Tirpitz started a programme of warship construction in 1898.

And in Tirpitz, who was still very influential in the Navy despite having retired in 1917 started to speak of Raeder as an ideal man to head the Navy.

Because of the extravagant promises made by Tirpitz before 1914 that sea power equalled world power, and because of the equally extravagant sums that were spent on the Navy during the Anglo-German naval race ( by 1913-14, the Anglo-German naval race was costing so much money as the Reich government continued to pour vast sums of money into the Navy that concerns started to be expressed about Germany's creditworthiness.

Once the bill was nearly complete Tirpitz started a round of visits to obtain support.

Tirpitz hoped that other second-rank powers might ally with Germany, attracted by its navy.

Reforms in training and gunnery were introduced to make good perceived deficiencies, which in part Tirpitz had counted upon to provide his ships with a margin of superiority.

Tirpitz argued for six new capital ships, and got three, together with 15, 000 additional sailors in a new combined military budget passed in April 1912.

Tirpitz intended that with the rolling program of replacements, the existing coastal defence squadron of old ships would become a sixth fleet squadron, while the eight existing battlecruisers would be joined by eight more as replacements for the large cruisers presently in the overseas squadrons.

Finally in 1911, trials with aircraft began and in 1912 Tirpitz agreed to purchase the first dirigible for naval reconnaissance at a cost of 850, 000 GM.

In 1911 experiments took place with Albatros seaplanes and in 1912 Tirpitz authorized 200, 000 GM for seaplane trials.

* 1944 – World War II: The Royal Air Force launches 29 Avro Lancaster bombers in one of the most successful precision bombing attacks of war and sinks the German battleship Tirpitz, with 12, 000 lb Tallboy bombs off Tromsø, Norway.

Together with the war-time plans of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz to start building capital ships with diesel engines in order to expand the range of German warships, Trotha influenced Raeder into thinking about deep operations into the Atlantic as a way of forcing the British to break up their fleet.

In the 1920s, Raeder as one of the authors of the official history of the German Navy in World War I, he sided with Tirpitz against the Jeune École-inspired theories of Wegener, arguing that everything that his mentor Tirpitz did was correct, and dismissed the strategy of guerre de course as a “ dangerous delusion ”.

Other officers complained about the way in which Raeder sought to re-write history in the Official History in way that gloried Tirpitz with no regard to what actually happened with Admiral Assemann of the Historical Branch complaining to Raeder: " I am convinced that it makes no difference to you Herr Admiral, what we write ... We must only write in such a way that you have peace with the old admirals ".

Raeder was greatly dismayed by Hitler's criticism of Tirpitz and of the pre-1914 Anglo-German naval race, and of his statements that if he came to power, he would a reach an understanding with Britain, whereby Germany would " renounce " naval and colonial ambitions into exchange for British support of German ambitions in Eastern Europe.

Shortly afterwards, Raeder had his first private meeting with Hitler, and came away impressed, believing that if Hitler was no navalist, then he could be made into one just like his mentor Tirpitz had converted Wilhelm II to navalism.

In foreign policy, he pursued a policy of détente with Britain, hoping to come to some agreement that would put a halt to the two countries ' ruinous naval arms race, but failed, largely due to the opposition of German Naval Minister Alfred von Tirpitz.

Tirpitz decided he liked the idea and with the consent of his parents became a naval cadet at the age of 16, on 24 April 1865.

The Navy State Secretary, Leo Graf von Caprivi, was a distant relative, and Tirpitz now worked with him on the development of tactics.

Tirpitz later described his time with torpedo boats as, ' the eleven best years of my life '.

Tirpitz appointed a staff of officers he had known from his time with the torpedo boats and collected together all sorts of vessels as stand-in battleships to conduct exercises to test out tactics.

Tirpitz had concluded that the best fighting arrangement was a squadron of eight identical battleships, rather than any other combination of ships with mixed abilities.

Instead, Tirpitz was placed in charge of the German East Asia Squadron in the Far East but with a promise of appointment as Secretary at a suitable moment.

The Kaiser agreed the plan and Tirpitz retired to St Blazien in the Black Forest with a team of naval specialists to draft a naval bill for presentation to the Reichstag.

The decision to continue was taken by Tirpitz in September 1905 and agreed by Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow and the Kaiser, while Dreadnought was still at the planning stage.

The bill contained a restriction, that building would fall to two ships per year in 1912, but Tirpitz was confident of changing this at a later date.

A close protégé of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, Raeder focused all of his efforts on rebuilding the High Seas Fleet that had scuttled itself at Scapa Flow in 1919.

Tirpitz spoke English fluently and was sufficiently at home in Great Britain that he sent his two daughters to Cheltenham Ladies ' College.

Tirpitz reported that Plymouth was more hospitable to German sailors than was Kiel, while it was also easier to obtain equipment and supplies there, which were of better quality than available at home.

Although he initially favoured the bay at Kiautschou / Tsingtao, others in the naval establishment advocated a different location and even Tirpitz wavered on his commitment in his final report.

Then in September he would travel to the Kaiser's retreat at Romintern, where Tirpitz found he would be more relaxed and willing to listen to a well argued explanation.

Tirpitz ' design to achieve world power status through naval power, while at the same time addressing domestic issues, is referred to as the Tirpitz Plan.

Tirpitz had been made a Grand Admiral in 1911, without patent ( the document that accompanied formal promotions personally signed at this level by the Kaiser himself ).

Such a case was Operation Chariot of 1942, in which the old destroyer HMS Campbeltown was packed with explosives and rammed into the dry dock at Saint-Nazaire, France, to deny its use to the battleship Tirpitz, which could not drydock anywhere else on the French west coast.

Lütjens had requested that Raeder delay Rheinübung long enough either for Scharnhorst to complete repairs to her engines and be made combat worthy and to rendezvous at sea with Bismarck and Prinz Eugen or for Bismarcks sister-ship Tirpitz to accompany them.

* March 9 – 12 Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious attack the German battleship Tirpitz while she is at sea off Norway.

With Tirpitz out of commission there was no requirement for capital ships to be held in the Atlantic theatre, and soon those with the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow were on their way to the Pacific war, leaving the Mistels no worthwhile targets in Scapa Flow.

The first is that Wehler credits leaders such as Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz and Prince Bernhard von Bülow with a greater degree of vision then what they in fact possessed The second is that many of the pressure groups on the right who advocated an imperialist policy for Germany were not the creations of the government, and in fact often demanded far more aggressive policies then what the government was willing to undertake The third was that many of these imperialist lobbying groups demanded a policy of political and social reform at home, in addition to imperialism abroad Eley argued that what is required in thinking about social imperialism is a broader picture with an interaction from above and below, and a wider view of the relationship between imperialism abroad and domestic politics.

Fighters from Bardufoss also had the task of providing aerial support for naval operations in the area, but failed to scramble in time to prevent the battleship Tirpitz from being sunk by Avro Lancaster bombers at Håkøya near Tromsø.

The Soviet submarine K-21, under the command of Captain Nikolai Lunin, attacked the German battleship Tirpitz at 71 ° 22 ' 2 " N, 24 ° 34 ' 3 " E. The result of that attack is disputed, as no German sources confirm damage to the Tirpitz or to any other ship, but in the К-21 logbook two torpedo bursts were mentioned.

The first is that Wehler credits leaders such as Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz and Prince Bernhard von Bülow with a greater degree of vision than they in fact possessed The second is that many of the right-wing pressure groups who advocated an imperialist policy for Germany were not government creations, and in fact often demanded far more aggressive policies then the government was willing to undertake The third was that many of the groups advocating imperialism demanded a policy of political and social reform at home to complement imperialism abroad Eley argued that what is required in thinking about social imperialism is a broader picture with an interaction between above and below, and a wider view of the relationship between imperialism abroad and domestic politics

Although Tirpitz favored the bay at Kiautschou, others in the government advocated for other sites, even Tirpitz wavered on his commitment in his final report.