 British intelligence assessed that Tirpitz could be repaired within six months , and the Admiralty ordered further carrier @-@ borne strikes against the battleship . First Sea Lord Andrew Cunningham did not believe that Barracudas could carry weapons capable of sinking Tirpitz , but he hoped that further attacks would increase the period the battleship was out of service and harm her crew 's morale . The commander of the Home Fleet , Vice Admiral Bruce Fraser , initially resisted this order on the grounds that further carrier raids on Kaafjord were unlikely to be successful as Tirpitz 's defences would have been reinforced and weather conditions were likely to be worse than those encountered during Operation Tungsten . Following an argument with Cunningham , Fraser eventually agreed to attack Kaafjord again . Despite the decision to make further attacks on Kaafjord , many of the Home Fleet 's airmen were posted to other units following Operation Tungsten . This hindered subsequent operations against German forces in Norway as the new aircrew were less experienced than the men they replaced . 
