Operation Mascot
Operation Mascot was an unsuccessful British carrier air raid conducted against the German battleship Tirpitz at her anchorage in Kaafjord, Norway, on 17 July 1944. A force of 44 British dive bombers and 40 fighters took off from three aircraft carriers in the early hours of 17 July. Few of the British airmen were able to spot the battleship, and their attacks did not inflict any significant damage. German losses were limited to a patrol craft, and three British aircraft were destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
About Operation Mascot in brief
Operation Mascot was an unsuccessful British carrier air raid conducted against the German battleship Tirpitz at her anchorage in Kaafjord, Norway, on 17 July 1944. A force of 44 British dive bombers and 40 fighters took off from three aircraft carriers in the early hours of 17 July. Few of the British airmen were able to spot the battleship, and their attacks did not inflict any significant damage. German losses were limited to a patrol craft, and three British aircraft were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. A group of German submarines attempted to intercept the carrier force as it returned to base, without success. Two U-boats were sunk near the carriers by British patrol aircraft and several others were damaged. In August 1944, the Royal Navy conducted Operation Goodwood, four more carrier raids against TirPitz which also failed and the task of sinking the battleships was transferred to the Royal Air Force. The battleship was put out of service for several months while repairs were completed. The commander of Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, placed a priority on returning the battlesyship to service so that Allied naval resources could continue to be used. On 6 March 1942, torpedo bombers flying from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious attacked the battlesion while she was attempting to intercept Convoy PQ 12 but did not achieve any hits. On 23 September 1943, two British X-class midget submarines penetrated defences around the battlesship at her main anchorage at KaafJord in northern Norway during Operation Source, and placed explosive charges in the water beneath her.
This attack caused extensive damage to Tir pitz, putting her out of Service for six months. The British military sought to damage or destroy the battles ship before she could re-enter service. The Home Fleet’s first attack on Kaaf jord, which was designated Operation Tungsten, was conducted on 3 April 1944 and involved five aircraft carriers. The two strike forces of 20 Fairey Barracuda dive bombers escorted by 40 fighters were not detected during their flights to Kaaf Jord. The ship was hit by 15 bombs, but the ship was not badly damaged. Nevertheless, the damage inflicted on Tirpitzer’s superstructure, armament and engines was sufficient to put her out of service for several months. The Allies were forced to keep a powerful force of warships with the British Home Fleet, and capital ships accompanied most convoys part of the way to the Soviet Union. To counter this threat, the Admiralty directed the fleet to begin planning such a raid in late 1943. In April 1944, British intelligence determined that the damage caused by the raid had been repaired. This meant that further air attacks could be avoided, and British officers at this time ordered further carrier strikes against the First Sea. Sea. Lord Andrew Cunningham resisted this order on the grounds that further carrier raids were unlikely to be successful as defences were reinforced and weather conditions would have been reinforced. He hoped that further attacks would increase the period the Battleship was out of service.
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This page is based on the article Operation Mascot published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
