Tirpitz in Faettenfjorden Norway. Winter 1942

[Waspie]

'Fraid not Tim. In September 1943, she was also attacked by midget submarines. The attack severely damaged the ship....

Added to that were the waiting surface ships in the North Sea just waiting for her to sail. In addition to the X Craft, there was a submarine on permanent station waiting for the big boys to try and run for it. There was a report I read donkeys years ago when in the RN about one occasion one of the pocket battleships attempted to leave, destroyer escort, Q ship etc. The duty on station submarine sank the Q Ship with a six salvo of torpedoes and the 'fleet' returned to the Fjord and never moved again!!

Thanks Doug. and Tim.

Doug. Thanks for the question.

Tirpitz had many colour schemes.
She spent most of her short life in the Norwegian Fjords. 'A Fleet in being', She had to be constantly watched by the Allies in case she broke out in to the Atlantic and attacked convoys.
Because she was mostly at anchor, she had to be painted to match the shoreline which she hugged. Hence the changing colours to match the seasons.

I spotted these patterns on the internet. Take a look at WW2 German Battleship Camouflage. Some weird painting. At one time Tirpitz was painted like a row of houses! Now there's a challenge!

Cheers chaps.
Ron

Ron, very many thanks for that. I did wonder. Many years ago I did a NATO exercise in the Norwegian Fjords with smaller FAC's. One of the sorties we conducted was called a CAMEX or camouflage exercise! The vessels would hide using whatever they could to disguise their presence. Natural foliage, Cam Nets etc. Very very effective. We would then fly in the Fjords and attempt to locate them. Not so easy as it sounds in reality. The one thing that we discovered they had problems disguising were the fore and aft mooring ropes/hawsers.
I could see it being very difficult for the larger vessels to apply netting and foliage system. Your reply answers that nicely. I thank you.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Didn’t know that Ron. Just had a read up on it, very interesting. Mind you, as they were coming in from underneath, and the position of the Tirpitz was well established, the Camo was probably not that useful Would have come in handy for the earlier 1942 planned (but not carried through) chariot manned torpedo attack
Still an interesting and well executed painting challenge though.

By strange coincidence I was tasked with testing a centrifuge at Thomas Broadbent and sons in Huddersfield back in the day. The machines were built in the same facility that Broadbent used to build the improved XE class subs that replaced the X class used in that attack. Now this factory was in a built up area surrounded by streets of terraced houses. When Broadbent needed more room to build these subs the MOD simply commandeered the next street along and expanded the factory over it. The facility I was testing in still had the street name signs on the wall and the coal cellars in the floor!

 

[spanner570]

I've read plenty of stuff both on German Capital ships and British midget submarines (X Craft) So when my wife and I were last touring the West Coast of Scotland, we hopped on a ferry down the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Bute. Just up the coast from the Island's 'Capital' Rothsay is a memorial to all those lost in X Craft, complete with the names. There is also remnants of the operating site. The deep waters off Bute was the 'secret' training area for these small craft. It is sobering to read just how many submariners were lost whilst training in these unique submarines.

It is also very strange to be having a butty and a brew by the water's edge and see a nuclear submarine (Complete with a dozen escort craft) come gliding past down the Firth from Faslane.

Ron

 

[Si Benson]

Superb result Ron

Seeing it with the backdrop shows how the camouflage works

 

[Waspie]

I've read plenty of stuff both on German Capital ships and British midget submarines (X Craft) So when my wife and I were last touring the West Coast of Scotland, we hopped on a ferry down the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Bute. Just up the coast from the Island's 'Capital' Rothsay is a memorial to all those lost in X Craft, complete with the names. There is also remnants of the operating site. The deep waters off Bute was the 'secret' training area for these small craft. It is sobering to read just how many submariners were lost whilst training in these unique submarines.

It is also very strange to be having a butty and a brew by the water's edge and see a nuclear submarine (Complete with a dozen escort craft) come gliding past down the Firth from Faslane.

Ron

My old squadrons operating area!! One of main roles was the protection of the access to Faslane, the nuclear submarines base in the Clyde.
The job of the Sea Kings was to sanitise the water as they come and go. (Keeping the Rooskies away). I'm assuming the escort craft you saw must be doing the same job these days as the SK squadron is long gone and not replaced.
Oh!! Zavaroni's chip shop in Rothesay was the place. Daughter was a famous singer in the 70's I believe!!

 

[Tim Marlow]

Never ceases to amaze me what I learn on here……so I’ve now learned Lena Zavaroni’s dad owned a chip shop. Outstanding!

 

[Lee W]

The usual high standard of modelling and creativity Ron... excellent!