Gehringer, R./Bonomi, A. Battleship TIRPITZ. Volume 1: The "beast" is born - 1936/october - 1941/may

This first volume addresses both building and fitting-out of the largest and most powerful European battleship of WWII. For this purpose, hitherto unpublished photographic material in high quality and quantity illustrates the life of this once proud and mighty warship.

After years of research and the evaluation of historic documents such as the numerous war diaries of ships and other administrative bodies involved nearly the entire range of photos could be associated to certain locations and time frames. Therefore the photos are chronologically arranged as if viewed in a time-lapse; from the ships launch in Wilhelmshaven, its fitting-out and transfer to the Baltic Sea via the narrow Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal (Kiel Canal) and Hitlers visit and inspection of the ship in Gdynia (renamed Gotenhafen by the occupying Germans).

The photos are supplemented by detailed technical information and perspective illustrations depicting individual stages of fitting-out and camouflage scheme, plus maps showing the Wilhelmshaven and Gotenhafen port facilities and transfer routes in between. Furthermore, photos of past and present are shown side-by-side for comparison purposes in order to identify the individual berths and anchorages of the largest German battleship in service.

Despite having been a German warship, the battleship TIRPITZ and of course her famous sistership BISMARCK still receives worldwide attention today. For this reason the German texts and captions are accompanied by their respective English translations to make this historic period of the German Kriegsmarine linguistically applicable to non-German readers.

The battleship TIRPITZ is a presumably never-ending topic of interest with the numerous national and international publications which have appeared in recent decades. Why should it therefore be necessary to return once again to the story of a sunken ship from a very dark period of the last century? Simple: because people today are still fascinated by mighty warships, especially when these are surrounded by legends. April 01, 2014 - the start-up this series - marks the 75th anniversary of the launching.

Like many others of their generation, the authors were deeply impressed by the last two capital warships of the German navy and became fascinated by their fate. During more than a decade of research on the spot and in archives, they unearthed numerous documents which were hitherto less familiar or in many cases unknown. The idea thus arose to share this historic material with other people such as model builders, relatives of survivors or historians rather than keeping it to themselves. Moreover, there are still many people all around the world who have a particular fascination with ships like BISMARCK and TIRPITZ and their brutally sleek appearance. Finally, the fact that these ships epitomise mankinds mystic preoccupation with one against the rest may have played its part in the decision finding process.

Although the heydays of battleships was almost over at the end of the Thirties in the last Century since the aircraft carrier was now to become the dominant means of naval warfare , these German ships influenced the strategic and operational tactics of the Allies significantly. They were under constant pressure to keep several heavy units ready for combat against them. And what might have happened to allied convoys if both battleships had succeeded in proceeding to the Atlantic Ocean together? But it was too late for this scenario: when TIRPITZ became fit for operational use in September 1941, her famous sistership was already resting on the bottom of the Atlantic at a depth of almost 16,000ft, hunted down by dozens of British ships and numerous aircraft several months previously.

On the basis of the enormous range of valuable photos, it has been possible to define relationships between them and historical events and with the support of detailed knowledge of geographical locations to produce a chronological sequence of the images. A minute evaluation of the old pictures was essential, because some of them turned out to reflect what can be found in war diaries or other official documents. Eventually, this made it feasible for the current series of books to illustrate the lifespan of the two ships with regard to precise dates and locations. Furthermore, the authors have given special attention to making the captions understandable for both the naval expert and for readers with less experience in this field.

In historic documentation of this kind, it is inevitable that symbols and symbolism typical of the time are made visible. However, it would be an absolute misconception to deduce from this that the authors have any sympathy for Nazi ideology. The presentation of such symbols in no way detracts from the fact that these sea-going steel giants as a means of power still hold a certain fascination, despite the inhuman and political system behind them.

Index:
1936 Oct. 24: start of construction at Wilhelmshaven, Slipway II
1939 April 01: launch of TIRPITZ in Bauhafen (harbour basin)
1939 April 01: transfer to floating dock
1939 April to 1941 Feb.: fitting-out at Kriegsmarinewerft
1940 late Sept.: second transfer to floating dock
1940 late Sept. to early Oct.: floating dock
1940 2nd week of Oct.: back to Bauhafen
1940 Oct. on 1941 Jan.: Bauhafen Südkaje (southern quay)
1941 Jan., 2nd half: Dampfprobenplatz (quay for machinery trials)
1941 Jan., 2nd half to early Feb.: Scheer-Hafen
1941 2nd week of Feb: back to Bauhafen
1941 Feb.: final fitting-out at Bauhafen (Südkaje)
1941 Feb. 25: commissioning at Bauhafen
1941 Feb. 27: second transfer to Dampfprobenplatz
1941 Feb. 27 to March 09: Dampfprobenplatz
1941 March 09: moving to Einfahrt III
1941 March 09: transit to Brunsbüttel roadstead
1941 March 11 and 12: eastbound to Kiel via KWK (Kiel Canal)
1941 March 12 and 13: Kieler Förde and Bay of Strande
1941 March 13 and 14: transit from Kiel to Gotenhafen
1941 March 14 to 20: moored at Seebahnhof (Ghf)
1941 March 21 to April 18: first training phase, eastern Baltic
1941 late April: fitting forward rangefinders / two 4in AA guns I
1941 May 05: inspection by Hitler at Seebahnhof
Additional features:

Contemporary technical report on launching the TIRPITZ
Reproduction of actual admission ticket for launching ceremony
Naming ceremony speech for battleship TIRPITZ
Images of actual paints according to ABB 31 from 1941
Inside the ship and life on board
Commanding Officer Topp and First Artillery Officer Weber
The TIRPITZ floatplane, the Arado 196
Wilhelmshaven, past and present
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal / Kiel Canal, past and present
Gotenhafen, past and present
Maps:

1936 Map of Wilhelmshaven
1939 April 01: harbour map, moving into floating dock
1941 March 09 to 12: route map from Wilhelmshaven to Kiel
1941 March 13 and 14: route map from Kiel to Gotenhafen
1940 Map of Gotenhafen

Graphics:
1939 April 01: tug movements during launching
1940 Sept. and Oct.: camouflage for Bauhafen / floating dock
1941 late Feb.: fitting-out status shortly before commissioning
1941 May 05: Hitlers inspection on board TIRPITZ
1941 from early May: fitting-out status, Seebahnhof (Ghf)