German Battleship Tirpitz
Handmade pens and keyrings using authentic decking that was salvaged from the Tirpitz: a Bismarck-class battleship
Commissioned on the 25th of February 1941 and armed with 4 twin 15 inch gun turrets, the Tirpitz was the largest battleship in Europe and had a compliment of over 2500 souls.
In January 1942 she deployed to Norway to attack any convoys heading for the Soviet Union and to deter an Allied invasion of Norway. She also acted as a ‘fleet in being’, forcing the British to retain significant naval forces in the area to contain her.
The British were determined to neutralise the Tirpitz and made numerous attempts to do so over several years, before finally succeeding. On the 12th November 1944 during the air raid ‘Operation Catechism’, 32 Lancaster bombers scored 3 direct hits which caused the Tirpitz to capsize near Tromsø in Norway.