Tirpitz

[john sefton]

Tirpitz was the second of two Bismarck-class battleships built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named for Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April 1939. Work was completed in February 1941, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Like her sister Bismarck, Tirpitz was armed with a main battery of eight 38-centimeter (15 in) guns in four twin turrets. As a result of a series of wartime modifications, however, she was some 2,000 metric tons (2,000 LT; 2,200 ST) heavier than Bismarck.
After completing sea trials in early 1941, Tirpitz briefly served as the centerpiece of the Baltic Fleet, which was intended to prevent a possible breakout attempt by the Soviet Baltic Fleet. In early 1942, the ship sailed to Norway to act as a deterrent against an Allied invasion. While stationed in Norway, Tirpitz could also be used to intercept Allied convoys to the Soviet Union; two such missions were attempted in 1942, of which both were failures. Despite her inability to directly attack the convoys, Tirpitz acted as a fleet in being and forced the British Royal Navy to concentrate significant naval forces in the area to contain the battleship.
In September 1943, Tirpitz, along with the battleship Scharnhorst, bombarded Allied positions on the island of Spitzbergen, the first time the ship used her main battery in anger. Shortly thereafter, the ship was damaged in an attack by British mini-submarines and subsequently subjected to a series of large-scale air raids. On 12 November 1944, British Lancaster bombers equipped with 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg) "Tallboy" bombs destroyed the ship; two direct hits and a near miss caused the ship to capsize rapidly. A deck fire spread to the ammunition magazine for one of the main battery turrets, which caused a massive explosion. Figures for the number of men were killed in the attack vary, with estimates ranging from 950 to 1,204. The wreck was broken up by a joint Norwegian and German salvage operation after the war, with work lasting from 1948 until 1957.
Type: Battleship
Displacement: 42,900 t (42,200 LT; 47,300 ST) standard
52,600 t (51,800 LT; 58,000 ST) full load
Length: 241.6 m (792 ft 8 in) waterline
251 m (823 ft 6 in) overall
Beam: 36 m (118 ft 1 in)
Draft: 9.3 m (30 ft 6 in) standard[Note 1]
Installed power: 163,026 shaft horsepower (121,568 kW)
Propulsion: 12 Wagner superheated boilers;
3 geared steam turbines; 3 three-blade propellers
Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range: 8,870 nmi (16,430 km; 10,210 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement: 103 officers 1,962 enlisted men
Sensors and processing systems: FuMO 23
Armament: 8 × 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 (4 × 2) 12 × 15 cm (5.9 in) (6 × 2)
16 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/33 (8 × 2) 16 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 (8 × 2)
20 × 2 cm (0.79 in) FlaK 30 (20 × 1)
Armor: Belt: 320 mm (13 in) Turrets: 360 mm (14 in) Main deck: 100 to 120 mm (3.9 to 4.7 in)
Aircraft carried: 4 × Arado Ar 196 floatplanes
Aviation facilities: 1 double-ended catapult
Wikipedia and other sites.
Marshall Islands SG544 Guyana SG3637 3960

[aukepalmhof]

Great Britain 1979 envelope
Marshal Islands 1994 FDC
Great Britain envelope 1994 and 1987
Guyana 1993 $190 sg3637, scott2705i 1994 $60 sg3960, scott2816i

[D. v. Nieuwenhuijzen]

Somaliland 2011, 1500 a. StG.?