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Operation Obviate
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Operation Obviate
Operation Obviate was an unsuccessful British air raid of World War II which targeted the German battleship Tirpitz. It was conducted by Royal Air Force heavy bombers on 29 October 1944, and sought to destroy the damaged battleship after she moved to a new anchorage near Tromsø in northern Norway.
The attack followed up the successful Operation Paravane on 15 September 1944, when Tirpitz was crippled by British heavy bombers. As Allied intelligence was unaware that the battleship could no longer operate at sea and warships needed elsewhere were being retained in British waters to counter her, it was decided to make another attack. After a period of planning and preparations, 38 British bombers and a film aircraft departed from bases in northern Scotland during the early hours of 29 October. The attack took place that morning, but was frustrated by clouds over the Tromsø area which made it difficult for the Allied airmen to accurately target Tirpitz. The battleship was not directly hit, but was damaged by a bomb that exploded near her hull. A British bomber made a crash landing in Sweden after being hit by German anti-aircraft fire, and several others were damaged.
The Allies remained committed to sinking Tirpitz after the failure of Operation Obviate. The plans for the attack were reused for the next raid on the battleship, Operation Catechism, which took place on 12 November 1944. Weather conditions were favourable for the attackers, and Tirpitz was sunk with heavy loss of life.
From early 1942, the German battleship Tirpitz posed a significant threat to the Allied convoys transporting supplies through the Norwegian Sea to the Soviet Union. Stationed in fjords on the Norwegian coast, the ship was capable of overwhelming the close-escort forces assigned to the Arctic convoys. Tirpitz could also potentially attempt to enter the North Atlantic to attack Allied convoys travelling to the United Kingdom, as her sister ship Bismarck had sought to do in May 1941. To counter these threats, the Allies needed to keep a powerful force of warships with the British Home Fleet, and capital ships accompanied most convoys part of the way to the Soviet Union.
Tirpitz was repeatedly attacked by British forces. Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers made four unsuccessful raids on the battleship between January and April 1942 while she was stationed at Fættenfjord. From March 1943, Tirpitz was based at Kaafjord in the far north of Norway. During Operation Source on 22 September 1943, she was severely damaged by explosives placed beneath her hull by Royal Navy personnel who had used midget submarines to penetrate Kaafjord. On 3 April 1944, aircraft flying from Royal Navy aircraft carriers attacked Tirpitz during Operation Tungsten and inflicted further damage. This attack had been timed for when it was believed repairs to rectify the damage caused by Operation Source were nearing completion. A series of subsequent aircraft carrier attacks, including Operation Mascot on 17 July and Operation Goodwood between 22 and 29 August, were unsuccessful.
As it was believed that further aircraft carrier raids would be fruitless due to shortcomings with the Royal Navy's aircraft and their armament, responsibility for sinking Tirpitz was transferred to the RAF's Bomber Command. On 15 September 1944, the elite Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons attacked the battleship at Kaafjord during what was designated Operation Paravane. This operation employed Avro Lancaster heavy bombers armed with Tallboy bombs and "Johnnie Walker" mines, and was mounted from Yagodnik in the Soviet Union. Tirpitz was struck by a single Tallboy, which caused extensive damage to her bow and rendered her unfit for combat.
A meeting involving Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, the commander of the German Navy, was held in Berlin on 23 September to discuss Tirpitz. Dönitz was informed that it would take nine months to repair the ship, and that all the work had to be done at Kaafjord as the battleship would be extremely vulnerable if she tried to sail to a major port. As Soviet forces were rapidly advancing towards northern Norway at that time, Dönitz judged that it was not feasible to either return the ship to ocean-going service or retain her at Kaafjord. Instead, he decided to use Tirpitz as a floating artillery battery to defend Tromsø against amphibious landings and bolster a defensive line which was being prepared in the Lyngenfjord area. Dönitz also expressed hope that retaining the ship in commission would "continue to tie down enemy forces and by her presence ... confound the enemies' intentions".
The commander of the German Navy's task force in northern Norway, Konteradmiral Rudolf Peters, was directed to position Tirpitz at a location near Tromsø where the water was shallow enough to prevent the battleship from sinking completely if she suffered further damage. An anchorage was selected just off the coast of the small island of Håkøya, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Tromsø. This location lacked the natural defences Tirpitz had enjoyed at her previous Norwegian bases where she had sheltered in fjords which had steep mountains rising from the sea; this had made it difficult for attacking aircraft to spot and target the battleship. Instead, the terrain around Håkøya was fairly flat, and it was near the sea. To prepare Tirpitz for the 170-mile (270 km) voyage south-west, a repair ship was sent to Kaafjord and helped the battleship's crew to weld steel plates over the hole in her hull.
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Operation Obviate
Operation Obviate was an unsuccessful British air raid of World War II which targeted the German battleship Tirpitz. It was conducted by Royal Air Force heavy bombers on 29 October 1944, and sought to destroy the damaged battleship after she moved to a new anchorage near Tromsø in northern Norway.
The attack followed up the successful Operation Paravane on 15 September 1944, when Tirpitz was crippled by British heavy bombers. As Allied intelligence was unaware that the battleship could no longer operate at sea and warships needed elsewhere were being retained in British waters to counter her, it was decided to make another attack. After a period of planning and preparations, 38 British bombers and a film aircraft departed from bases in northern Scotland during the early hours of 29 October. The attack took place that morning, but was frustrated by clouds over the Tromsø area which made it difficult for the Allied airmen to accurately target Tirpitz. The battleship was not directly hit, but was damaged by a bomb that exploded near her hull. A British bomber made a crash landing in Sweden after being hit by German anti-aircraft fire, and several others were damaged.
The Allies remained committed to sinking Tirpitz after the failure of Operation Obviate. The plans for the attack were reused for the next raid on the battleship, Operation Catechism, which took place on 12 November 1944. Weather conditions were favourable for the attackers, and Tirpitz was sunk with heavy loss of life.
From early 1942, the German battleship Tirpitz posed a significant threat to the Allied convoys transporting supplies through the Norwegian Sea to the Soviet Union. Stationed in fjords on the Norwegian coast, the ship was capable of overwhelming the close-escort forces assigned to the Arctic convoys. Tirpitz could also potentially attempt to enter the North Atlantic to attack Allied convoys travelling to the United Kingdom, as her sister ship Bismarck had sought to do in May 1941. To counter these threats, the Allies needed to keep a powerful force of warships with the British Home Fleet, and capital ships accompanied most convoys part of the way to the Soviet Union.
Tirpitz was repeatedly attacked by British forces. Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers made four unsuccessful raids on the battleship between January and April 1942 while she was stationed at Fættenfjord. From March 1943, Tirpitz was based at Kaafjord in the far north of Norway. During Operation Source on 22 September 1943, she was severely damaged by explosives placed beneath her hull by Royal Navy personnel who had used midget submarines to penetrate Kaafjord. On 3 April 1944, aircraft flying from Royal Navy aircraft carriers attacked Tirpitz during Operation Tungsten and inflicted further damage. This attack had been timed for when it was believed repairs to rectify the damage caused by Operation Source were nearing completion. A series of subsequent aircraft carrier attacks, including Operation Mascot on 17 July and Operation Goodwood between 22 and 29 August, were unsuccessful.
As it was believed that further aircraft carrier raids would be fruitless due to shortcomings with the Royal Navy's aircraft and their armament, responsibility for sinking Tirpitz was transferred to the RAF's Bomber Command. On 15 September 1944, the elite Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons attacked the battleship at Kaafjord during what was designated Operation Paravane. This operation employed Avro Lancaster heavy bombers armed with Tallboy bombs and "Johnnie Walker" mines, and was mounted from Yagodnik in the Soviet Union. Tirpitz was struck by a single Tallboy, which caused extensive damage to her bow and rendered her unfit for combat.
A meeting involving Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, the commander of the German Navy, was held in Berlin on 23 September to discuss Tirpitz. Dönitz was informed that it would take nine months to repair the ship, and that all the work had to be done at Kaafjord as the battleship would be extremely vulnerable if she tried to sail to a major port. As Soviet forces were rapidly advancing towards northern Norway at that time, Dönitz judged that it was not feasible to either return the ship to ocean-going service or retain her at Kaafjord. Instead, he decided to use Tirpitz as a floating artillery battery to defend Tromsø against amphibious landings and bolster a defensive line which was being prepared in the Lyngenfjord area. Dönitz also expressed hope that retaining the ship in commission would "continue to tie down enemy forces and by her presence ... confound the enemies' intentions".
The commander of the German Navy's task force in northern Norway, Konteradmiral Rudolf Peters, was directed to position Tirpitz at a location near Tromsø where the water was shallow enough to prevent the battleship from sinking completely if she suffered further damage. An anchorage was selected just off the coast of the small island of Håkøya, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Tromsø. This location lacked the natural defences Tirpitz had enjoyed at her previous Norwegian bases where she had sheltered in fjords which had steep mountains rising from the sea; this had made it difficult for attacking aircraft to spot and target the battleship. Instead, the terrain around Håkøya was fairly flat, and it was near the sea. To prepare Tirpitz for the 170-mile (270 km) voyage south-west, a repair ship was sent to Kaafjord and helped the battleship's crew to weld steel plates over the hole in her hull.
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