The Tirpitz, along with her sister ship, the Bismarck, was the largest battleship in the German Navy. On 16th January 1942 she sailed from Wilhelmshaven for Norway where she remained for the next 18 months.

On 6th September 1943, the Tirpitz and the Scharnhorst and ten German destroyers bombarded the Spitzbergen weather station. However, on 20th September she was badly damaged in Altenfjord by a Royal Navy midget submarine.

On 3rd April 1944 the Tirpitz was bombed by Royal Navy carrier aircraft. Five months later she was attacked by a force of Avro Lancaster and was badly damaged after being hit by Tallboy bombs. She was moved to Tromso but was sank by another attack from the Royal Air Force on 12th November 1944.