The Tirpitz, Alta and the demise of Easy Elsie

Tirpitz was the largest battleship in the German Kriegsmarine and a sister to the Bismarck, built in 1939 and named after the deputy admiral Alfred von Tirpitz Freiherr. In March 1943 Turpitz was berthed in Kåfjord in Alta with the role of threatening Allied convoy traffic in the Barents Sea. The Germans built a massive navel base in Altafjord, as in addition to Tirpitz the battleship Scharnhorst and cruiser Lützow were stationed in Alta – a total of 20,000 German troops lived the in areas I have been exploring on the bike over the last two days. It has been fascinating to see the object of attraction for Easy Elsie, stumble across historic artefacts and sobering to remember the tragic loss of life on both sides in this conflict.Tirpitz Memorial