On the morning of 11 March 1943, Fw190s from IV./JG5 took off
from their base to escort the mighty battleship Tirpitz and a
screening fleet of escort destroyers and torpedo boats, at the
start of a voyage north to Bogen Bay during Operation Rostock.
Designed to escape the increasingly frequent British bombing
raids, Tirpitz would leave southern Norway to
join an impressive German naval battle fleet gathering near Narvik,
one of the largest German naval bases in Norway. Together with
the Scharnhorst, the heavy cruiser Lützow, and the light
cruiser Nürnberg, they would pose a grave threat to the
Arctic convoys. After repeated attempts to sink her, Tirpitz
was eventually destroyed by the RAF at her anchorage in Altenfiord,
12 November 1944.
Signed by Tirpitz survivor Willi Volsing, and JG5 pilot Kurt
Schulze. |