Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

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Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Old Folder »

For over a century, the sophisticated traveler has crossed the Atlantic and Pacific in the majestic, graceful ocean liner. From the age of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and the White Star Line to today's floating resorts of the Caribbean, these monarchs of the sea have intrigued the world and reshaped modern travel.

I have been collecting the below pictured knives for many years now. They were mostly originally sold within the ship's gift-shops, barbershop's etc. I do not believe they were ever given away to the ships customers for they would be a very large marketing expense for the ship owners considering that thousand traveled on these ships.
However I believe that the majority of marketing of the liners was the production of the postcard of the ship. These were given to workers and visitors at the ship's launching, travel agencies, and of course, to passengers.

As part of their marketing venture many souvenir pocket knives were produced with a German silver inlay of the ship in profile. Upon close inspection the thoroughness of copying the outline of the ship is striking. Duplicating in miniature the masts, funnels, lifeboats, shear of the bow. On some of my knives you will also notice the PLIMSOLL LINE in red or black at the waters edge which is a visual reference mark on the ships hull that indicates the maximum depth to which the vessel may be safely immenced when loaded with cargo.
The knives I have in my collection are mostly in the pen knife pattern, many with a closed fold-over back. Most are in good to excellent condition when I acquired them at various swap meets etc. due to the fact that many were never used but kept as souvenirs of the original owner's travels.

The peak of transatlantic travel by the liners was in the 1920's and 1930's. The nations had recovered from World War I and there was a period of prosperity. Americans were again visiting Europe in great numbers.
Immigrants continued to enter the United States. Government subsidies enabled ship lines to build larger and foster ships.
At the same time, variations in the knives began to appear with handles of mother-of-pearl, figural pieces with cloisonne embossing. With the onset of World War II, the great liners (including some my listed knives below) were changed over to hospital ships, troop carriers and thigh speed passenger-cargo vessels.

IMG_0013 14.JPG
IMG_0014 11.JPG

Disasters at sea were not uncommon, either in peace time or war.

On May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, which primarily ferried people and goods across the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Great Britain, was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk. There were 1,962 Men Women & Children on board the Lusitania, 1,198 perished, 764 survived but many of the survivors later died from their sustained injuries.
The sinking of the Lusitania enraged Americans and hastened the United States' entrance into World War I.

19150508_Lusitania_Sunk_By_a_Submarine_-_The_New_York_Times.png


Below is a picture of the Wilhelm Gustloff which ironically was torpedoed exactly 75 years ago today. January 30th 1945, (Germany Time Zone)

IMG_3501.JPG
IMG_3499.JPG
IMG_3502.JPG



The sinking of the Titanic may be the most infamous naval disaster in history, and the torpedoing of the Lusitania the most infamous in wartime. But with death counts of about 1,500 and 1,200 respectively, both are dwarfed by what befell the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German ocean liner that was taken down by a Soviet sub on Jan. 30, 1945, killing 9,343 people—most of them war refugees, about 5,000 of them children.

The victims of the worst maritime tragedy in history were not only Germans, but also Prussians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Poles, Estonians and Croatians. World War II was drawing to an end, and the Soviet army was advancing. Though it would be months before the final fall of the Nazi regime, it was clear the end was coming—and they were desperate to escape before things came to a head. As a result, 10,582 people were packed onto a cruise ship that was meant to accommodate only about 1,900. Though some on the ship were Nazis themselves, others had been the victims of Nazi aggression. When three torpedoes hit the ship, there weren’t nearly enough lifeboats, and many of the those that did exist were frozen to the deck. The majority of the passengers drowned.
Many ships carrying civilians were sunk during the war by both the Allies and Axis Powers. However, based on the latest estimates of passenger numbers and those known to be saved, Wilhelm Gustloff remains by far the largest loss of life resulting from the sinking of one vessel in maritime history. Günter Grass said in an interview published by The New York Times in April 2003, "One of the many reasons I wrote Crabwalk was to take the subject away from the extreme Right... They said the tragedy of Wilhelm Gustloff was a war crime. It wasn't. It was terrible, but it was a result of war, a terrible result of war."

About 1,000 German naval officers and men were aboard during, and died in, the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff. The women on board the ship at the time of the sinking were inaccurately described by Soviet propaganda as "SS personnel from the German concentration camps". There were, however, 373 female naval auxiliaries among the passengers.

On the night of 9–10 February, just 11 days after the sinking, S-13 sank another German ship, General von Steuben, killing about 4,500 people.

Before sinking Wilhelm Gustloff, Alexander Marinesko was facing a court martial due to his problems with alcohol and for being caught in a brothel while he and his crew were off duty, so Marinesko was thus deemed "not suitable to be a hero" for his actions. Therefore, instead of gaining the title "Hero of the Soviet Union," he was awarded the lesser Order of the Red Banner. Although widely recognized as a brilliant commander, he was downgraded in rank to lieutenant and dishonorably discharged from the navy in October 1945.

Please contribute your ship pictures and stories of such.
Dan
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by New_Windsor_NY »

Dan, a VERY nice collection of ship knives. All I have are the following postcards. No knives or cutlery of any kind and no stories.
If you're wondering why I'm posting this stuff, read the last line in Dan's original post.
Top to bottom the ships are:

Hudson River Day Line Steamer Ship
S.S. America
Crown Odyssey
Star Princess
Crystal Symphony
Attachments
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
Kid: "Wish we had time to bury them fellas."
Josey Wales: "To hell with them fellas. Buzzards got to eat, same as worms."
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Waukonda »

That is fascinating info, great collection of historical knives, Dan. Thanks for a great post.

Skip, the postcards are a nice addition, as well. Somewhere, I have some of Great Lakes freighters.
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by New_Windsor_NY »

These possibly may be of some interest to someone.
First three pictures, a menu and program from October 2, 1933. It is for the celebration of the 86th birthday of President and Field Marshal von Hindenburg. It was aboard the M.S. Milwaukee, a ship in the Hamburg-America Line.

The last three pictures, a menu and program from July 18, 1936. I don't know what this particular cruise was for, but it was aboard the German ship, Lloyd Bremen.
Attachments
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
Kid: "Wish we had time to bury them fellas."
Josey Wales: "To hell with them fellas. Buzzards got to eat, same as worms."
Clint Eastwood-The Outlaw Josey Wales

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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Quick Steel »

Dan you have fine and very interesting collection. Thank you for showing it.
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by woodwalker »

What a great story and a fine collection of knives. Thank you for taking the time to put this together for all of us. We appreciate it!! :)
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by LongBlade »

Old Folder wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2020 10:19 pm For over a century, the sophisticated traveler has crossed the Atlantic and Pacific in the majestic, graceful ocean liner. From the age of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and the White Star Line to today's floating resorts of the Caribbean, these monarchs of the sea have intrigued the world and reshaped modern travel.

I have been collecting the below pictured knives for many years now. They were mostly originally sold within the ship's gift-shops, barbershop's etc. I do not believe they were ever given away to the ships customers for they would be a very large marketing expense for the ship owners considering that thousand traveled on these ships.
However I believe that the majority of marketing of the liners was the production of the postcard of the ship. These were given to workers and visitors at the ship's launching, travel agencies, and of course, to passengers.

As part of their marketing venture many souvenir pocket knives were produced with a German silver inlay of the ship in profile. Upon close inspection the thoroughness of copying the outline of the ship is striking. Duplicating in miniature the masts, funnels, lifeboats, shear of the bow. On some of my knives you will also notice the PLIMSOLL LINE in red or black at the waters edge which is a visual reference mark on the ships hull that indicates the maximum depth to which the vessel may be safely immenced when loaded with cargo.
The knives I have in my collection are mostly in the pen knife pattern, many with a closed fold-over back. Most are in good to excellent condition when I acquired them at various swap meets etc. due to the fact that many were never used but kept as souvenirs of the original owner's travels.

The peak of transatlantic travel by the liners was in the 1920's and 1930's. The nations had recovered from World War I and there was a period of prosperity. Americans were again visiting Europe in great numbers.
Immigrants continued to enter the United States. Government subsidies enabled ship lines to build larger and foster ships.
At the same time, variations in the knives began to appear with handles of mother-of-pearl, figural pieces with cloisonne embossing. With the onset of World War II, the great liners (including some my listed knives below) were changed over to hospital ships, troop carriers and thigh speed passenger-cargo vessels.


IMG_0013 14.JPGIMG_0014 11.JPG


Disasters at sea were not uncommon, either in peace time or war.

On May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, which primarily ferried people and goods across the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Great Britain, was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk. There were 1,962 Men Women & Children on board the Lusitania, 1,198 perished, 764 survived but many of the survivors later died from their sustained injuries.
The sinking of the Lusitania enraged Americans and hastened the United States' entrance into World War I.


19150508_Lusitania_Sunk_By_a_Submarine_-_The_New_York_Times.png



Below is a picture of the Wilhelm Gustloff which ironically was torpedoed exactly 75 years ago today. January 30th 1945, (Germany Time Zone)


IMG_3501.JPGIMG_3499.JPGIMG_3502.JPG




The sinking of the Titanic may be the most infamous naval disaster in history, and the torpedoing of the Lusitania the most infamous in wartime. But with death counts of about 1,500 and 1,200 respectively, both are dwarfed by what befell the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German ocean liner that was taken down by a Soviet sub on Jan. 30, 1945, killing 9,343 people—most of them war refugees, about 5,000 of them children.

The victims of the worst maritime tragedy in history were not only Germans, but also Prussians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Poles, Estonians and Croatians. World War II was drawing to an end, and the Soviet army was advancing. Though it would be months before the final fall of the Nazi regime, it was clear the end was coming—and they were desperate to escape before things came to a head. As a result, 10,582 people were packed onto a cruise ship that was meant to accommodate only about 1,900. Though some on the ship were Nazis themselves, others had been the victims of Nazi aggression. When three torpedoes hit the ship, there weren’t nearly enough lifeboats, and many of the those that did exist were frozen to the deck. The majority of the passengers drowned.
Many ships carrying civilians were sunk during the war by both the Allies and Axis Powers. However, based on the latest estimates of passenger numbers and those known to be saved, Wilhelm Gustloff remains by far the largest loss of life resulting from the sinking of one vessel in maritime history. Günter Grass said in an interview published by The New York Times in April 2003, "One of the many reasons I wrote Crabwalk was to take the subject away from the extreme Right... They said the tragedy of Wilhelm Gustloff was a war crime. It wasn't. It was terrible, but it was a result of war, a terrible result of war."

About 1,000 German naval officers and men were aboard during, and died in, the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff. The women on board the ship at the time of the sinking were inaccurately described by Soviet propaganda as "SS personnel from the German concentration camps". There were, however, 373 female naval auxiliaries among the passengers.

On the night of 9–10 February, just 11 days after the sinking, S-13 sank another German ship, General von Steuben, killing about 4,500 people.

Before sinking Wilhelm Gustloff, Alexander Marinesko was facing a court martial due to his problems with alcohol and for being caught in a brothel while he and his crew were off duty, so Marinesko was thus deemed "not suitable to be a hero" for his actions. Therefore, instead of gaining the title "Hero of the Soviet Union," he was awarded the lesser Order of the Red Banner. Although widely recognized as a brilliant commander, he was downgraded in rank to lieutenant and dishonorably discharged from the navy in October 1945.

Please contribute your ship pictures and stories of such.
Dan
An interesting and informative post Dan ::tu:: ::tu:: ... and a very unique collection of ocean liner/ship knives with great history ::tu:: ... Thanks for sharing all Dan ::handshake:: ...
____________________________________________________________________________
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by hardman »

Super interesting thread and great knives. Thanks you all.

There are some pretty interesting stories of wrecks on the Great Lskes as well. I have a knife that features a handle with copper inserts made from some copper ingots salvaged from the SS Pewabic. The SS Pewabic was also carrying Confederate Civil War soldiers home from their captivity after the Civil War when she was struck by her sister ship SS Meteor causing the SS Pewabic to sink in Lake Huron near Thunder Bay and the city of Alpena, Michigan.
Gary

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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by danno50 »

Interesting history lesson, Dan, and a great collection of penknives! ::tu::
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by fergusontd »

::groove:: So you took an ocean cruise.....That's so cute!
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by XX Case XX »

Very interesting reading Dan. Always good to learn new things, especially about history. Never cared for it in school but it seems the older I get, the more history seems to matter.

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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Dinadan »

That is a very interesting collection of knives, Dan. Thanks for posting the knives and the history.
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Old Folder »

Thank you for all the compliments Gentlemen. ::nod::
I have a couple more Ship knives to post in a few days.
The "R.M.S. Aquitania" that my Uncle (My Father's older brother) went to WW I on, and the "USS Graf Waldersee" he returned on.
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Reverand »

I am intrigued by those knives, Old Folder. At first glance I didn't think much of them, until I realized that these were not images stamped into plastic handles, but are instead engraved into MOP.
I'll bet they are even more impressive in person.
Thank you for sharing the pictures and the stories!
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Old Folder »

XX Case XX wrote: Thu Jan 30, 2020 4:28 pm Very interesting reading Dan. Always good to learn new things, especially about history. Never cared for it in school but it seems the older I get, the more history seems to matter.

_____________
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I totally agree with you Mike. ::nod::
Though math was my most disliked class in High School, history came in a very close second. I feel that the teachers played a big part pertaining to what he brought into his classroom as to what I received from it.
I was never once asked: "What would you like to discuss today."?
Now, history and research is a top priority.
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Old Folder »

Reverand wrote: Fri Jan 31, 2020 12:33 pm I am intrigued by those knives, Old Folder. At first glance I didn't think much of them, until I realized that these were not images stamped into plastic handles, but are instead engraved into MOP.
I'll bet they are even more impressive in person.
Thank you for sharing the pictures and the stories!
Your very welcome Reverand.
I can only imagine all the work and various steps of detail and research that had to be taken to produce the final results of these historical pieces.
Kind of makes our current new knife production procedures seem quite simple and mundane.
Perhaps that's why I like "advertisers" so much.
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

Very nice, Dan.

I have seen such knives over the years. I was always intrigued by one from the Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth.

Always wondered if any existed from the Andrea Dorea and the ship with which she collided.

Probably none from the Titanic, as she was lost on her maiden voyage.

My Dad’s ship, the USS GENERAL W F HASE was used after WWII to transport civilian passengers to Japan during the occupation, but I doubt they had anything like this.

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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Old Folder »

RobesonsRme.com wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 12:07 am Very nice, Dan.

I have seen such knives over the years. I was always intrigued by one from the Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth.

Always wondered if any existed from the Andrea Dorea and the ship with which she collided.

Probably none from the Titanic, as she was lost on her maiden voyage.

My Dad’s ship, the USS GENERAL W F HASE was used after WWII to transport civilian passengers to Japan during the occupation, but I doubt they had anything like this.

Charlie
Thanks Charlie.

Your Fathers Ship was a very historic contributor to WWII and received eight Battle Stars for Korean war service.
I remember reading about the "USS GENERAL W F HASE" years ago and even saved the below picture and Service History of his ship.
You most likely know the ships history, but I thought I would share it with other aapk members to relay your Fathers great Military contributions.

Service history:
After shakedown out of San Pedro, General W. F. Hase departed San Francisco 15 July 1944, with 3,000 troops and $29 million in military currency. After touching at Pearl Harbor, she debarked the fighting men at Eniwetok, returning to San Francisco 26 August, with 2,100 soldiers. Between 20 September and 1 November, the transport steamed out of Seattle, carrying more than 2,000 troops to Pearl Harbor and 2,800 thence to Manus, Admiralty Islands, before returning to San Francisco with 2,500 veterans of the New Guinea campaign on board. Continuing to support the westward drive of naval forces in the Western Pacific, between 23 November and 20 April 1945, she made two round trips out of San Francisco, shuttling troops to New Guinea and the Philippines and bringing home veterans from New Caledonia and Manus.

During the next 12 months General W. F. Hase made six round-trip voyages, including two circumnavigations of the earth, while deploying troops to and from the United States. Departing San Pedro 9 May, she carried 2,600 troops to Melbourne, Australia, where she arrived 27 May. After steaming to Fremantle, Australia, she reached Calcutta, India, 14 June, and embarked 2,500 homebound soldiers. She then sailed for the United States via Ceylon and the Suez Canal and arrived Norfolk 20 July. She departed Norfolk 5 August for the Mediterranean; and as part of the "Magic Carpet" fleet, she embarked more than 3,000 troops at Marseilles, France, before returning to New York 27 August. Operating out of New York between 1 September and 27 December, she sailed twice to Calcutta and back with more than 6,000 troops. On 11 January 1946, she again departed New York for Calcutta; and, after embarking 2,900 troops 8 February, she steamed via Manila to the West Coast, arriving San Francisco 8 March. Between 1 and 15 April, she carried 1,000 occupation troops to Yokohama, Japan; and on her final "Magic Carpet" voyage she returned 2,800 veterans to Seattle 28 April.

She was reacquired by the Navy 1 March 1950, and assigned to duty with Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS)). She operated out of San Francisco, carrying more than 75,000 troops and their combat cargo to the Far East in support of the Korean War. Between 1950 and 1953 she made 19 round-trip voyages to Japan and Korea, and she returned to San Francisco from her final Far East deployment 29 August 1953. Towed to San Diego in June 1954, she was placed out of service in reserve in July, and remained inactive until returned to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) 8 January 1960, when she was berthed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, California.

She was sold for scrapping on 15 October 1984 to Goldwiles Texas Inc. and was broken up in Taiwan in 1985.
General_W._F._Hase_(AP-146).jpg

Yes, I imagine some souvenir ship knives exist for the Andrea Doria being that it was a very popular passenger ship.
At 11:10 p.m 1956, 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria and the Swedish ocean liner Stockholm collided in heavy Atlantic fog. Fifty-one passengers and crew were killed in the collision, which ripped a great hole in the broad side of the Italian vessel resulting in
the deaths of 51 people.
Here is the current resting place of the Andrea Doria but is in much worse shape now that this picture.
The Chrysler "Norseman" show car, built by Ghia in Italy was on board and lost on the Doria. The tires might still be there inside the wreck.

andrea_doria_chrysler_norseman.jpg

esquire_doria_4.jpg

I have also wondered if the Titanic had "Ship Knives" in their gift and barber shops. It was certainly in the right time frame.
This is a model of the Titanic ship as it currently sits at the bottom of the Atlantic.

IMG_0003.JPG
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

Dan, the photo you posted of the W. F. Hase was my father's photo. I still have it. I posted the photo on the MSTS website and I can see the reparative edits I made using PhotoShop on the copy you posted. There are some white spots and defects on the original.

I posted a photo of Dad's watch crew on that site, as well.

Dad joined the crew at Pearl Harbor when she first arrived there in July, 1944 and was discharged in early January, 1946, in New York, so he did not make that final WWII voyage to Calcutta.

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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Old Folder »

The below Battleship "Tirpitz" knives are now available through "Boker USA 2020 Catalog".
A larger picture is available on page #12 & #13 of the below pictured "Outdoor & Collection Catalog.
download.png
https://www.bokerusa.com/catalog-request

The German Battleship "Tirpitz" was the second of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine (navy) during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and her hull was launched two and a half years later. Work was completed in February 1941, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Like her sister ship Bismarck, Tirpitz was armed with a main battery of eight 38-centimeter (15 in) guns in four twin turrets. After a series of wartime modifications she was 2000 tonnes heavier than Bismarck, making her the heaviest battleship ever built by a European navy.

maxresdefault_38.jpg
Fleet_Air_Arm_attack_the_battleship_Tirpitz.jpg

The final British attack on Tirpitz, took place on 12 November 1944. The ship again used her 38 cm guns against the bombers, which approached the battleship at 09:35; Tirpitz's main guns forced the bombers to disperse temporarily, but could not break up the attack. A force of 32 Lancasters from Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons dropped 29 Tallboys on the ship, with two direct hits and one near miss. Several other bombs landed within the anti-torpedo net barrier and caused significant cratering of the seabed; this removed much of the sandbank that had been constructed to prevent the ship from capsizing. One bomb penetrated the ship's deck between turrets Anton and Bruno but failed to explode. A second hit amidships between the aircraft catapult and the funnel and caused severe damage. A very large hole was blown in the ship's side and bottom; the entire section of belt armor abreast of the bomb hit was completely destroyed. A third bomb may have struck the ship on the port side of turret Caesar.

The amidships hit caused significant flooding and quickly increased the port list to between 15 and 20 degrees. In ten minutes the list increased to 30 to 40 degrees; the captain issued the order to abandon ship. Progressive flooding increased the list to 60 degrees by 09:50, though this appeared to stabilize temporarily. Eight minutes later, a large explosion rocked turret Caesar. The turret roof and part of the rotating structure were thrown 25 m (82 ft) into the air and over into a group of men swimming to shore, crushing them. Tirpitz rapidly rolled over and buried her superstructure in the sea floor.

Tirpitz capsized
In the aftermath of the attack, 82 men trapped in the upturned hull were rescued by cutting through the exposed bottom. Figures for the death toll vary from approximately 950 to 1,204. Approximately 200 survivors of the sinking were transferred to the heavy cruiser Lützow in January 1945.

The performance of the Luftwaffe in the defense of Tirpitz was heavily criticized after her loss. Major Heinrich Ehrler, the commander of III./Jagdgeschwader 5 (3rd Group of the 5th Fighter Wing), was blamed for the Luftwaffe's failure to intercept the British bombers. He was court-martialled in Oslo and threatened with the death penalty. Evidence was presented that his unit had failed to help the Kriegsmarine when requested. He was sentenced to three years in prison, but was released after a month, demoted, and reassigned to an Me 262 fighter squadron in Germany. Ehrler was exonerated by further investigations which concluded poor communication between the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe had caused the fiasco; the aircrews had not been informed that Tirpitz had been moved off Håkøya two weeks before the attack.

The wreck of Tirpitz remained in place until after the war, when a joint German-Norwegian company began salvage operations. Work lasted from 1948 until 1957; fragments of the ship were sold by a Norwegian company. Ludovic Kennedy wrote in his history of the vessel that she "lived an invalid's life and died a cripple's death".

https://youtu.be/YuKyYn0B0dQ

Below article was written by:
David Grossman April 11, 2018.


It took three years and multiple operations, but in 1944 30 RAF Lancaster bombers armed with Tallboy earthquake bombs finally sunk the Tirpitz. The ship took two-three bombs, suffered internal explosions and soon capsized. After the war, a Norwegian-German salvage operation found the remains.

How the Nazis' Largest Battleship Is Still Affecting Norway Today.
Decades after it sunk, the battleship Tirpitz is still stunting the environment.

The scars of World War II are still visible today. A new study out looks at how Nazis warped Norwegian trees with poisonous gas to mask one of the largest battleships built for the conflict.

Launched in 1939, the Tirpitz was one of two Bismarck-class battleships built by the Nazi Kriegsmarine shortly before World War II began. Like many of the Nazis military projects, Bismarck-class ships were built to intimidate. With an overall length of 823 feet (251 meters), over 2,000 Nazi sailors, a main battery of 8 15-inch guns in 4 twin turrets and enough space to carry four planes, the ship was hard to miss.

Launched into the war in 1941, Kriegsmarine Grand Admiral Erich Raeder decided that it be sent to Norway, which had been successfully occupied by the Nazis the previous year. The Tirpitz was sent to act as a "fleet in being," a singular force that is so powerful it can influence enemies by its mere presence.

The goals of the Tirpitz was to prevent an Allied invasion, disrupt British and Soviet supply lines, and keep Allied forces preoccupied with its possible location. But the challenge of hiding the massive ship in Norway's fjords was a difficult one, compounded by a persistent Norwegian resistance movement transmitting information about the Tirpitz whenever they could. The ship's crew would chop down trees and place them aboard the Tirpitz to try to camouflage it and then, as discussed in a new German-American-Norwegian study, released chlorosulphuric acid to create an artificial fog to further mask its location.

Claudia Hartl, from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, was studying the growth of pine tress near Alta in western Norway when she noticed something odd: The older trees had no growth rings. Rings can be hindered by severe cold or insects, but Hartl knew of no natural force that could halt a tree's growth outright. Looking at the war records, Hartl's trees line up with the Tripitz's locations.

"We think this artificial smoke damaged the needles on the trees," Dr. Hartl tells the BBC. "One of the trees found had no growth for 9 years. Afterwards, it recovered but it took 30 years to get back to normal growth. It's still there; it's still alive, and it's a very impressive tree," Dr Hartl says.

It took three years and multiple operations, but in 1944 30 RAF Lancaster bombers armed with Tallboy earthquake bombs finally sunk the Tirpitz. The ship took two bombs, suffered internal explosions and soon capsized. After the war, a Norwegian-German salvage operation found the remains. Parts of its metal are still sold today in knives.

But while the Tirpitz is long gone, the environmental damage remains. Dr. Hartl believes the environmental damage wrought by the war is still being discovered.

"I think it's really interesting that the effects of one engagement are still evident in the forests of northern Norway more than 70 years later. In other places in Europe, they also used this artificial smoke and may be also other chemicals. So perhaps you can find similar patterns and effects from World War II," she tells the BBC.

The war has made itself felt in other ways in recent years, like when a woman relaxing by the Elbe last year accidentally picked up some white phosphorus.
It's always important to know what you don't know.
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by 1967redrider »

I just ran across this looking for something else, excellent write-up, Dan. ::tu::
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

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Just stumbled upon this video-

Pocket, fixed, machete, axe, it's all good!

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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by edge213 »

1967redrider wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:53 am Just stumbled upon this video-

Thanks for posting ::tu::
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Re: Ships at Sea / Ocean Liners.

Post by Old Folder »

Thanks redrider.
I also posted the Battleship "Tirpitz" sinking in the below topic, with a full interesting explanation of the mission.

viewtopic.php?p=938280#p791948

Dan
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