any use for peats?" 167

The Shifting Balance 183

The Midget Submarines 195

Sizilien-The One Offensive 204

Operation Source Begins 213

Ostfront 251

Tungsten 265

The Russian Adventure 285

Operation Obviate 296

Catechism 303

The Tirpitz Sinks 318

The Tirpitz and the War in the Arctic 326

Notes 333

Archival Records 356

Published Sources 358

Editorial Reviews

...a riveting story...well structured and keeps the reader engaged...

Nautilus: A Maritime Journal of Literature History and Culture

"…a thorough treatment, including material from interviews with survivors of their sinkings and the impact they had on the naval war in the Atlantic."

Seapower

The authors have woven Tirpitz’s story quite well and in doing so explain the strategic implications and dramatic battles surrounding the super battleship. Their book is an excellent study of an aspect of naval strategy the Germans used with such aplomb….a welcome addition to my library.

Naval Historical Foundation

…a riveting story…well structured and keeps the reader engaged…

History and Culture Nautilus: A Maritime Journal of Literature

…effectively weaves the story of the battleship into the pattern of the war…A very good account of the Tirpitz and of the naval war in the North Atlantic and Norwegian waters.

The NYMAS Review

… accurately synthesizes the available work on Allied efforts to destroy the battleship into one entertaining read... comes alive in its descriptions…well organized…

Globe at War

…a riveting story…well structured and keeps the reader engaged…

Nautilus

…a thorough treatment, including material from interviews with survivors of their sinkings and the impact they had on the naval war in the Atlantic.

SEAPOWER

…effectively weaves the story of the battleship into the pattern of the war…A very good account of the Tirpitz and of the naval war in the North Atlantic and Norwegian waters.

NYMAS Review

… accurately synthesizes the available work on Allied efforts to destroy the battleship into one entertaining read... comes alive in its descriptions…well organized…

GLOBE AT WAR

…effectively weaves the story of the battleship into the pattern of the war…A very good account of the Tirpitz and of the naval war in the North Atlantic and Norwegian waters.

NYMAS