The Tirpitz and the Battle for the North Atlantic

196 Pages·1953·26.544 MB·English

by  David Woodward

The dramatically exciting story of the
last days of the German Navy and Its
greatest battleship
THE
tmtf
AND THE BATTLE FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC
David
Wood
COMPLITI AND UNAIRIDOID

November 12, 1944
TIRP1TZ
LAST DAY OF THE
The Lancaster* came out of the sun and
started bombing from 14,000 feet; the
bombs went away and there was a time
of waiting before they started to hit. Then
there was a yellow flash on the battle-
ship's forecastle. A bomb hit theshore, two
more hit the ship, one by the bridge and
one abaft the funnel, then smoke covered
her, but they could see other bombs burst
inside her nets and through the smoke she
could be seen burning. There was another
flash and a column of smoke five hundred
feet high. A magazine had gone
• , .
". should be of great interest and en-
* .
lightenment to everyone interested in the
history of the decisive battle for the life
lines across the Atlantic in World War 11/'
—Richmond News-Leader
"A thoroughly engrossing book, the
story of the Tirpitz should have almost
universal appeal/1
—Pasadena Star News
"Woodward's volume is splendidly
done gives a sharp picture of
. . .
the Battle for the North Atlantic . . .
the episodes are told with masterly
skill and color . . ."
—Nashville Tennessean
"The book is far more than the story
of a single ship. It is a study of the
building of the Third Reich's surface
navy and of its operations from 1942
to the end. It deserves to be read not
only as good narrative but as a se-
rious document on the function of
navies in modern war."
—Fletcher Pratt,
New York Times Book Review
TIRPITZ
THE
AND THE BATTLE FOR
THE NORTH ATLANTIC
DAVID WOODWARi
m
BERKLEY PUBLISHING CORP.
101 Fifth Avenue • New York 3, N. Y.
©
Copyright 1953, by David Woodward
Published by arrangement with
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Front cover photograph courtesy of
Wide World Photos
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
v
PREFACE 5
. .
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . :\J ... 9
.-. . .
GERMAN NAVY
1. the 11
2. REBUILDING byVIOLATION of TREATY 25
....
3. HITLER'S "ZONE of DESTINY" 37
4. FIRST BLOOD 64
5. the DESTRUCTION of CONVOY PQ 17 . 73
6. the BATTLEof NEWYEAR'SEVE . . . 86
7. DONITZ TAKES OVER . , . . . . . 103
8. ATTACK by X-CRAFT 116
9. the LAST GREAT SURFACEBATTLE . . 123
10. ATTACKbyCARRIERAIRCRAFT . . . 140
11. the TIRPITZ'S LAST DAY . . . . . . 151
12. the END of a FLEET ... .... 170
..........
BIBLIOGRAPHY 179
INDEX 180

ILLUSTRATIONS
The beginning. Tirpitz launched. 33
In action. Tirpitzfiringher afterbattery. 33
Tirpitz off the Norwegian coast 79
Tirpitz behind her nets. 91
A
British midget submarine. 113
H.M.S. Victorious. 113
Scharnhorst. 133
H.M.S. Duke of York. 133
—
RAF
Tirpitz reconnaissance photo. 153
—
Directhit on Tirpitz heavybombs, 160
The end. Tirpitz keel up. 167
30VST SOW \(
/
I
I
LEGEND
Approximate.Extremeicelimbts-April
Mean iceUmit-April
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