Operation Mascot

Operation Mascot was an unsuccessful British air raid conducted against the German battleship Tirpitz on 17 July 1944. The 44 dive bombers and their escort of 40 fighters were detected while en route to the battleship, and Tirpitz was protected by an artificial fog by the time they arrived over the target area. The British aircraft were unable to see their target, and did not inflict any damage on the battleship.

Background
On 3 April 1944 a force of 40 British Fairey Barracuda dive bombers escorted by 80 fighters attacked and damaged Tirpitz at her anchorage at Kaafjord in northern Norway during Operation Tungsten; these aircraft flew off aircraft carriers assigned to the Home Fleet. British intelligence assessed that the battleship could be repaired and returned to service within six months, and the Admiralty directed that further carrier-borne strikes be conducted against her.

Three raids against Kaafjord were launched but subsequently cancelled due to unfavourable weather during April and May 1944. The first of these, designated Operation Planet, began when the Home Fleet sailed from its base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands on 21 April. The fleet reached the position where its aircraft were to be flown off on the 24th of the month, but the raid had to be cancelled as agents near Kaafjord reported bad weather over the target area. The Home Fleet put to sea to attack Tirpitz again in mid-May in what was designated Operation Brawn. A strike force of 27 Barracudas escorted by Vought F4U Corsair and Supermarine Seafire fighters took off from the carriers HMS Furious (47) and HMS Victorious (R38) on 15 May, but returned to the ships without attacking after they encountered heavy cloud over Kaafjord. The next raid was designated Operation Tiger Claw, and was launched in late May. While the planned attack on Kaafjord (which would have also involved aircraft flying from Furious and Victorious) had to be cancelled due to bad weather on the 28th of the month, the carriers instead struck the port of Ålesund on 1 June and sank four merchant vessels.

Preparations
Despite the lack of success, the Admiralty and the commander of the Home Fleet, Admiral Sir Henry Moore, remained committed to attempting further carrier raids against Tirpitz. Intelligence gained from decrypting German radio messages during early July and photos taken by a British aircraft on the 12th of the month provided evidence that Tirpitz was once again fully operational and possibly preparing to put to sea. This intelligence led to a decision to launch the next attack, which was designated Operation Mascot. The timing of the raid was set for mid July, ahead of the resumption of the Arctic convoys which had been suspended in April to free up ships for the Normandy landings.

The defences of Kaafjord had been improved following Operation Tungsten. Additional radar stations and observation posts were established, and the number of smoke generators located around Tirpitz was increased. A patrol line of twelve submarines designated Group Trutz was also maintained around the island of Jan Mayen with the mission of intercepting any British carrier forces which ventured into the Norwegian Sea. The submarines assigned to this force at the time of Operation Mascot were U-347, U-361, U-365, U-387, U-636, U-716, U-742 U-921, U-956, U-965, U-992 and U-995

Attack
The British fleet departed Scapa Flow on 14 July. As Victorious had departed for other duties, the carriers involved in the attack were the recently commissioned HMS Indefatigable (R10) as well as the veteran HMS Formidable (67) and Furious. The carriers were escorted by the battleship HMS Duke of York (17), four cruisers and twelve destroyers. The German submarines in the Norwegian Sea did not make contact with the British force.

After an incident-free voyage north, the carriers launched their aircraft during the early hours of 17 July. After forming up, the bombers and fighters began their flight to Kaafjord at 01:35 (1:35 am). All but two of the 44 Barracudas dispatched were armed with powerful 1,600-pound armour-piercing bombs; the others each carried three 500-pound bombs. A force of 18 Corsairs was assigned to provide protection against German fighters, and 20 Grumman F6F Hellcats and 12 Fairey Fireflys were given the task of suppressing German anti-aircraft guns. The weather was fine throughout the flight, but clouds were sighted as the aircraft neared the target area.

The British strike force was detected by German radar 43 mi from Kaafjord at 02:00. While it took four minutes to pass a warning to Tirpitz, her protective smoke generators were in action by 02:13 and quickly covered the vessel in an artificial cloud. The battleship and anti-aircraft batteries located on the shore began firing a barrage towards the British aircraft at 02:19.

The smokescreen frustrated the British attack, and the crews of only two of the Barracudas and a pair of fighters managed to spot the battleship. While these Barracudas were able to aim their bombs visually, the 37 other dive bombers which attempted to attack the ship were forced to aim at her gun flashes. These bombing attacks took 25 minutes to complete, and while seven near misses where achieved no damage was inflicted on Tirpitz. One of the other three Barracudas attacked an anti-aircraft battery, another attempted to bomb a destroyer and the third scored a near miss on the tanker Nordmark. The Hellcats and Fireflies strafed anti-aircraft positions, and forced the small patrol craft Vp 6307 aground; she was subsequently declared a total loss. Because of the heavy smoke screen a second British raid, which had been scheduled to take off from 08:00, was cancelled. The British fleet subsequently returned to Scapa Flow.

While the Germans fired a heavy anti-aircraft barrage throughout the attack, they also achieved little success. Only one British aircraft, a Corsair, was shot down near Kaafjord, though a damaged Barracuda was forced to ditch near Formidable. Several other Barracudas were damaged but returned to their carriers.

Submarine actions
While the attack on Kaafjord was being conducted, the commander of German submarines in the Norwegian sea ordered Group Trutz to take up new positions to the south-east of Jan Mayen. It was hoped that this redeployment would allow the submarines to intercept the British ships as they returned to Scapa Flow. The Admiralty had expected that this redeployment would take place, and maritime patrol aircraft from No. 18 Group RAF were directed to sweep the Home Fleet's route back to its base.

The British patrol aircraft prevented Group Trutz from attacking the Hime Fleet. At 21:48 on 17 July a Consolidated B-24 Liberator assigned to No. 86 Squadron detected and sank U-361; none of the submarine's crew were rescued. Eight minutes later a No. 210 Squadron Consolidated PBY Catalina piloted by Flying Officer John Cruickshank spotted U-347 on the surface. While the submarine's anti-aircraft guns damaged the Catalina, killing the navigator and wounding Cruickshank and three other crewmen, the pilot pressed home his attack and sank U-347 with depth charges. The Catalina managed to return to base, and Cruickshank was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action. That night the Home Fleet sailed through the gap in the German patrol line which had been opened with the sinking of the two submarines.

Attacks on the German submarines continued for the next few days. On the morning of 18 July a German reconnaissance aircraft spotted the Home Fleet, but the German Naval Command Norway assessed that it was heading north-east to launch another strike. Accordingly, Group Trutz was ordered to sail north, and four additional submarines were sortied from Narvik to guard the approaches to Alten and Vest fjords. On the evening of the 18th U-968, which was one of the four boats which had sailed from Narvik, was attacked twice by Liberators; she shot down the first attacker, but was damaged by the second and had to return to port. U-716 also suffered severe damage from a Liberator attack at 19:15 on 18 July but managed to return to Hammerfest. At about 23:00 U-716 was seriously damaged by a Short Sunderland, but also survived. Three other submarines were attacked on 20 July, but only one suffered any damage. Following these actions the commander of submarines in the Norway area decided to dissolve Group Trutz as it was too vulnerable to air attack; all but four of the surviving submarines returned to port, with the remaining boats being ordered to sail north so that they were out of range of the British aircraft. The final attack on the submarines of the former Group Trutz was made on 23 July when a No. 330 Squadron Sunderland damaged U-992 near Vestfjord.

Aftermath
Following the attack the British learned from intercepted German radio messages and reports provided by Secret Intelligence Service agents that Tirpitz had not suffered any significant damage. Admiral Moore blamed the failure of Operation Mascot on the shortcomings of the Barracuda dive bombers. As the slow speed of these aircraft gave the defenders of Kaafjord enough time to cover Tirpitz in a smoke screen between the time incoming raids were detected and their arrival over the target area, Moore concluded that further attacks using these aircraft would be futile. However, the Admiralty was hopeful that a strategy of repeatedly striking Kaafjord over a 48 hour period would wear down the defences, and Moore agreed to attempt another attack. Consideration was given to flying fast and long-ranged de Havilland Mosquito bombers off the carriers in an attempt to achieve surprise, but none of these land-based aircraft could be spared from supporting the Allied bombing of Germany.

The next attack on Kaafjord took place in late August. During Operation Goodwood aircraft flying from three fleet carriers and two escort carriers conducted four raids between 22 and 29 August. The attackers found Tirpitz covered in smoke on each occasion, and only managed to inflict light damage on the battleship. These unsuccessful attacks cost the British 17 aircraft and 40 airmen killed. In addition, the frigate HMS Bickerton (K466) was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine U-354; the same boat also inflicted heavy damage on the escort carrier HMS Nabob (D77) before being destroyed by British escort vessels.

Following the failure of Operation Goodwood the Admiralty accepted that Barracudas were too slow to be effective against the Kaafjord area. As a result, the task of attacking the battleship was transferred to the Royal Air Force's heavy bombers. A raid on 15 September (Operation Paravane) inflicted irreparable damage, and Tirpitz was finally sunk with heavy loss of life by another heavy bomber attack on 12 November.