Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler’s Mightiest Warship

Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler’s Mightiest Warship
Patrick Bishop

A gripping account of the epic hunt for Hitler’s most terrifying battleship – the legendary Tirpitz – and the brave men who risked their lives to attack and destroy this most potent symbol of the Nazi’s fearsome war machine.Tirpitz was the pride of Hitler’s navy. To Churchill, she was ‘the Beast’, a menace to Britain’s supply lines and a threat to the convoys sustaining Stalin’s armies. Tirpitz was said to be unsinkable, impregnable –no other target attracted so much attention.In total 36 major Allied operations were launched against her, including desperately risky missions by human torpedoes and midget submarines and near-suicidal bombing raids. Yet Tirpitz stayed afloat. It was not until November 1944 that she was finally destroyed by RAF Lancaster Bombers flown by 617 Squadron – the Dambusters – in a gruelling mission that tested the very limits of human endurance.The man who led the raid – Willie Tait – was one of the most remarkable figures of the war, flying missions almost continuously right from the start. Until now his deeds have been virtually unknown. With exclusive co-operation from Tait’s family, Patrick Bishop reveals the extraordinary achievement of a man who shunned the spotlight but whose name will be renowned for generations to come.The book is a magnificent, accessibly written wartime adventure, perfect for fans of Ben Macintyre’s ‘Agent Zigzag’ or ‘Operation Mincemeat’.

TARGET TIRPITZ

X-CRAFT, AGENTS AND DAMBUSTERS – THE EPIC QUEST TO DESTROY HITLER’S MIGHTIEST WARSHIP

PATRICK BISHOP

To Tony and Mary

Contents

Cover (#u0ce5eae8-7425-53dd-8ad3-fe9584c072e1)

Title Page (#ue9914c27-c8b4-5270-878f-d1f6d69a7fd6)

Dedication

List of Illustrations

List of Maps

Plans of Tirpitz

Diagrams of X-Craft

Ranks of the Kreigsmarine

Prologue

Chapter 1: The Belly of the Beast

Chapter 2: Wilhelmshaven, Saturday, 1 April 1939

Chapter 3: Swordfish

Chapter 4: Trondheim

Chapter 5: ‘A wonderful chance’

Chapter 6: ‘A somewhat desperate venture’

Chapter 7: Smoke and Fog

Chapter 8: Provoking Nemesis

Chapter 9: ‘A heart-shaking decision’

Chapter 10: A Ha’porth of Tar

Chapter 11: The Iron Castle

Chapter 12: Enter the Lion

Chapter 13: Madmen

Chapter 14: The Great Adventure

Chapter 15: ‘A bloody great bang’

Chapter 16: North Cape

Chapter 17: Tungsten

Chapter 18: The Third Man

Chapter 19: ‘My God Mac, they’ve had it today’

Epilogue

Picture Section

Notes

Index

Acknowledgments

Also by Patrick Bishop

Copyright

About the Publisher

Illustrations (#ub69b6a6f-d8c1-56bf-94b0-f6386eea5893)

Integrated

6 A German naval dingy alongside capsized Tirpitz. (TopFoto.co.uk)

12 Erich Räder with grossadmiral’s baton. (akg-images/Imagno)

29 Fairey Swordfish in flight. (akg-images/akg/De Agostini Picture Library)

42 Flight Lieutenant A. F. P. Fane. (Courtesy Estate of Mrs J. M. Harris)

45 Karl Topp and Kurt Voigt. (Courtesy Jurgen Voigt)