Our Tirpitz steel stocks were slowly running out, so that further production of the coveted Tirpitz Damascus knives was unthinkable without replenishment. The 41,000 tons of steel from the Tirpitz had already been completely scrapped in the 1950s and, as a sought-after raw material, had been used in many other ways after the war. The stock of our old source of supply had been used up. Only a small museum near the town of Alta in Finnmark, in the far north of Norway, was said to still possess a slab of Wodan armor steel from the Tirpitz. The success of the mission was uncertain for more than one reason.
Fig.1: From Düsseldorf via Copenhagen and Trondheim to Tromsø our cameraman Bastian and I start our odyssey. Some of the planes were hardly bigger than a Douglas DC 3 from an Indiana Jones movie.
Fig.2: First destination was the last berth of the Tirpitz on the island Håkøya near Tromsø, where the Tirpitz was sunk on Nov. 12, 1944 by 3 direct hits of British Talboy bombs weighing 5.4 tons each. The aerial view of the drone shows the Kay, which was built in the 1950s to dismantle the Tirpitz. The bomb crater of a close hit is still visible in the water on the right.
Fig.3: Ahead of us lay a 390 km trip to the Tirpitz Museum in Kåfjord/Alta. The only possible land connection between these places is the European Road 6.
Fig. 4: By hook or by crook: The pier of the bridge carrying the E6 over the Badderelva River had been damaged by a flash flood a few weeks earlier, and the bridge was temporarily impassable. We didn't know for sure if the repair had been completed yet. If not, our journey would have ended at this point.
Fig. 5: The-Tirpitz-Museum in Kåfjord/Alta, built and operated by Norwegian entrepreneur Even Blomkvist with his own funds, houses numerous items from the Tirpitz in a historic blockhouse, as well as the most extensive photo collection that exists on this ship. The purpose of this museum is to provide information about the history and resistance in the Arctic during World War II and to place it in the context of world events.
Fig. 6: Negotiations on the quantity and price of the steel were conducted over the telephone with the founder and simultaneous director in Oslo. We did not have a cutting torch to cut off the promised quantity. Linn Røkenes, owner of a steel construction company in Alta founded by former professional divers, had agreed to cut the plate for us in her hall. However, we had neither a trailer nor a forklift nor a crane.
Fig. 7: Gregorz (l) and Pawel (r), two bikers from Gdansk, helped us to heave the 300 kg plate into the trunk of our rental car with pure muscle power. The two had promised to help us before they even knew what it was all about. An absolute stroke of luck the two of them!
Fig. 8: Røkenes AS was also amazed to see such a load in a car. There was heavy equipment here, but getting the slab out of the trunk, which had not been made for it, with the forklift truck was the next challenge.
Fig. 9: Tom-Andre (at the torch) and Tor-Jørgen (in the background) from Linn's crew needed a lot of creativity, skill and nerves to unload the plate and cut the really tough Wodan steel of the Tirpitz. Linn, had not known us or our plan on the morning of that day and, despite her own urgent daily business, decided to help us.
Figs. 10 + 11: The heavy and precious cargo, acquired at great expense, was transferred to Solingen by forwarding company. Thus the continuity of our Boker Tirpitz Damascus knives is secured for many years to come. Mission complete.
