Headgear from Tirpitz

[Vegard T]

That link makes for interesting reading Ned, thanks for posting it. Unfortunately, the last entry in it is in 2007, so it appears to have died, (NO pun intended) and, to me at least, seems to leave more questions than answers!

I appreciate that, even now, the German invasion of Norway is still "raw", but I sincerely hope that any dead sailors found during the cutting up of the Tirpitz, and since, have received an appropriate interment.

Regards etc
Ian D

AKA: Jimpy

I've re-read some thread on the Norwegian forum and have come up with the following:
Unfortunately, when the Tirpitz was cut up, a lot of the bodies found in the wreck were simply pushed overboard. The same company that chopped up the Tirpitz also chopped up the Norwegian coastal defense ship Eidsvold and the remains that were found there were treated the same way. Time was money and they apparently though taking care of the remains would take too much time.

The remains on the Tirpitz are a bit further out than where the items are dumped. Apparently there is also things that have been dumped there from other German depots

But there are still human remains being found. Sometimes human remains turn up on the beach where they have either been washed up on shore or brought to land by some divers. Here is a news article from earlier this year about the discovery of a human bone on the beach, which was later sent to Narvik and was buried: Nå skal leggbeinet begraves - Troms og Finnmark - NRK Nyheter


Some divers might have brought human remains to the shore(God knows why), but the people who recovered the items(Some of which are shown in this thread) are not one of them.

You may have noticed that I have underlined "Some" in the text, and this is to bring out that not all divers do this, it is legal to dive and recover items from the Tirpitz and it is not a war grave. I also feel it very ghoulish to carry human remains to shore for some reason, and I think the dead sailors deserve a proper burial, but nobody is doing anything about it and as far as I can see, the Norwegian government or the German war graves commission do not care much about it.

I do not think I will post much more in this thread as I am wandering more and more into things I have no personal experience with and I'm afraid I will say something wrong which "will tip everything over", but if we can keep the discussion going in a civilized way, that would be great.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also: This will probably be the last time I say it, but the cap did actually survive the Tirpitz and after, and was recovered a year ago by a moderator from samlerforumet, I respect and understand if you don't believe it(I would probably be doubting it myself if I were in your shoes). But once again; It's true.
The items lay deep in the mud covered in a mixture of sand and oil that does not let any oxygen in, which preserves cloth, paper, wood and metal very well.

I'm adding a few more pictures:
This is a KM uniform jacket which was recovered from a German wreck after it had been in the sea for 50 years(Don't think it was the Tirpitz), the shirt is in a museum in Lofoten and they were actually able to track down the owner in 1999(Picture borrowed from a[c]e at samlerforumet).


The rest are borrowed from the thread on WAF so others can see(These items were recovered from the Tirpitz):

[diver99]

As an archaeologist, i am not squemish about bones, but I don't like the idea of bones strewn around the beach. I can also understand both governments not wanting too much involvement in debate as it opens too many wounds which have many repercussions. My first thought would be for a cairn to be erected on the foreshore out of tidal range, which could be a used to place the bones in when found/washed up. Not having the bones on display though. Something fitting, as those poor sailors aren't being allowed to rest in piece.

[harryamb2]

years ago I read a article about the salvage of tirpitz,the german goverment had agreed with the salvors any human remains would be handed to the authorities.of course not all bones were recovered,some were bound to be overlooked.as for clothing to be foundwhy not.in my diving[suba] days I recovered a flag from the wreck of U48 on the goodwin sands,it was coverd in sea life shells etc. I put it out side to dryout and after a few days it smelt ripe so my wife chucked it in the dustbin and I didn't know.so I believe what collectorww2 as told us.

[Vegard T]

Would love to find that article, would be an interesting read. A real shame about the flag, great piece of history lost there

[diver99]

How did the discusion go...where's the flag?.....did you go purple?
My wife did a similar. Package of stuff came from an auction house, one item, the mills bomb, she put in the garden in case it went off!. never mind it came in the post...

[Woolgar]

I have touched a piece of the Tirpitz

This piece in Duxford !

Nick

[Vegard T]

One thing that I didn't actually know about, but thought was really interesting was the use of Tirpitz armor plates in roadwork(Putting on top of pits etc), I've seen plenty of them, but have just never thought about it. I think they still use them.

[Scout]

Interesting info. Swords to plow shares, battle ships to road work.

[Arran]

As a textiles conservator, I have seen MUCH older textiles that have survived in MUCH harsher conditions- I have no problem believing that a cap like this could survive relatively intact. Two of the greatest enemies of textiles are oxygen and UV light, so...

[Scout]

As a textiles conservator, I have seen MUCH older textiles that have survived in MUCH harsher conditions- I have no problem believing that a cap like this could survive relatively intact. Two of the greatest enemies of textiles are oxygen and UV light, so...

Leather is of course different than the cloth used for the cap, but there is also the Metta Catharina, which sank with a cargo of hides 1786. The Metta was discovered in 1973 and the hides recovered.
The leather from that carge has since been in high demand. Amongst other things (shoes etc), expensive watch straps were made form the hides. They supposedly stank to high heaven, but hey - what a story to tell.

Littered around the seabed of the broken ship, the divers found bundles and bundles of hides. They brought the bundles up to surface, and when they untied them, the packages opened up like packs of vacuum-sealed coffee. Apparently, the hides’ immersion in black mud, combined with their mysterious oils, allowed them to go nearly 200 years with very little water penetrating.

Random sites - no affiliation:

The story
Put This On • In the 18th century, Russian leather was widely...

The pics
Sunken Leather - Centurion Magazine Online