Book description
A gripping account of the epic hunt for Hitler's most terrifying
battleship - the legendary Tirpitz - and the brave men who risked their
lives to attack and destroy this most potent symbol of the Nazi's
fearsome war machine.
Tirpitz was the pride of Hitler's navy. To Churchill, she was 'the
Beast', a menace to Britain's supply lines and a threat to the convoys
sustaining Stalin's armies. Tirpitz was said to be unsinkable,
impregnable -no other target attracted so much attention.
In total 36 major Allied operations were launched against her,
including desperately risky missions by human torpedoes and midget
submarines and near-suicidal bombing raids. Yet Tirpitz stayed afloat.
It was not until November 1944 that she was finally destroyed by RAF
Lancaster Bombers flown by 617 Squadron - the Dambusters - in a
gruelling mission that tested the very limits of human endurance.
The man who led the raid - Willie Tait - was one of the most remarkable
figures of the war, flying missions almost continuously right from the
start. Until now his deeds have been virtually unknown. With exclusive
co-operation from Tait's family, Patrick Bishop reveals the
extraordinary achievement of a man who shunned the spotlight but whose
name will be renowned for generations to come.
The book is a magnificent, accessibly written wartime adventure,
perfect for fans of Ben Macintyre's 'Agent Zigzag' or 'Operation
Mincemeat'. 'This is a great wartime story, gung-ho in its praise of
the men who finally sank Tirpitz, yet compassionate towards her
courageous crew. Already a bestselling war historian with his books on
the RAF, Target Tirpitz proves that Bishop has sea legs, and this book
should add another fleet of fans to his existing army of admirers'
Sunday Telegraph
'The story of the successive British efforts to destroy [the Tirpitz]
is remarkable indeed, and Bishop deploys all his splendid narrative
gifts to do it justice' Max Hastings, Sunday Times
'Spellbinding…While he is adept at explaining the strategic picture it
is in his intense description of set-pieces and of the heroic dedication
of their human participants that Bishop excels' Daily Express
'Patrick Bishop wisely concentrates his splendid narrative on the many
ingenious and extremely hazardous British attempts to destroy [the
Tirpitz]…Bishop does this tale extraordinary justice…Elegantly written
and exhaustively researched, Target Tirpitz is a fitting memorial to all
those who perished in this relatively unknown chapter of naval warfare.'
Daily Telegraph
'The story of the successive British efforts to destroy (the Tirpitz)
is remarkable indeed, and Bishop deploys all his splendid narrative
gifts to do it justice' Sunday Times Patrick Bishop is the author of
the critically acclaimed and best-selling 'Fighter Boys', 'Bomber Boys',
'3 Para' and 'Ground Truth'. Previously, he was a foreign correspondent
for over twenty years, reporting from conflicts all over the world.
