Here we see the Kriegsmarine battleship Tirpitz at Kåfjord in German-occupied Norway, in September 1943. Note the triple torpedo nets surrounding the beast and the flotilla of attending patrol and support craft.
The slightly improved sister to the infamous Bismarck, she would be attacked by an unlikely Beowulf in the form of a trio of British midget submarines while the monster was safe in its Kåfjord cave some 80 years ago today.
Termed Operation Source, after passing through the series of protective torpedo nets, one of the miniature subs, HMS X6, placed two mines of two tons each under the battleship’s keel, while X7 set a third.
Operation ‘Source’, 22 September 1943. Johne Makin (b.1947) via the Royal Navy Submarine Museum Collection.
While all three of the daring British X craft were lost in the resulting explosion and Tirpitz was severely damaged, she was back in service six months later and it would not be until November 1944 that the injured beast was finally slain.