The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 5, Issue 4, Fall 2016 | Page 13

two months prior, her crew and their Commanding Officer, Captain Topp, were
fresh and keen on getting to grips with the enemy. PQ-12 was only lightly
defended against surface attack, and against a monster like Tirpitz was extremely
vulnerable. 18
Figure 2. A heavily camouflaged Tirpitz nestled in the narrow Fættenfjord, sometime in 1942. While
drills and other activities kept the crew fairly busy, they must have chafed under the ship’s long periods
of inactivity. (http://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-
series/nh-series/NH-71000/NH-71395.html)
Also at sea during this time was convoy QP-8; this one on its way back
from Murmansk and equally vulnerable. However, the appalling weather of the
Arctic winter frustrated German attempts to engage either PQ-12 or QP-8. To
make matters worse, elements of the British Home Fleet under Admiral John
Tovey, the man who had hunted Bismarck in May 1941, were also in the area
providing indirect cover for the convoys. Tovey’s force, comprising battleships
King George V and Duke of York, the battlecruiser Renown, the aircraft carrier
Victorious, one cruiser and 12 destroyers, was certainly capable of dealing with
Tirpitz and her tiny escort, though this was dependent on the British admiral’s
ability to detect and attack the German vessels before they could destroy a convoy
and escape back to Norway. 19
After futilely groping around in darkness and blinding snowstorms, Ciliax
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