Operation Source

Operation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and Lützow – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines. The attacks took place in September 1943 at Kåfjord and succeeded in keeping Tirpitz out of action for at least six months.

Operation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and Lützow – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines. The attacks took place in September 1943 at Kåfjord and succeeded in keeping Tirpitz out of action for at least six months. ==Background== On September 12, 1943, in conditions of low clouds and rain, Soviet pilot Leonid Elkin found the Tirpitz anchorage in Altenfjord, descended under the edge of the clouds and passed above it three times under heavy anti-aircraft fire at an altitude of 50 meters, achieving high-quality photography of the target. The resulting photographs were immediately transferred to the British Admiralty, which, based on them, prepared a new operation. The concept for the attack was developed by Commander Cromwell-Varley, with support of Max Horton, Flag Officer Submarines, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The operation was directed from Royal Navy shore establishment HMS Varbel, located in Port Bannatyne on the Isle of Bute. Varbel (named after Commanders Varley and Bell, designers of the X-Craft prototype) was the headquarters for the 12th Submarine Flotilla (midget submarines). It had been the Kyles Hydropathic Hotel, a luxury 88-bedroom hotel, and had been requisitioned by the Admiralty to serve as the flotilla's headquarters. All X-craft training and preparation for X-craft attacks was co-ordinated from Varbel. Intelligence contributing to the attack on Tirpitz was collected and sent to the Royal Navy by the Norwegian resistance, especially brothers Torbjørn Johansen and Einar Johansen. ==Aftermath== Tirpitz was heavily damaged. While not in danger of sinking, she took on over 1,400 tons of water and suffered significant mechanical damage. The first mine exploded abreast of turret Caesar, and the second mine detonated off the port bow. A fuel oil tank was ruptured, shell plating was torn, a large indentation was made in the bottom of the ship, and bulkheads in the double bottom buckled. Some of water flooded the ship in fuel tanks and void spaces in the double bottom of the port side, which caused a list of one to two degrees, which was balanced by counter-flooding on the starboard side. The flooding damaged all of the turbo-generators in generator room No. 2, and all apart from one generator in generator room No. 1 were disabled by broken steam lines or severed power cables. Turret Dora was thrown from its bearings and could not be rotated; this was particularly significant, as there were no heavy-lift cranes in Norway powerful enough to lift the turret and place it back on its bearings. The ship's two Arado Ar 196 floatplanes were thrown by the explosive concussion and completely destroyed. Repairs were conducted by the repair ship ; historians William Garzke and Robert Dulin remarked that the successful repair effort was "one of the most notable feats of naval engineering during the Second World War." Repairs lasted until 2 April 1944; full-speed trials were scheduled for the following day in Altafjord. Just after repairs concluded, Tirpitz was damaged by British carrier-launched dive bombers in Operation Tungsten on 3 April 1944. On 12 November 1944, the ship was sunk by Avro Lancaster bombers in Operation Catechism. ==In popular culture== The operation was later portrayed in the 1955 war film Above Us the Waves, featuring John Mills, which was based on both Operation "Source" and the earlier Operation Title human torpedo attack on Tirpitz. The 1969 war film Submarine X-1 is loosely based on Operation "Source". A facsimile of the operation is featured in the 2003 video game Hidden & Dangerous 2 as a campaign mission. ==See also== XE-class submarine Operation Struggle, another midget submarine attack ==Further reading== Tirpitz in Norway; X-craft midget submarines raid the fjords, Operation Source 1943 (2019); Osprey Raid Series #51. Osprey Publishing. Author: Angus Konstam. ISBN (paperback): 978-1-4728-3585-7; (e-book): 978-1-4728-3586-4

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