Flipping Over a WW2 German Capital Ship with an Earthquake

Over the icy waters of the Arctic Circle, near the secluded fjord of Tromsø in northern Norway, thirty British Lancasters, piloted by Britain’s finest airmen, dove into position on one of the most crucial missions of their careers.

Their sights were set on the German Battleship Tirpitz, a monolithic floating citadel and the Third Reich’s crown jewel. Recognized as a maritime powerhouse throughout Europe, Hitler lauded it as “the Pride of the German Navy,” while Winston Churchill ominously dubbed it “the Beast.”

To Churchill, this behemoth was not just a ship but a supreme threat to the heart of the Allies. The German menace was tasked with guarding the Baltic and preventing any supplies from reaching the Soviets, keeping the Allies fractured.

Its continued existence compelled Churchill to risk his nation’s most elite aviators in a bid to neutralize it even as it hid in the waters of the Arctic Circle.

Yet, Tirpitz was not bound to be an easy target. After enduring over 30 large-scale Allied attacks, it was still alive, earning the title of an “unsinkable battleship.”

However, on November 12, 1944, the moon’s gleam on the Tromsø fjord was eclipsed by the British Lancaster bombers. The distant hum became a deafening roar for the Germans on board Tirpitz and along the coast, as they scrambled to their anti-aircraft batteries.

As they manned their positions, the skies ignited in a tempest of FLAK and explosive fury. Amidst that maelstrom, the Tirpitz faced a force unlike anything it had seen before:

The Lancasters’ hulls were loaded with 12000-pound ‘earthquake bombs’ called “Tallboys.” A new weapon with terrible power. If they couldn’t sink the Tirpitz, nothing would.