the battleship as being of "incomparably greater importance to the conduct of the war than the safety of any convoy". The forces under Tovey's command were considerably more powerful than those available to Ciliax. Victoriouss air wing included two squadrons equipped with Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers, 817 and 832 Naval Air Squadrons. The number of Alacores assigned to the squadrons differed; 817 Squadron had nine and 832 Squadron twelve. These obsolescent biplanes could be armed with a single torpedo and were slow and unmanoeuvrable. The crews of the two Albacore squadrons were experienced, but had received little training in attacking enemy warships. The other element of the carrier's air wing was the Fairey Fulmar fighter-equipped 809 Naval Air Squadron. The Fulmars were inferior to German fighters due to their lack of speed and manoeuvrability, but were capable of intercepting bombers. Tovey regarded the amount of air support available to his fleet as inadequate. German plans The crew of a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor maritime patrol aircraft sighted ships of PQ 12 near Jan Mayen at around noon on 5 March. The commander of the German Naval Group North, General Admiral Rolf Carls, requested permission to attack the convoy using Ciliax's force. This was granted by Raeder after he consulted with Hitler. Raeder's orders for Ciliax specified that he was to avoid Allied naval forces to the extent possible, and only attack convoys if they were protected by an equal or lesser force than his own. The raid is usually called Operation Sportpalast by historians, but was designated Operation Nordmeer by Ciliax and his staff. Ciliax was aware that two Allied convoys were at sea. While he believed that they would be protected by the Home Fleet, he did not know its strength or whether it had sailed. His plan for the operation was to intercept one or both of the convoys in the area between Jan Mayen and Bear Island. Once a convoy was encountered, Tirpitz was to destroy its escorts and then she and the destroyers would attack the cargo ships. Due to fuel shortages, Ciliax was unable to sail with his entire force. He departed Trondheim at noon on 6 March with Tirpitz and the destroyers Friedrich Ihn, Hermann Schoemann and Z25. Eight German submarines based in Norway were assigned to support Tirpitz. The four submarines with the most experienced crews were positioned in locations where it