What was Germany's largest World War 2 battleship?

Answer 1

The Tirpitz and the Bismark were sister ships, but the Tirpitz was very slightly larger. The Tirpitz was the largest battleship ever built in Europe. The Tirpitz never fired a shot against an enemy ship and spent most of the war lurking in Norwegian fjords. However, her mere existence and presence there tied up significant Allied naval resources, which had to be held in readiness in case the Tirpitz sortied to attack Allied Atlantic shipping.

The Tirpitz was badly damaged by an ingenious, daring and courageous raid by the British in September 1943. Midget submarines were towed to the vicinity by submarine, and two man crews piloted them toward the Tirpitz, through minefields, past gun defenses and listening posts. Three of them succeeded in getting through the anti-submarine nets and planting at least four 2-ton explosive charges below the Tirpitz. One two man crew was captured immediately after and was standing on the deck, keeping silent during interrogation when the bombs blew. The blast lifted the entire massive ship six feet out of the water.

This did a lot of damage to the ship, in fact sinking her but the water was so shallow she merely settled lower into the water where she was. The damage was not apparent from aerial photographs. But by April 1944 she was repaired. So on November 12, 1944 the Royal Air Force launched a massive bombing raid against the ship, dropping huge, blockbuster bombs. This caused the Tirpitz to heel over and stick her topside into the muddy bottom. It took ten years after the war to clear away the wreckage for scrap.

These were just two of many operations by the British aimed at removing the serious threat of the Tipitz.