Battleship Tirpitz

Книга на английском языке
This is a Naval History Special Edition about the German battleship Tirpitz. It has been nearly 30 years since the last battleship sailed in an operation of war and 75 years since the destruction of Tirpitz• Time and hindsight have caused many to question the utility of battleships. Popular opinion holds that aircraft carriers rendered them obsolete. Some have wondered why Germany wasted steel on battleships and did not fill its slipways with submarines. In fact, a navy is a long-term investment, especially one built during a time of peace in anticipation of a future war. Capital ships, submarines, aircraft, escorts—all are different types of assets. Capital ships are the most expensive and take the longest to develop; during World War II no navy, not even the U.S. Navy, completed a battleship
laid down after the war had started. Like any good investment portfolio, diversity is key. Had Germany built nothing but submarines, for example, the navy could not have protected the nation’s vital maritime traffic; it could not have projected power overseas, as in the invasion of Norway; it would have threatened British traffic in only one dimension, and one-dimensional threats are the easiest to counter.
The story of Tirpitz is testimony to the power of battleships. She was a ship that never fired her guns at an enemy vessel yet exerted a power that required a fleet to offset. She influenced Allied deployments and resources in a way that no other enemy vessel did. The story of how she was able to do this starts with the story of battleships as a weapon system.

Contents
Introduction and
Chronology
Germany’s Capital Shipsand the “Washington-Type” Battleship
Design and Construction
Working Up and Baltic Service April 1940-January 1942
Tirpitz to Norway and First Actions January-March 1942
Fleet in Being April-September 1942
Queen of the North October 1942-September1943
The X-craft Attack September 1943
Operation Tungsten and Carrier Attacks April-June 1944
Mascot and Goodwood May-August 1944
The Tallboy Attacks September-November 1944