Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the ship's namesake. Adolf von Trotha, a former admiral in the Imperial German Navy, spoke at the ship's launching, which was also attended by Adolf Hitler. Fitting-out work was completed by February 1941. British bombers repeatedly attacked the harbour in which the ship was being built; no bombs struck Tirpitz, but the attacks slowed construction work. Tirpitz was commissioned into the fleet on 25 February for sea trials, which were conducted in the Baltic. After sea trials, Tirpitz was stationed in Kiel and performed intensive training in the Baltic. While the ship was in Kiel, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. A temporary Baltic Fleet was created to prevent the breakout of the Soviet fleet based in Leningrad. Tirpitz was briefly made the flagship of the squadron, which consisted of the heavy cruiser , the light cruisers , , , and , several destroyers, and two flotillas of minesweepers. The Baltic Fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral Otto Ciliax, patrolled off Åland from 23 to 26 September 1941, after which the unit was disbanded and Tirpitz resumed training. During the training period, Tirpitz tested her primary and secondary guns on the old pre-dreadnought battleship , which had been converted into a radio-controlled target ship. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) continued to launch unsuccessful bombing raids on Tirpitz while she was stationed in Kiel. Deployment to Norway Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, the commander of the Kriegsmarine, proposed on 13 November 1941 that Tirpitz be deployed to Norway. The ship would be able to attack convoys bound for the Soviet Union, and act as a fleet in being to tie down British naval assets and deter an Allied invasion of Norway. Hitler, who had forbidden an Atlantic sortie after the loss of Bismarck, agreed to the proposal. The ship was taken into dock for modifications for the deployment. The ship's anti-aircraft battery was strengthened, and the 10.5 cm guns on the superstructure next to the catapult were moved outboard to increase their field of fire. The two quadruple 53.3 cm torpedo tube mounts were also installed during this refit. The ship's commander, Kapitän zur See (KzS–Captain at Sea) Karl Topp, pronounced the ship ready for combat operations on 10 January 1942. The following day, Tirpitz left for Wilhelmshaven, a move designed to conceal her actual destination. The ship left Wilhelmshaven at 23:00 on 14 January and made