Operation Obviate was an unsuccessful British air raid of World War II which targeted the German battleship Tirpitz. It was conducted by Royal Air Force heavy bombers on 29 October 1944, and sought to destroy the damaged battleship after she moved to a new anchorage near Tromsø in northern Norway.
Tirpitz at her mooring off the island of Håkøya in November 1944
Six Tallboy bombs prior to being loaded on No. 9 Squadron aircraft in October or November 1944
Part of the wreckage of the No. 617 Squadron Lancaster which made a crash landing in Sweden, photographed in 2015
German battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine (navy) prior to and during the Second World War. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Kaiserliche Marine, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in 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-centimetre (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.
A recognition drawing of Tirpitz prepared by the US Navy
Recognition drawing prepared by the US Navy
Tirpitz sliding down the slipway at her launch
Tirpitz camouflaged in the Fættenfjord in Norway