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N0KFQ > TODAY 20.09.10 18:33l 53 Lines 2321 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 16832_N0KFQ
Read: VE7HFY GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Sep 20
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DK0WUE<IK6ZDE<XE1FH<N0KFQ
Sent: 100920/1715Z @:N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA #:16832 [Branson] FBB7.00i $:16832_N
From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@WW
Sep 20, 1943:
British launch Operation Source
On this day in 1943, British submarines attempt to sink the
German battleship Tirpitz as it sits in Norwegian waters, as
Operation Source gets underway. The Tirpitz was the second
largest battleship in the German fleet (after the Bismarck) and a
threat to Allied vessel movement through Arctic waters.
In January 1942, Hitler ordered the Germany navy to base the
Tirpitz in Norway in order to attack Soviet convoys transporting
supplies from Iceland to the U.S.S.R. The Tirpitz also prevented
British naval forces from making their way to the Pacific.
Winston Churchill summed up the situation this way: "The
destruction or even crippling of this ship is the greatest event
at the present time.... The whole strategy of the war turns at
this period on this ship...."
Attacks had already been made against the Tirpitz. RAF raids were
against it in January 1942 failed to hit it. Another raid was
made in March; dozens of RAF bombers sought out the Tirpitz,
which had been reinforced with cruisers, pocket battleships, and
destroyers. All of the British bombers, once again, missed their
target.
Sporadic attacks continued to be made against the German
battleship, including an attempt in October 1942 to literally
drive a two-man craft up to the ship and plant explosives on the
Tirpitz's hull. This too failed because of brutal water
conditions and an alert German defense. In 1943, the battleship
Scharnhorst joined the Tirpitz, creating a threat to Allied
shipping that caused all convoys to the Soviet Union to be
temporarily halted. Finally, in September, six midget British
subs set out to take the Tirpitz down for good. The midgets had
to be towed to Norway by conventional subs. Only three of the six
midgets made it to their target. This time, they were successful
in attaching explosives to the Tirpitz's keel-and did enough
damage to put it out of action for six months. Two British
commanders and four crewmen were taken captive by the Germans and
spent the rest of the war as POWs.
Ironically, the mighty Tirpitz fired its guns only once in
aggression during the entire war-against a British coaling
station on the island of Spitsbergen.
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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