Sink the Tirpitz - Hunting Germany's Super Battleship 

Finally, a bit of history I knew before Mark Felton made a video on it. That's a rare thing.

I am from Tromsø, the location where the Tirpitz sank. She went down outside of Håkøya, a small island located outside of the main city of Tromsø. There is a memorial on the location and a huge piece of thick steel, supposedly a piece of the ships hull stands there still as a reminder of what happened in November 1944 and the men that died in their line of duty. Something that Mark didn't mention in the video is how knocking could be heard from inside the hull of the ship for a couple of days after she capsized while crew on the outside worked frantically to cut through hulls and bulkheads to save the men still trapped inside. A lot of souvenirs were taken from the ship by the men that worked with scrapping her and many are still in privately owned hands to this day. I've personally seen many artefacts from inside the ship, including shell casings from her secondary batteries, uniforms, medals, cutlery and more.

She was my first airfix model boat back in the early 70’s, after built she was chosen to advertise airfix models in a toy shop…got a free 24th scale mustang for my troubles 😊

Squadron Leader "Benny" Goodman, the last wartime surviving pilot of 617 and who took part in the final raid on Tirpitz, passed away a few days ago aged 100. R,I.P Benny Goodman.

These old big battleships are so majestic and badass.

Fun fact: Pieces of steel from the Tirpitz are used to cover pot holes on the roads in Oslo.

I worked several years in a hardware store i Tromsø. I once had a customer who bought a powerful planer from me, with blades that could handle teak wood. He could tell me that he had gotten hold of alot of the teak deck from Tirpitz, and was going to make a dining table for his granddaughter. Thats what you call a dining table with history in it.

Another _Tirpitz_ fact: one of the Norwegian resistance radio operators who kept tabs on the _Tirpitz_ and reported her position to the British was Torstein Raaby, who was later the radio operator on Thor Heyerdahl's _Kon-Tiki_ expedition.

A Morning is never complete if you don’t watch a Mark Felton Production.

Such a class story! It's a never ending learning cycle from Dr Felton!

The bottom plates from Tirpitz was removed and sent to Oslo capital of Norway. They are used for covering construction holes in the streets of Oslo. And still in use today in almost mint condition

My frustration is when a video is excellent, such as this one, I'm filled with such euphoria that I forget to hit the 👍. Happily I remembered this time!

My uncle RAF Pilot Alan Grant was killed trying to sink the Tirpitz his still buried in Norway

incredible that those Lancasters were able to score three hits like that. really shows the ingenuity and skill of bombardiers in that era.

Great video! I was friends with the only Bismarck survivor who lived in the United States. His name was Bruno Rzonka. He was always open about discussing what happened during the battle. He was very adamant that the ship was scuttled at the end and not sunk by torpedoes. According to him, after all the guns were knocked out, orders were given over the intercom, to scuttle the ship and he was one of the crewmen that did it.

It's also been said that while the townspeople were happy that the Tirpitz had been sunk, they genuinely felt bad for Tirpitz's crew that died because while on shore leave the crewmen were well behaved boys!

A Cold beer and a Dr Felton video after work, life is good

I discover this chanel few months ago and every video is pure joy to watch. Big suport from Croatia

Thank you for this, my father didn't tell us much about his war experience. But sinking the Tirpitz was an exception. This brought back some good memories.

I had a friend who flew on one of the Fleet Air Arm raids against the Tirpitz. He lost a lot of friends that day and told me he was physically sick when he went to a cinema and saw in the news reels that the RAF had sunk it with almost no losses.

I have seen a lot of videos about the air attack operations against Tirpitz but only a few about the midget submarines raid. I actually first heard of it in the channel Yarnhub a few weeks ago. I am glad that Mr. Felton covered most, if not all of the actions taken by the British to sink the battleship. Great video as always!

10:55 The craters after the explosion are still visible in Google maps. Fun fact! One of the Dambuster aircraft, Easy Elise, is resting on a bog in Sweden near the town of Porjus

"...950-1200 men died with the ship." and "...she was scrapped where she lay." So what happened to all those men and the 'sanctity of the grave?'

I was in awe with that last air attack footage, the Tirpitz guns firing through the smoke followed by the bombing, incredible cinematography.

This remind me of my childhood playing cod (2003) as a british SAS on a secret mission to sink the Tirpitz... and now mark made a video about this ship

She was nicknamed The Lone Queen of the North. It was a Tallboy that ended her reign. Thank you Dr Felton for another quality upload.

Imagine needing a whole air armada to take care of one battleship. This real story far surpasses any fictional story. Thanks Professor!

Out of all the film footage from WW2, seeing those Tall Boy bombs strike is pretty incredible. That is some serious accuracy from those aircrews knowing the altitude they dropped at. RIP to those on Tirpitz and the crews who fought against her.

Tirpitz steel is still being used in Norway, some of her armour plating is being used as plates to cover up ditches dug in the streets so that cars can drive over while construction is under way. Also you can get knives and what not made from Tirpitz steel

One of the generators on Tirpitz is located in Northcape Municipality. It was used to produce electricity after the war to the people of Honningsvåg. The generator is placed in a small cabin on the old ferry dock. I bicycle past that cabin every week. Some years ago, a group of people tried to start the generator, but the engine seized and cracked the cylinder block.

Luftwaffe Major Heinrich Ehrler was scapegoated by the Nazis for failing to intercept the final raid. He was court martialed and convicted of negligence but later rehabilitated on orders from Hitler. Ehrler was an ace with over two hundred kills and a holder of the Knights Cross. He died in April 1945 while piloting an Me 262. Great archival footage of the sinking of Tirpitz, thanks Dr. Felton.

Thank you Dr Felton. Well over a million subscribers now - well deserved . This is certainly one of the best channels on RU-vid and surpasses anything made by the MSM with their teams of writers and backed by limitless funds.

Me: I should study for my exams. Mark Felton: Here, study history instead.

My grandfather did some of the Russian convoys, his last convoy was PQ17 when his ship was sunk. I wish I knew more about his WW2 history but he never really spoke about it.

My ex-girlfriends grandparents, living around Tromsø, Norway - described to me how they as children watched the ship being bombed. They said the fjord boiled with shrapnel, and that they could hear the Marines trapped inside the ship for days knocking on metal. The ships armor, to thick to blowtorch through..

I've been to the Kafjord last summer, the place where the Tirpitz lay before it moved to Tromso. There's still pieces of the ship there next to the water, as well as a huge crater made by one of the Tallboys. There's also a nice little museum just off the road called the Tirpitz museum. For anyone that ever visits the northern parts of Norway this is definitely worth a visit!

Whoohoo, just as I'm puttering in the garage doing chores another video from Mark pops up. I love listening to these while working around the house.

The German's ability to repair damaged ships while dealing with a turning tide of war is truly amazing.

I just learned recently that my sons roommates grandfather was a member of the German Battleship Tirpitz. From the photo he had of him on the ship, it looks like he was member of anti aircraft gun crew.

As someone who doesn't know alot of WWII history, I really appreciate your educational videos! Thank you Dr. Felton from the US 🇺🇸

I've been waiting for you to tell about Tirpitz!

An amazing video! A real shame what happened to the crew of Tirpitz. Torches were needed to cut through the hull of the ship to rescue the sailors trapped inside. The local Norwegians hid most of the torches and sealed the fate of the sailors and barely any were available. As Mark said in the video, only 82 were actually rescued.

Another little masterpiece. I've never seen that film of Tirpitz's destruction before.

My father william reynolds atag in a barracuda bombed the tirpitz early 44 but was shot down and killed after being diverted to the russian convoy because of bad weather in the previous raids he said it was a jolly good show

My late Uncle Heinrich was one of the sailors on the Tripitz and he would tell me stories about the ship,I learned that you don't dare call it a boat because you can't put a ship on a boat,lol

Great as always Mark! The Tall Boy that exploded on the shore still has its enormous crater as testament of the power of these bombs

Love these Docs I wish Mark Felton did the whole WW2 in detail damn..... i could stay up all night watching Mark Felton educating me about history !!

4:14,that picture is from fættenfjord,a small fjord that branches off of the Trondheimsfjord northeast of the city of Trondheim,about an hour from where i live.Tirpitz was moored here from 16 January 1942 to 29 October 1943. During this time the Royal Air Force attacked the Tirpitz four times with limited success. Due to the heavy amount of anti-aircraft weaponry, both on the ship and in the surrounding area, the RAF lost 17 airplanes and 64 crew members in the attempts.

I am a simple man, I see a Mark Felton video, I click

As always, Amazing! Thank you Dr. Mark Felton!

My great grandfather on my mother's side piloted a midget sub that tried to sink the Tirpitz - guessing they didn't do much damage but they got home alive!

My great grandfather was Naval Intelligence Department at Bletchley Park and core team of plotters who planned the sinking of Tirpitz.

One of the few youtube channels where I hit the like button before i see the video. You just know it`s going to be good.

In norway we use Tirpitz to make plates and knives. is still there

Know this story quite well but that doesn’t stop me from watching your take on it 👍

Your stories are the perfect combination of the right length, great information packed into a compact package, and effective narration. I don't think I've ever been disappointed.

More mr. Felton content, noice!

Another very interesting story from Mark Felton. Never fails to entertain.

I remember as a kid hearing the song "Sink the Bismark" on the radio.

I just took a break from my home exam in Arctic Tourism studies, where my goal is to design a day-tour planned in the Kåfjord area, and where the focus will be on Tirpitz and the still visible remains of the German naval base located there. Your timing could not be better! Thank you for the videos. My German girlfriend does not understand my interest in the war, but the tales of bravery and valor that you collect and visualize are fascinating.

That footage is AMAZING!

Nothing like coming in from mowing the lawn and listening to one of these. Great vid as always, incredible it took so many raids to destroy.

My Friend Alan flew Tungsten and his best friend Buzz died as the TAG in that raid. He always teared up and remembered Buzz Alan had some story's to tell RIP

AH learnt two things about sailing ships into norwegian fjords: If You do it in the middle of the night, You'll get sunk, and if we don't like You, the rest of your shiney boats won't leave again.

Just like her far cousin Musashi, they got overshadowed by their older sister

Don't know if you've ever seen Howl's moving castle but that ship looks like it belongs in such a universe.

Thank you Mark . The sinking of the Bismarck seemed to get more publicity but this story of the Tirpitz I never heard off . The Brits sure poured a lot of resources into taking the Tirpitz out . Great story and info

Excellent video as always, My father always used to tell me about the sinking of the Tirpitz, great to actually see some actual footage of the event, Cheers Mark!

Tirpitz stats be like: 1 day at the ocean 999999 days repairing it

I had a mate who had all the best toys but his mum wouldn’t let him play with them in case he broke them. This is the German navy.

The Boker knife company has produced several high quality commemorative pocket knives using steel recovered from the Tirpitz. Worth a look if this might interest you. Boker also has used steel from the canons from Leopard tanks to fashion knife blades.

Thanks for the great video. A truly awesome ship. My uncle (a Canadian) was on an early bombing raid in the fjord, in a Halifax that was shot down and crash landed on the ice. All crew got out, but three were badly injured and were left behind, while the rest of the crew went over the mountains to Sweden so they could re-enter the fray - which they did. The Halifax was recovered, I think in the late 70's.

Any human that goes down to the sea and places his life in danger Is a brother/sister in arms

dramatic and informative as usual, thank you!

I have learned more in here than any history class ever taken and all of them taken and I know they can't cover it all but Mark Felton Productions is amazing. Thanks for your time and work.

One thing routinely astonishing me is repairs. Mark mentions these huge bombing raids and huge amounts of damage, “months of repairs” - and then, “return to service” ... without a dry dock. That’s amazing to an armchair admiral like me. The Tirpitz is isolated in a fjord a gazillion freezing miles from home, zero supply chain, and its crew are able to counteract damage from massive torpedo and mine hits? Her armour must be half a metre thick or more. Surely not full repairs? How the hell could even quite an enthusiastic repair crew repair armour that thick without a dry dock? My hat’s off to ‘em.

I've heard this story oodles of times but Mark Felton is a superb storyteller.

The last time I was this early, Germany still had a High Seas Fleet!

So well done Mark. I knew so much about this already as I have been there and stood in the bomb crators that are still there to this day. I also have a part of the tirpitz in my garage.

Many years ago on a train from London to Kingston upon Hull I was sat opposite a lovely lady. She told me her 1st husband had been with 617 squadron as a navigator and had been killer on a return mission from bombing the "Beast". I should have asked her more questions.

Mark you have to do a separate video on The Raid on St Nazaire...else the Tirpitz story is incomplete!

A true king puts the ad in the beginning so you can skip straight into the goodness.

Best WW2 mini documentaries ever. I always start a Mark Felton video, then quickly get persuaded to play Modern Warships. Then I return and watch more.

A very interesting information for me as a Finnish citizen was that Tirpitz made its very first mission together with the cruiser Admiral Scheer, with a temporary base from Åland island between Finland and Sweden.. The background was the German invasion of the Soviet Union on land. In order to intercept any fleeing Soviet ships, Tirpitz and about twenty other warships lay in wait in the Gulf of Finland. That fleet spent a few September days in 1941 on the bay west of Herrö. It is located some 15-20 km SW of the only small town Mariehamn on mainland Åland on the southermost tip of the island Tirpitz was the flagship of the Baltic fleet . The location was very well chosen because the fleet could control all ships moving to and from the Leningrad directon in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. She returned to Wilhelmshaven in early 1942 trough the Kiel channel. She was then restocking and preparing for the transfer to Norway and the Kaafjord where she was to remain as a threat to allied convoyshipping..

Bismarck: *gets fame* Tirpitz: *cries in loneliness*

Must say I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. Can’t wait to watch.

Pieces of the armored hull of Tirpitz is still around. The park services department in Oslo use them to cover holes in the roads to this day. The next time you are in Oslo you may be walking on Tirpitz.

A big thanks from 🇨🇦. Such great episodes. The economy in the narrative and the images present credible accounts of a time long since gone. But thanks to your efforts, they will not be forgotten.

We had to recite something about Norway in the first grade in 1955. Mine was "did you know that if Norway's coastline was stretched out ..it would reach half way round the world"

"Sink the tirpitz" the entire enemy team to me in world of warships

Thanks Dr. Felton! You read about the Tirpitz and it always seems to end with a brief statement, such as "Sunk by RAF Lancasters," but it never says "Not without cost." Those Lanc crews deserve to be remembered! Those "X-Craft" men were incredibly brave as well. War. What a waste.

That footage of the final attack is pretty good and it’s mazing to see it happen. Thank you Mark! The bigger they are the harder they fall.

Started the best master class of the World . My accomplishment Doctor Felton .

The amount of ships and Planes neccesary to kill one Single Ship is hillarious

More than a hint of perpetuating the myth that the Bismark class were cutting "cutting edge" in their construction, they weren't. Germany had not constructed any "big gun" ships for many years after WWI and as such many of their design characteristics were outdated. There are many long and learned articles about this but the Bismark class hadn't even adopted the "all or nothing" armour design that other nations had. The Bismarcks had a very similar layout to the WW1 Baden-class, which carried the armour deck (with a distinctive ‘turtleback’) very low. This seemed to offer excellent protection for keeping shorter-range shellfire out of the machinery spaces and magazines, but it meant that critical services - like the power and signal cables for the gun turrets - ran above the deck armour, allowing them to be quickly cut in action. As, indeed, happened in Bismarck’s final battle where her guns were rapidly silenced without her scoring a single hit. Inadequate protection of the steering gear. In a second torpedo attack, Bismarck suffered a crippling hit on her aft port quarter which hopelessly locked her rudders in a 12° turn to port. Since the Bismarck-class was designed contrary to the “all-or-nothing” principle followed by the British and US Navies, Bismarck's armour supposedly protected the entire ship. However, the elephantine belt over her machinery and magazines had been given such a massive weight of steel there was quite a limited amount of displacement left for armour to cover her steering gear, such that though armoured in principle, the manoeuvring spaces were in effect unprotected below the waterline. Insufficient ability to steer by differential shaft rotations. One possible solution to the dilemma faced by Bismarck after the torpedo damage to her rudders would be to use differential shaft rotations. The jammed rudders forced Bismarck into a counter-clockwise circle. Stopping or backing the starboard shafts while applying full ahead on the portside shafts theoretically could counter the yawing effect of the jammed rudders, thus enabling her to hold a course - or would if Bismarck had four turbines and four propeller shafts like most of her US and UK contemporaries. However, this was not the case. Bismarck had three shafts. The centerline shaft could not counter the rudder deflection in any case. Nor could the sole portside shaft apply enough power to overcome the rudders and the drag of the starboard and centerline propellers. Wallowing helplessly in a circle Bismarck was doomed unless a friendly ship of sufficient power took her in tow to Brest or back into the Baltic. Over-engineering of the fire control system combined with the stereoscopic rangefinders meant Bismarck could offer only weak fire in her last battle. The fire control system had some 40,000 kilometres of wiring and only a handful of men in Germany could fully understand and repair it. It enabled Bismarck to score fatally on Hood when it worked, but when not, she could just have thrown rocks. Stereoscopic rangefinders tend to tire the fire controllers’ eyes quickly - the RN estimated the Germans would be dangerous only for the first ten minutes, after which their accuracy would begin to suffer. The Bismark did have radar, the FuMO 23 radar which was less advanced than the radar on the new King George V-class, but installed nonetheless. However, Bismark destroyed her own radar when from the concussion of her main guns when she fired five salvos at HMS Norfolk. A huge flaw. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Fun Fact...Many of the Tall Boy bomb craters are still visible to this day, and can be clearly seen by using Google Earth. There are two TB craters on land and seven TB craters just off shore where Turpitz was at anchor. Dr. Felton had said that three TB`s hit their target, so I`m guessing that the remaining TB`s must have detonated in deeper water, leaving no visible cratering.

The first time I heard of the tirpitz was a few years ago when Jeremy Clarkson did a documentary on the greatest raid of all at St Nazaire by the commandos because the base there had the only dry dock big enough to have the tirpitz. It’s a very good documentary and I’d highly recommend it. It then led into another documentary Clarkson did on the Arctic convoys specifically PQ-17 where the ill fated decision to scatter the ships was due to the tirpitz presence in the area

a rainy day, and Dr Mark with a battleship story... and Pete Townsend's birthday.

Now this is a well known story, however Mark you have added detail and background to the sinking that is wonderful. Thank you Bob England

My dad was in the Norwegian army and told me 45 years ago that he saw Tripitz limp into Tromso with a giant gash in the forward section of the hull. He trained in Sweden and was deployed to the far north to harass the Germans along with Soviet help. He had some great photos while in the ski patrol.