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Battleship:Tirpitz.
Aircraft: Me109s of JG5
Military aviation and German Naval art by Robert Taylor
The terrifying North Atlantic supply convoys to Russia began in September
1941 with Churchill’s promise to Stalin to send convoys every 10
days. In the event, treacherous conditions, insufficient ships, limited
unloading facilities, and frozen ports meant that by the year end only
seven convoys had got through.
The German Navy were quick to react, C in C Grand Admiral Raeder increasing
U-boat strength in Norwegian waters, and ordering the mighty battleship
Tirpitz to Norway, prompting Churchill to say “Tirpitz is the most
important naval vessel in the situation today.” He believed her
destruction would “profoundly affect the course of the war.”
The first RAF attack was mounted on the night of 29/30 January, but the
great battleship escaped unscathed.
Fearing for the safety of the Tirpitz, Hitler ordered more Luftwaffe aircraft
to Norway, and the gathering German forces began inflicting mounting losses
on the lumbering convoys. As the Arctic spring and summer progressed,
bringing perpetual daylight to the Barents Sea, the attacks continued
around the clock.
The threat of attack by the Tirpitz was sufficient in itself to cause
chaos and disruption to he North Atlantic convoys: The day after Convoy
PQ17 set sail from Iceland on June 27, the British Home Fleet learned
that Tirpitz had sailed from her hideout in the Norwegian fjords and,
considering the threat to their cruiser squadron too serious, and with
their battleships and carriers unable to arrive in time, PQ17 was ordered
to scatter. U-boat and air attacks took a terrible toll, only 10 of the
34 merchantmen having set sail made it through to the Russian port of
Archangel. Tirpitz failed to make contact with the convoy and returned
to port without firing a shell, but her very presence in the theatre enough
to cause the demise of Convoy PQ17.
Robert Taylor’s new painting ‘Knights Move’ shows the
awesome battleship Tirpitz under the command of Admiral Schniewind, in
company with battleships Scheer and Hipper, setting sail during ‘Operation
Rosselsprung’, destined for the open sea and the North Atlantic
convoy traffic. Messerschmitt Me109s of JG5, based at Petsamø,
provided overhead cover while flotilla escort vessels make up the fearsome
armada. The magnificent Norwegian mountains provide a spectacular backdrop
to this comprehensively realistic and stirring World War Two image.
Overall Print Size: 35 3/4” wide x 23 1/2” high
The Editions and Signatures:
THE LIMITED EDITION
Major ERIC RUDORFFER: Oberleutnant ERNST SCHEUFELE: Fähnrich ARNOLD
SCHROEDER: Leutnant Zur See WILLIBALD VÖLSING
500 signed & numbered prints with FOUR signatures - £200
inc vat (£170.21+vat)
THE TIRPITZ EDITION – All the signatures above
plus:
Oberst HAJO HERMANN: Unteroffizier HEINZ KERN
400 signed & numbered prints with SIX signatures £275inc
vat (£234.05+vat)
30 Artist Proofs with SIX signatures £395inc vat (£336.17+vat)
THE VETERANS EDITION – All the above signatures
plus:
Oberstleutnant GUNTHER SCHOLZ: Leutnant EDMUND ‘PAULE’ ROSSMANN:
Oberleutnant WALTER SCHUCK - Companion Print: Unteroffizier GÜNTER
KOLB - Companion Print
A total of TEN signatures
Borne on Eagles Wings – Issued only with the Veterans
Edition, this exclusive matching-numbered companion drawing print , signed
by two Me109 pilots and by the artist Robert Taylor, features Me109s of
III./JG5 as they take off for a coastal sweep from their base at Petsamø.
Overall print size: 21½" wide x 14¾" high
100 Veterans Proofs with TEN signatures £495 (£421.28+vat)
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