Operation Source

20–22 September 1943, Kåfjord, Altafjord, northern Norway

British success; Tirpitz put out of action for six months

Six X-craft, four-man midget submarines each carrying two two-ton charges, were towed across the North Sea by ordinary submarines to attack Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Lützow in their Norwegian anchorages. Two were lost on the way, and X10, sent for Scharnhorst, found her gone and had to turn back. Early on 22 September X6, under Lieutenant Donald Cameron, and X7, under Lieutenant Godfrey Place, got through the anti-submarine and torpedo nets around Tirpitz in Kåfjord. X6 was spotted and fired on; Cameron dropped his charges under the battleship's keel and scuttled his boat, and his crew were taken aboard Tirpitz. Place laid his charges and was caught in the nets. When the charges went off, Tirpitz was heaved out of the water: turbines, a turret and her rudder were damaged, and she was out of action until April 1944. X5 was sunk with all hands nearby. Cameron and Place, both captured, were given the Victoria Cross.