Maybe a dash of North Atlantic may spice things up.
Background History[]
The German Battleship Tirpitz is one of two Bismarck-class battleships built by the Kriegsmarine as a part of Hitler's ambitious project of rebuilding Germany's military.
The Tirpitz was ordered as Erstaz Schleswig-Holstein as a replacement for the pre-dreadnought Schleswig-Holstein under the contract name "G". The ship was laid down during November 2, 1936; was launched during April 1, 1939; and was commissioned during February 25, 1941.
Launched right after the sinking of the Bismarck, Tirpitz was deployed to the Baltic Sea to avoid a break out attempt by the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Although, after 1942, the ship was mostly confined to the Norwegian fjords in order to keep her from suffering the same fate as her "brother"[1]. Her mere presence was a very powerful deterrent to the merchant shipping lanes of the allies.
During September 7, 1943; the Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and several other warships bombarded fortifications on Spitzbergen. This was the first and only time the ship fired its main battery at a surface target. And during September 22, 1943; several X Craft Midget Submarines managed to successfully attack and deal damage to the Tirpitz. Extensive repairs were made that lasted up until April 2, 1944.
The ship was constantly hunted down by relentless swarms of British aircraft. All of this was for nought, however, as the British eventually sank her during November 12, 1944; with the dropping of 29 Tallboy bombs on her with 2 of them being direct hits and one near miss, which caused her to ultimately capsize. Pieces of the ship are still being sold today (as of the writing of this fact; August 28,2020) by a certain Norwegian company[2].
Overview[]
Tirpitz is one of three unique battleships in the game. An intricate battleship, designed to be prepared for every contingency. The Northern seas were her home. She adds a dash of spicy North Atlantic to the rather stale skirmishes of battleships.
The Tirpitz was a German battleship featured in the game. Like most of the other German ships and unlike other nations' battleships, it has torpedo launchers. Hence its nickname the "Torpitz" or "Derpitz".
The ship can only be obtained by various Containers or with real money.
Tactics[]
Tirpitz is arguably the the seventh most lethal ship in the game behind H41, Yamato, Musashi, Montana, Hood and Missouri. She however is hands down the second most lethal within 2.5 km (courtesy of Hood and her even more broken stats) due to her high alpha damage with flags and HP that gives even Montana a run for its money. Combine this with her good secondaries, torpedoes and a good captain, she is guaranteed to kill any ship in a one on one withn brawling range. In extreme cases, she can even down 2 top tier ships with no problem.
When playing as a Tirpitz
Due to the fact that the ship is a brawler, it excels at fighting any ship at point blank range. Make good use of every quirk on this battleship. Just like a Swiss Army knife, this leviathan is a jack-of-all-trades.
Out of most of the battleships within the game, the Tirpitz behaves more of a cruiser. Its high mobility, satisfactory maneuverability and high firepower makes it suitable for numerous purposes. The Tirpitz can either play the role of the team's flagship or a raiding hunter.
The ship boasts very high HP, meaning that it can quite take a beating and last longer in the battle. The ship also has an impressively tight shell dispersion amongst most battleships, accuracy that the Iowa class battleships and the Montana could only dream of. However, fighting at long ranges can still be exasperating because the ship only has eight main guns. The ship also has poor Anti Aircraft Armament compared to the Bismarck even though it historically has more AA. Another thing of note is that due to her sloping armor along with her turtleback and the higher accuracy of many other BB guns, when bow on she can survive even the most heavy barrages for a long period of time. However, if you see an enemy Hood, proceed with caution. She also has torpedoes and could even fight in very close range encounters slightly better in fact. Take a more passive approach, and only slug it out when you can at least ensure your survival or the destruction of the Hood.
When playing alongside a Tirpitz
Offering the Tirpitz with a helping hand is greatly appreciated. Due to the aforementioned only above average AA and having only eight guns, the ship requires a well needed escorting. Be careful, however, the Tirpitz does have torpedoes, and a player blocking their path will very much render their convenience and power useless.
As a destroyer, you can draw fire away from an ally Tirpitz as it fires on the rival ships. Also your torpedoes can deal further flooding and damage to the ships that already fell victim to the Tirpitz's torpedoes.
As a cruiser, you can weaken ships with your High Explosive shells as the Tirpitz fires punishing rounds of shells and a salvo of torpedoes. Also, try to eliminate any destroyers that are trying to sneak up on your ally Tirpitz.
As an Aircraft Carrier, you can send in waves of squadrons and confuse enemies as the Tirpitz destroys enemies that have taken significant damage.
As a fellow Battleship, you can provide AA cover for an ally Tirpitz; and, with the combined damage from your primary guns and with that of the Tirpitz, can surely obliterate any enemy that stands in your path.
When up against a Tirpitz
When facing this ship, avoid engaging it at close ranges. Its high firepower and torpedoes can certainly destroy any warship foolish enough to engage it without a plan.
A coordinated and focused air strike would be a solution in neutralizing a Tirpitz, assuming that they are not escorted. Because of their excellence in brawling, fighting them at close quarters is a death sentence. Even if a player is able to sink a skillfully controlled Tirpitz when brawling, they would have suffered very heavy damage which limits their ability at helping the team, if they ever get to sink them at all. Destroyers also must take caution. Aside from its strong secondaries, the ship also does have torpedoes. It may be rare for a destroyer to get sunk by a battleship's torpedoes, but it is better not to underestimate the chances.
The natural enemies of a Tirpitz are other Battleships, namely the ones that outgun the ship. Though the ship does have high accuracy, its low number of main guns means that it will struggle with long range engagements.
Advantages and Disadvantages[]
Advantages
- The ship has excellent HP, rivaling even that of the Yamato.
- The ship is equipped with Torpedoes, and is only one of three in game battleships to have said weapon.
- The ship has excellent main gun firepower and decent secondaries.
- The ship comes pre equipped with a camouflage.
- High mobility and maneuverability comparable to that of a cruiser.
- is the only ship asides KMS Scharnhorst to have all the battleship weapons (interceptors, torpedo launchers, Main and secondary guns, anti AA)
Disadvantages
- The ship has low main armament damage.
- The ship has sub par Anti Aircraft Armament.
- Unlike its brother Bismarck, the ship does not have the clever main armament quirk that gives additional damage from flags.
Trivia[]
- Right between the ship's funnel and superstructure is a box called a "Kartoffellast", which translates to "Potato Locker"[3].
- This is a reference to the actual potato locker which held a ships potato supplies. Until the early 1980's potatoes were a staple of ship diet as they had everything except some vitamins and protein based nutrients which is easily supplemented with bacon and eggs.
- Speaking of which there was an amusing albeit unconfirmed story where the Nelson's chef lamented the fact after the normandy landings that their potato locker was hit by a shell, basically wiping hash browns off the menu for the next week as it needs to be replaced before they can store any more potatoes.
- The Tirpitz is the very first ship that newcomers will encounter, as players will get to command this ship during the tutorial.
- Having a displacement of 52,600 tons (or 52,600,000 kilograms); the ship is the heaviest battleship ever completed by a European navy.
- The Tirpitz, Yamato, San Diego, and Montana are the only ships in the game to come pre equipped with a camouflage.
- Tirpitz is the only ship with a exclusive five stars camouflage and a unique bonus (15%) . this camouflage is the only non-premium 5 stars rated camouflage
- Players often outright buy and force upgrade her due to her favorable stats. This has given Tirpitz a reputation as a quick way to go "heavyweight". Hence the "Derpitz" moniker as most of Tirpitz users are noobs that have their skill level compensated by its extremely player friendly nature.
- Some sources claim that the Tirpitz is actually 253 meters long, as it was built with a slightly different hull than that of the Bismarck. This may explain why it "sits" slightly up out of the water[4].
- The ship is named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Kaiserlich Marine.
- it has all of the non-carrier weapons on the Game (Main guns and secondaries, torpedoes and interceptors). This fact also applies for Scharnhorst, being this two ships the only ships with all the non-carrier weapons
- The historic Tirpitz is believed to have seen more hostile aircraft than most other warships, having seen as much as an estimate of ~2000 aircraft during its service. Which is second only to the historic USS Enterprise which was the most attacked US warship by Kamikaze during World War 2. But despite this, her Anti Aircraft Armament does not live up to her historical real life counterparts. This is probably a balancing measure as an well rounded ship that can also have high Anti Aircraft stats will be very broken, not to mention Tirpitz is a relatively inexpensive but highly effective force when compared to other premium ships such as Montana or Musashi.
- She was named the "Lone Queen of the North" by the Allies due to her mostly solitary and quiet career, save for repelling the air raids against her.
- Her popularity in recent days often stem not from the historical ship itself, but the character of the same name from Azur Lane. (Search it up yourself and you will get it -FMJGAMING).
In game inaccuracies.
- As aforementioned, the ship has poor Anti Aircraft guns compared to its historical counterpart.
- The in game default camouflage of the ship is nonexistent historically.
Gallery[]
Citations[]
[2] Williamson, p. 40.
[4]https://forum.worldofwarships.com/topic/64261-whats-the-difference-bismarck-class/