The Tirpitz is a Battleship in the Kriegsmarine of Greater German Reich. In the introduction to 2009 game Wolfenstein, it is preparing to launch missiles from a position five miles off of the English coast when it is infiltrated by BJ Blazkowicz who destroys the ship and escapes on an airplane.

The ship happened to be carrying the first Thule Medallion, which, having found and accidentally used it to save his life, BJ returns it to the OSA for research.

Trivia

• The Video Graphic novels sets this during the time of the "Fourth Reich" late 1944 to possibly early 1946. The game itself is less clear and offered no dates, but "Third Reich" is used consistently. Although iD at the time of Wolfenstein's development Wolfenstein was seen as a sequel to RTCW, and Wolfenstein 3D was seen as a prequel to both games in support of the 'Wolfenstein 3D' end of the war, and a start another.^[1]  Bethesda's Wolfenstein 3D Classic (2009) may have set Wolfenstein 3D in February 1945, which may move the events of turpits 'further' down the timeline (if it isn't intended to be 'after', however the backstory for the Wolfenstein 3D classic might be suggesting it as a sequel to Wolfenstein 2009).

• The Tirpitz was a real ship. It was the second of two Bismarck-class battleships built for the German Kriegsmarine (War Navy) during World War II. It was sunk by Royal Air Force bombers on 12 November 1944 at Sørbotn off Håkøy near Tromsø, Norway.
• It is not clear if the Graphic Novel assumes the Tirpitz to be a second ship of the same name following the initial "end" of WW2 (the previous one having been destroyed in 1944). Or if the Graphic Novel followed an alternate history in which the Tirpitz was never destroyed in 1944.
• Alternatively, if the 2009 game is set before the "end" of WW2, perhaps it is an alternate retelling of the ship's sinking in 1944 during the height of the war, but in an alternate location. However, some documents do appear to be dated 1945 in Wolfenstein (2009), supporting the theory that this is a different timeline in which the Tirpitz survived long enough to see the tides of war shift back in the Nazi's favour.
• In the Wolfenstein timeline, the Tirpitz was transferred sometime in late 1944 to the SS Special Projects Division for conversion and use as a launch platform for ship based Short-range ballistic missiles. Some Kriegsmarine personnel appear to have been seconded to the SS Special Projects Division in order to help operate her for her new owners.
• In her new role she has been fitted with ten vertical launch tubes amidships (three each on port and starboard side of the funnel and four at the aft of the catapult), each capable of launching an SRBM at a time. The missile appears to be a fictional member of the Aggregat (in other words V-2) family of rockets. This missile seems to incorporate elements of the real world A-7 & A-8 rockets.
• The destruction of the Battleship Tirpitz is a level in the original Call of Duty.