| Property | Value |
|---|
| rdf:type | |
| rdfs:label | |
| rdfs:comment | - The British decision to strike Kaafjord was motivated by fears that the battleship would attack strategically important convoys carrying supplies to the Soviet Union when she re-entered service. Removing the threat posed by Tirpitz would also allow the Allies to redeploy the capital ships which were being held in the North Sea to counter her. After four months of training and preparations, the British Home Fleet sailed on 30 March 1944 and aircraft launched from five aircraft carriers struck Kaafjord on 3 April. The raid achieved surprise, and the British aircraft met little opposition. Fifteen bombs hit the battleship, and strafing by fighter aircraft inflicted heavy casualties on her gun crews. Four British aircraft and nine airmen were lost during the operation.
|
| owl:sameAs | |
| Strength | - 1
- 40
- 80
- Anti-aircraft batteries and ships
|
| dcterms:subject | |
| dbkwik:military/property/wikiPageUsesTemplate | |
| Partof | |
| Date | |
| Label | |
| Commander | |
| float | |
| Caption | - The location of Kaafjord in northern Norway
- A Fleet Air Arm crewman chalks a message on the 1,600-pound bomb carried by a Fairey Barracuda of HMS Furious
|
| long | |
| Casualties | |
| Result | |
| Place | |
| Conflict | |
| LAT | |
| abstract | - The British decision to strike Kaafjord was motivated by fears that the battleship would attack strategically important convoys carrying supplies to the Soviet Union when she re-entered service. Removing the threat posed by Tirpitz would also allow the Allies to redeploy the capital ships which were being held in the North Sea to counter her. After four months of training and preparations, the British Home Fleet sailed on 30 March 1944 and aircraft launched from five aircraft carriers struck Kaafjord on 3 April. The raid achieved surprise, and the British aircraft met little opposition. Fifteen bombs hit the battleship, and strafing by fighter aircraft inflicted heavy casualties on her gun crews. Four British aircraft and nine airmen were lost during the operation. The damage inflicted during the attack was not sufficient to sink or disable Tirpitz, but 122 members of her crew were killed and 316 wounded. The German Navy decided to repair the battleship, and works were completed by mid-July. The British conducted further carrier raids against Tirpitz between April and August 1944 in the hope of prolonging the period she was out of service, but none were successful. Tirpitz was eventually disabled and then sunk by Royal Air Force heavy bombers in late 1944.
|
