criticised after her loss. Major Heinrich Ehrler, the commander of III./Jagdgeschwader 5 (3rd Wing of the 5th Fighter Group), was blamed for the Luftwaffe's failure to intercept the British bombers. He was court-martialled in Oslo and threatened with the death penalty. Evidence was presented that his unit had failed to help the Kriegsmarine when requested. He was sentenced to three years in prison, but was released after a month, demoted, and reassigned to an Me 262 fighter squadron in Germany. Ehrler was exonerated by further investigations which concluded poor communication between the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe had caused the fiasco; the aircrews had not been informed that Tirpitz had been moved off Håkøya two weeks before the attack. The wreck of Tirpitz remained in place until after the war, when a joint German-Norwegian company began salvage operations. Work lasted from 1948 until 1957; fragments of the ship were sold by a Norwegian company. Ludovic Kennedy wrote in his history of the vessel that she "lived an invalid's life and died a cripple's death". Footnotes Citations References Further reading External links The Tirpitz Museum Aerial photo of the battleship Tirpitz in her anchorage at Kåfjord, Norway. – unpublished photo originated from a private photo album of Soviet Air Forces pilot-observer Feodossiy S. Goryachiy. Newsreel about the life and death of the Tirpitz showing RN, FAA and RAF attacks 1939 ships Battleships sunk by aircraft Bismarck-class battleships Maritime incidents in September 1944 Maritime incidents in November 1944 Naval aviation operations and battles Ships built in Wilhelmshaven World War II battleships of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea Articles containing video clips Ships sunk by British aircraft Shipwrecks of Norway