DiscoverWW2 Stories & Real War StoriesThe Shadow Warriors: Operation Source and the Daring Attack on Hitler's Battleship Tirpitz
The Shadow Warriors: Operation Source and the Daring Attack on Hitler's Battleship Tirpitz

The Shadow Warriors: Operation Source and the Daring Attack on Hitler's Battleship Tirpitz

Update: 2025-08-19
Share

Description

You are now listening to World War 2 Stories. I'm your host Steve Matthews. Today, we dive into one of the most audacious naval operations of the Second World War – a mission so dangerous and improbable that even its planners doubted its chances of success. This is the story of Operation Source, the remarkable midget submarine attack on the mighty German battleship Tirpitz.

In the frigid waters of a remote Norwegian fjord, twelve British sailors in submarines barely larger than a city bus took on the most powerful warship in Hitler's navy – a 42,000-ton behemoth with guns that could hurl a shell the weight of a small car over twenty miles. The odds were overwhelming, the conditions brutal, and the margin for error nonexistent. Yet these volunteers, knowing they faced almost certain capture or death, proceeded with quiet determination on a mission that would help turn the tide of the naval war.

This is a tale of extraordinary courage, ingenuity, and resilience – a testament to what small teams of dedicated individuals can accomplish against seemingly insurmountable odds.

Comments 
In Channel
loading
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

The Shadow Warriors: Operation Source and the Daring Attack on Hitler's Battleship Tirpitz

The Shadow Warriors: Operation Source and the Daring Attack on Hitler's Battleship Tirpitz

Pod Hour