Operation Tungsten was a World War II Royal Navy air raid that targeted the German battleship Tirpitz. The operation sought to damage or destroy Tirpitz at her base in Kaafjord in the far north of Norway before she could become fully operational again following a period of repairs and potentially attack convoys carrying supplies to the Soviet Union. After four months of training and preparations, the British Home Fleet sailed on 30 March 1944 and aircraft launched from five aircraft carriers struck Kaafjord on 3 April (bomb preparations pictured). The raid achieved surprise, with the British aircraft meeting little opposition. Fifteen bombs hit the battleship, and strafing by fighter aircraft inflicted heavy casualties on her gun crews. Four British aircraft and nine airmen were lost during the operation. The damage inflicted during the attack was not sufficient to sink or disable Tirpitz, but 122 members of her crew were killed and 316 wounded. The British conducted further carrier raids against Tirpitz between April and August 1944, but none were successful. Tirpitz was eventually disabled and then sunk by Royal Air Force heavy bombers in late 1944.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tungsten
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1043:
Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England, the last king of the House of Wessex. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Confessor
1895:
The libel trial instigated by Irish author Oscar Wilde began, eventually resulting in Wilde's arrest, trial and imprisonment on charges of gross indecency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde
1922:
Joseph Stalin became the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin
1961:
An individual Leadbeater's possum, thought to have been extinct for over 50 years, was discovered in New South Wales, Australia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadbeater%27s_possum
1996:
A U.S. Air Force CT-43 crashed into a mountainside while attempting an instrument approach to Dubrovnik Airport in Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and all the other 34 people on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Croatia_USAF_CT-43_crash
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snail mail: (retronym) Postal mail, especially as compared to email. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snail_mail
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
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