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.
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.
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.
Dan