Attack on the battleship Tirpitz by submarine K-21
1942 World War II attack on the German battleship Tirpitz / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On 5 July 1942, the German battleship Tirpitz, sailing as part of a squadron under the command of Admiral Otto Schniewind to intercept convoy PQ 17, was attacked by the Soviet submarine K-21, commanded by Captain Second Rank Nikolai Lunin. The submarine fired four torpedoes from a considerable distance. The result of the attack was not directly observed by Lunin, but the sounds of explosions were noted, which he interpreted as the result of torpedo hits. This was the basis for Soviet press claims that the battleship had been damaged. However, no torpedo hits were noted on the German squadron, and moreover, the attack itself was not detected. The German ships continued on their original course for approximately five hours, after which they turned back due to the inherent riskiness of the operation and the futility of continuing it against a convoy that had effectively ceased to exist as a unified entity.
Attack on the battleship Tirpitz by the submarine K-21 | |||||||
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Part of World War II | |||||||
Battleship Tirpitz in the Norwegian Altafjord | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Soviet Union | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Nikolai Lunin | Otto Schniewind | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
submarine K-21 | battleship Tirpitz, heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper, 7 destroyers and 2 torpedo boats | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
no casualties | no casualties |
In the Soviet Union, literature aimed at the masses was dominated by an opinion of the success of the attack. This was based on the Sovinformburo report and wartime press articles. The historiography of foreign countries initially concurred that the Tirpitz had not been struck by torpedoes, given the absence of documentary evidence attesting to the success of the attack. This evidence was not present in German documents or the memoirs of the participants on the German side. Following the return of the squadron, the battleship Tirpitz did not require repairs. A British-led team, including a Soviet specialist, conducted an examination of the hull of the battleship, which had been sunk in 1944. The examination revealed no evidence of torpedo hits or repairs on the ship. A contemporary reconstruction, based on the fullest available evidence, demonstrates that the attack had no theoretical possibility of success, given that the torpedoes were launched from a distance exceeding their maximum range. Nevertheless, the event is of significant historical importance to the Russian Navy, as it represents the only instance of Soviet submariners launching an attack against a heavy (larger that a destroyer) enemy warship.