Tallboy and Tirpitz
The Tirpitz was the second of the legendary Bismarck-class of battleships, assembled after her sister the Bismarck between 1936 and 1941.
These two ships were built in response to the French Richelieu-class battleships laid down in 1935, and would be the largest and heaviest ships built for the Kriegsmarine. The Tirpitz was 2000 tons heavier than the Bismarck due to later modifications, and is the heaviest battleship ever built by a European navy.
At the time, battleships built from nations who signed the Washington Naval Treaty were limited to a weight of 39,000 tons, but both the Bismarck and Tirpitz exceeded this limit in secret, eventually weighing well over 45,000 tons.
Engine fitters at Pocklington prepare to fit a brand new Rolls-Royce Merlin XX to a waiting Halifax, JulyAugust 1942.
The Rolls-Royce Merlin engine was arguably the most important engine of WW2. It had an ability to produce war-winning designs of almost anything it powered, including two of the most famous and beloved aircraft from the war; the P-51 Mustang and Spitfire. Not only this, but it was also used in tanks as the Meteor, which, for the first time, provided the British with a tank engine capable of delivering large amounts of power reliably.
Work started on what would become the Merlin in the early 1930s, after Rolls-Royce realised their successful 21 L 700 hp Kestrel V12 wouldn’t always be enough. Their next design, named the PV-12, would have a 27 L displacement and produce 1,100 hp. It was first fired up in 1933, and would first fly in a Hawker Hart in 1935. At the same time, the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane had been designed to accommodate the PV-12, and