The beam of a ship is its width at its widest point. The maximum beam (B MAX ) is the distance between planes passing through the outer sides of the ship, beam of the hull (B H ) only includes permanently fixed parts of the hull , and beam at waterline (B WL ) is the maximum width where the hull intersects the surface of the water.
194-727: Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck -class battleships built for Nazi Germany 's Kriegsmarine . Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck , the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched in February 1939. Work was completed in August 1940, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Bismarck and her sister ship Tirpitz were
388-426: A beam of 36 m (118 ft 1 in) and a maximum draft of 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in). The battleship was Germany's largest warship, and displaced more than any other European battleship, with the exception of HMS Vanguard , commissioned after the war. Bismarck ' s hull used 90 percent welded construction to save weight; it was divided into 22 watertight compartments and had
582-465: A coracle has a ratio of almost 1:1 – it is nearly circular. The beam of many monohull vessels can be calculated using the following formula: Where LOA is Length OverAll and all lengths are in feet. Some examples: As catamarans have more than one hull, there is a different beam calculation for this kind of vessel. BOC stands for Beam On Centerline. This term in typically used in conjunction with LOA (Length overall). The ratio of LOA/BOC
776-585: A double bottom for 83 percent of the length of the hull, and twenty-two watertight compartments . The ships were 90 percent welded construction. The stern was weakly constructed; this had significant consequences on Bismarck ' s only combat mission. The building cost of Bismarck was 196 million Reichsmarks , while Tirpitz was slightly cheaper at 191.6 million Reichsmarks . Both ships had seven searchlights. The ships were very stable, primarily because of their wide beam. The ships suffered from only slight pitching and rolling, even in
970-418: A double bottom that ran for 83 percent of the ship's length. Bismarck was powered by three Blohm & Voss geared steam turbines driving three 3-bladed screw propellers . Steam was provided by twelve oil -fired Wagner superheated boilers , which were vented through a single large funnel amidships. The propulsion system was rated to produce 138,000 metric horsepower (136,000 shp ) for
1164-399: A 160° turn and laid a smoke screen to cover her withdrawal. The Germans ceased fire as the range widened. Though Lindemann strongly advocated chasing Prince of Wales and destroying her, Lütjens obeyed operational orders to shun any avoidable engagement with enemy forces that were not protecting a convoy, firmly rejecting the request, and instead ordered Bismarck and Prinz Eugen to head for
1358-424: A burning wreck. The British were running dangerously low on fuel, but Bismarck , although aflame and foundering, had not yet sunk. The cruiser Dorsetshire fired several torpedoes into the crippled ship, which then took on a severe list to port. At approximately the same time as Dorsetshire ' s attack, engine room crew detonated scuttling charges in the engine rooms. There is still significant debate as to
1552-435: A catastrophic explosion and destroyed the ship. There were only three survivors from Hood ' s crew of 1,421. The German ships then concentrated their fire on Prince of Wales , which was forced to withdraw. Bismarck did not emerge unscathed; a direct hit on her bow from Prince of Wales caused Bismarck to take in some 2,000 long tons (2,032 t) of water. The ship was also leaking oil, which made it easier for
1746-529: A course that would position her to launch her torpedo bombers . At 22:00, Victorious launched the strike, which comprised nine Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers of 825 Naval Air Squadron , led by Lt Cdr Eugene Esmonde . The inexperienced aviators nearly attacked Norfolk and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Modoc on their approach; the confusion alerted Bismarck ' s anti-aircraft gunners. Bismarck also used her main and secondary batteries to fire at maximum depression to create giant splashes in
1940-566: A detailed description of the ship, which was subsequently leaked to Britain by pro-British elements in the Swedish Navy . The information provided the Royal Navy with its first full description of the vessel, although it lacked important facts, including top speed, radius of action, and displacement. On 6 March, Bismarck received the order to steam to Kiel. On the way, the ship was escorted by several Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters and
2134-438: A direct hit on her opponents. At 09:10 Rodney launched six of her 24.5 in (620 mm) torpedoes from a distance of 10 km (6.2 mi) and Norfolk launched four from 15 km (9.3 mi). All torpedoes missed. Bismarck-class battleship The Bismarck class was a pair of fast battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine shortly before the outbreak of World War II . The ships were
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#17327829284832328-498: A direction to Bismarck. They could however not find the German ship and at 20:30 asked again a direction from Sheffield. Finally at 20:47, the torpedo bombers began their attack descent through the clouds. As the Swordfish approached, Bismarck again fired her main battery at the aircraft, trying to catch planes in splash columns. The Swordfish then attacked; Bismarck began to turn violently as her anti-aircraft batteries engaged
2522-458: A few hundred tons of fuel were transferred. As the chase entered open waters, Wake-Walker's ships were compelled to zig-zag to avoid German U-boats that might be in the area. This required the ships to steam for ten minutes to port, then ten minutes to starboard, to keep the ships on the same base course. For the last few minutes of the turn to port, Bismarck was out of range of Suffolk ' s radar. At 03:00 on 25 May, Lütjens decided to abandon
2716-424: A flaw in her design was discovered. When attempting to steer the ship solely through altering propeller revolutions, the crew learned that Bismarck could be kept on course only with great difficulty. Even with the outboard screws running at full power in opposite directions, they generated only a slight turning ability. Bismarck ' s main battery guns were first test-fired in late November. The tests proved she
2910-471: A full load, and had since expended another 1,000 t (980 long tons) on the voyage from Gotenhafen. Prinz Eugen took on 764 t (752 long tons) of fuel. At 19:30 on 21 May, Bismarck , Prinz Eugen , and the three escorting destroyers left Bergen. At midnight, when the force was in the open sea, heading towards the Arctic Ocean, Raeder disclosed the operation to Hitler, who reluctantly consented to
3104-442: A group of eighteen supply ships would be positioned to support Bismarck and Prinz Eugen . Four U-boats would be placed along the convoy routes between Halifax and Britain to scout for the raiders. By the start of the operation, Bismarck ' s crew had increased to 2,221 officers and enlisted men. This included an admiral's staff of nearly 65 and a prize crew of 80 sailors, who could be used to crew transports captured during
3298-548: A higher top speed, but at the cost of greater weight. The geared turbines were significantly lighter, and as a result had a slight performance advantage. The geared turbines also had a significantly more robust construction, and so they were adopted instead. Both ships were rated for a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph); Bismarck just exceeded this speed on sea trials , reaching 30.01 knots (55.58 km/h; 34.53 mph), while Tirpitz made 30.8 knots (57.0 km/h; 35.4 mph) on trials. This difference
3492-504: A hit on Bismarck with her sixth salvo, but the German ship found her mark with her first salvo. One of the shells struck the bridge on Prince of Wales , though it did not explode and instead exited the other side, killing everyone in the ship's command centre, save Captain John Leach , the ship's commanding officer, and one other. The two German ships continued to fire upon Prince of Wales , causing serious damage. Guns malfunctioned on
3686-447: A hit with a high-explosive 20.3 cm (8.0 in) shell; the explosion detonated unrotated projectile ammunition and started a large fire, which was quickly extinguished. After firing three four-gun salvoes, Schneider had found the range to Hood ; he immediately ordered rapid-fire salvoes from Bismarck ' s eight 38 cm guns. He also ordered the ship's 15 cm secondary guns to engage Prince of Wales . Holland then ordered
3880-472: A large entourage, arrived to view Bismarck and Tirpitz in Gotenhafen. The men were given an extensive tour of the ships, after which Hitler met Lütjens to discuss the forthcoming mission. On 16 May, Lütjens reported that Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were fully prepared for Operation Rheinübung; he was therefore ordered to proceed with the mission on the evening of 19 May. As part of the operational plans,
4074-497: A limit of 45,000 long tons (46,000 t) went into effect. The final design displacement of 41,400 long tons (42,100 t) was well within this limit, so Fuchs's modifications were discarded. Even though Raeder and other senior naval officers envisioned using Bismarck and Tirpitz as commerce raiders against first French and later British shipping in the Atlantic, and in fact used them in that role during World War II ,
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#17327829284834268-471: A mile astray, but the second salvo straddled the cruiser. Shell splinters rained down on Sheffield , killing three men and wounding two others. Four more salvoes were fired but no hits were scored. Sheffield quickly retreated under cover of a smoke screen. Sheffield lost contact in the low visibility and Captain Philip Vian 's group of five destroyers was ordered to keep contact with Bismarck through
4462-431: A near miss was achieved, though it caused Tirpitz to take in more water. The last attack, Operation Catechism , took place on 12 November. Thirty-two Lancasters attacked the ship and scored a pair of direct hits and a near miss. The bombs detonated one of Tirpitz ' s ammunition magazines and caused the ship to capsize . Casualties were high: 1,204 men were killed in the attack. Another 806 men managed to escape
4656-481: A pair of armed merchant vessels , along with an icebreaker . At 08:45 on 8 March, Bismarck briefly ran aground on the southern shore of the Kiel Canal; she was freed within an hour. The ship reached Kiel the following day, where her crew stocked ammunition, fuel, and other supplies and applied a coat of dazzle paint to camouflage her. British bombers attacked the harbour without success on 12 March. On 17 March,
4850-713: A preference for building a third vessel and remaining within the 35,000-ton treaty limit. Admiral Werner Fuchs, the head of the General Command Office of the Oberkommando der Marine , advised Raeder and Hitler that modifications would be necessary to reduce the displacement to ensure the new ships met the legal requirements of the Second London Naval Treaty . Japan refused to sign the new treaty, and so on 1 April 1937 an escalator clause permitting treaty signatories to build ships up to
5044-404: A reduction in speed to 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph). Two hours later, the pair had reached a point north of Iceland. The ships were forced to zigzag to avoid ice floes . At 19:22, hydrophone and radar operators aboard the German warships detected the cruiser HMS Suffolk at a range of approximately 12,500 m (13,700 yd). Prinz Eugen ' s radio-intercept team decrypted
5238-417: A second 20° turn to port, to bring his ships on a parallel course with Bismarck and Prinz Eugen . Lütjens ordered Prinz Eugen to shift fire and target Prince of Wales , to keep both of his opponents under fire. Within a few minutes, Prinz Eugen scored a pair of hits on the battleship that started a small fire. Lütjens then ordered Prinz Eugen to drop behind Bismarck , so she could continue to monitor
5432-484: A series of unsuccessful bombing raids against Tirpitz while she was moored in the Faettenfjord . The first on 30/31 January by seven Short Stirling of No 15 Squadron and nine Handley Page Halifax bombers of No 76 Squadron. Next came a raid by 36 Halifax bombers, took place on 30/31 March. On 27/28 April, Tirpitz was attacked by 26 Halifax bombers of No 4 Group and 10 Avro Lancasters of No 5 Group. This
5626-404: A severe weight penalty", while American and British battleships were being armed with dual-purpose guns. Naval historians William Garzke and Robert Dulin note that "the use of dual-purpose armament would have possibly increased the number of anti-aircraft guns, but might have weakened the defence against destroyer attack, which German naval experts deemed more important." Schmalenbach explains that
5820-474: A ship would likely exceed the 35,000-ton limit, so triple or quadruple turrets should be considered to reduce the weight. The design staff had decided that four twin turrets would provide the best solution to distribution of the main battery, as it would provide equal firepower forward and aft, as well as simplify fire control. This arrangement was similar to the last German battleships of the Imperial period ,
6014-607: A signal ordering British reconnaissance aircraft to search for two battleships and three destroyers northbound off the Norwegian coast. At 7:00 on the 21st, the Germans spotted four unidentified aircraft, which quickly departed. Shortly after 12:00, the flotilla reached Bergen and anchored at Grimstadfjord , where the ships' crews painted over the Baltic camouflage with the standard "outboard grey" worn by German warships operating in
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6208-467: A standard crew of 103 officers and 1,962 enlisted sailors, although the crew of Tirpitz expanded to 108 officers and 2,500 men by 1943. The crew was divided into twelve divisions of between 180 and 220 men. The first six divisions were assigned to the ship's armament, divisions one to four for the main and secondary batteries , and five and six manning anti-aircraft guns . The seventh division consisted of specialists, including cooks and carpenters, and
6402-603: A superfiring pair forward of the superstructure and Caesar and Dora aft. The turrets allowed elevation to 30°, which gave the guns a maximum range of 36,520 m (39,940 yd). The guns fired 800 kg (1,800 lb) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 820 meters per second (2,690 ft/s). The main battery was supplied with between 940 and 960 shells total, for approximately 115–120 shells per gun. As with other German large-caliber naval rifles, these guns were designed by Krupp and featured sliding wedge breech blocks, which required brass cartridge cases for
6596-403: A target through periscopes protruding from the roof. Above each fire control station an optical rangefinder was mounted in a rotating cupola, and on the front of each cupola the antenna of a FuMO 23 radar was installed. The main fire control station was mounted on the foretop, the other two stations were mounted fore on the bridge and aft. All data from the directors, rangefinders and radar
6790-603: A top speed of 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph), but the ship significantly exceeded both figures on speed trials, reaching 150,170 metric horsepower (148,120 shp) for 30.01 knots (55.58 km/h; 34.53 mph). The ship stored 6,400 t (6,300 long tons; 7,100 short tons) of oil for the boilers, which gave her a cruising range of 8,870 nautical miles (16,430 km; 10,210 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). The standard crew numbered 103 officers and 1,962 enlisted men. When Bismarck left port, fleet staff, prize crews , and war correspondents increased
6984-417: A total of 32,000 rounds of ammunition. Bismarck and Tirpitz were initially armed with twelve 2 cm guns in single mounts, though these were augmented over time. Both ships initially carried twenty-four thousand 2 cm rounds. Bismarck received a pair of quadruple gun mountings, for a total of twenty 2 cm guns. Over the course of her career, Tirpitz ' s 2 cm battery
7178-463: Is used to estimate the stability of multihull vessels. The lower the ratio the greater the boat's stability. The BOC for vessels is measured as follows: For a catamaran: the perpendicular distance from the centerline of one hull to the centerline of the other hull, measured at deck level. For a trimaran: the perpendicular distance between the centerline of the main hull and the centerline of either ama, measured at deck level Other meanings of 'beam' in
7372-612: The Bismarck class in the Atlantic Ocean , which would require a long cruising range. The naval constructors examined diesel engines , steam turbines , and turbo-electric drive engines; the last system was the preferred choice, as it had been extremely successful in the two American Lexington -class aircraft carriers and the French passenger ship Normandie . The design staff were also required to provide sufficient range to
7566-498: The Bismarck s, there were concerns that the extra barrel would lower the overall rate of fire in each turret, along with fears that a single well-aimed hit could disable a larger proportion of the ship's firepower. It was also felt that four twin turrets allowed for a better field of fire and a more effective sequence of salvos. The ships' secondary battery consisted of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) SK C/28 guns mounted in six twin turrets. The 15 cm gun turrets were based on
7760-552: The Bayern class . The similarity led to speculation that the Bismarck s were essentially copies of the earlier ships, though the arrangement of the main battery along with a three-shaft propulsion system were the only shared traits. As design work continued into January 1935, Generaladmiral (General Admiral) Erich Raeder , the commander of the Reichsmarine , met with the various department and section leaders to refine
7954-550: The Battle of the Denmark Strait , the battlecruiser HMS Hood initially engaged Prinz Eugen , probably by mistake, while HMS Prince of Wales engaged Bismarck . In the ensuing battle Hood was destroyed by the combined fire of Bismarck and Prinz Eugen , which then damaged Prince of Wales and forced her retreat. Bismarck suffered sufficient damage from three hits by Prince of Wales to force an end to
German battleship Bismarck - Misplaced Pages Continue
8148-548: The German invasion of the Soviet Union . The ship was joined by the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and the light cruisers Leipzig , Nürnberg , and Köln . The force patrolled off Åland for a few days before returning to Kiel. On 14 January 1942, Tirpitz left German waters for Norway, escorted by the destroyers Z4 Richard Beitzen , Z5 Paul Jacobi , Z8 Bruno Heinemann and Z29, arriving at Trondheim on
8342-516: The Kattegat . Gotland transmitted a report to naval headquarters, stating: "Two large ships, three destroyers, five escort vessels, and 10–12 aircraft passed Marstrand , course 205°/20'." The OKM was not concerned about the security risk posed by Gotland , though both Lütjens and Lindemann believed operational secrecy had been lost. The report eventually made its way to Captain Henry Denham,
8536-472: The series of air attacks almost immediately after repairs were completed. On 3 April, the Royal Navy launched Operation Tungsten , during which 40 fighters and 40 Barracuda bombers from six carriers attacked the ship. They scored 15 direct hits and two near misses, which caused heavy damage, killed 122 men, and wounded 316 more. The Royal Navy attempted to repeat the attack three weeks later on
8730-442: The torpedo bulkhead , completely flooding a turbo-generator room and partially flooding an adjacent boiler room. The third shell passed through one of the boats carried aboard the ship and then went through the floatplane catapult without exploding. At 06:13, Leach gave the order to retreat; only five of his ship's ten 14 in (356 mm) guns were still firing and his ship had sustained significant damage. Prince of Wales made
8924-495: The 17th. The Germans used the ship as a fleet in being to tie down British naval forces to protect the convoy route to the Soviet Union and to deter an invasion of Norway. On 6 March, Tirpitz , escorted by the destroyers Z25 , Z14 Friedrich Ihn , Z5 Paul Jacobi and Z7 Hermann Schoemann , launched a raid on the British convoys to the Soviet Union . The Germans attempted to intercept convoys PQ-12 and QP-8, but
9118-413: The 24th, but had to call the operation off due to inclement weather. Operation Brawn, another carrier-launched attack, followed on 15 May, but again weather interfered. Another carrier strike was attempted on 28 May, but it too was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. Operation Mascot , which was to be conducted by the carriers Victorious , Furious , and Indefatigable on 17 July, was frustrated by
9312-432: The 3.7 and 2 cm guns were only given portable rangefinders. The ship's main belt was 320 mm (12.6 in) thick and was covered by a pair of upper and main armoured decks that were 50 mm (2 in) and 100 to 120 mm (3.9 to 4.7 in) thick, respectively. The 38 cm (15 in) turrets were protected by 360 mm (14.2 in) thick faces and 220 mm (8.7 in) thick sides. Bismarck
9506-504: The 35 cm version on 1 April, he allowed for the option to increase the main battery depending on foreign developments. Just a month later, Raeder decided to adopt the larger gun on 9 May, largely the result of Chancellor Adolf Hitler 's preference for the 38 cm gun. In June 1935, Germany signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement , which allowed Germany to build battleships at a ratio of 35 percent to
9700-723: The 35,000- long-ton (36,000 t ) limit imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty that governed battleship construction in the interwar period . The ships secretly exceeded the figure by a wide margin, though before either vessel was completed, the international treaty system had fallen apart following Japan's withdrawal in 1937, allowing signatories to invoke an "escalator clause" that permitted displacements as high as 45,000 long tons (46,000 t). Bismarck displaced 41,700 t (41,000 long tons) as built and 50,300 t (49,500 long tons) fully loaded , with an overall length of 251 m (823 ft 6 in),
9894-514: The Arado 196 float planes to carry away the ship's war diary, footage of the engagement with Hood , and other important documents. The third shell hit from Prince of Wales had damaged the steam line on the aircraft catapult, rendering it inoperative. As it was not possible to launch the aircraft, it had become a fire hazard, and was pushed overboard. Lütjens then asked at 07:10 if a U-boat could rendezvous with Bismarck to fetch these documents. U-556
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#173278292848310088-474: The Atlantic. When Bismarck was in Norway, a pair of Bf 109 fighters circled overhead to protect her from British air attacks, but Flying Officer Michael Suckling managed to fly his Spitfire directly over the German flotilla at a height of 8,000 m (26,000 ft) and take photos of Bismarck and her escorts. Upon receipt of the information, Admiral John Tovey ordered the battlecruiser HMS Hood ,
10282-520: The British naval attaché to Sweden, who transmitted the information to the Admiralty . The code-breakers at Bletchley Park confirmed that an Atlantic raid was imminent, as they had decrypted reports that Bismarck and Prinz Eugen had taken on prize crews and requested additional navigational charts from headquarters. A pair of Supermarine Spitfires was ordered to search the Norwegian coast for
10476-459: The British to track her. After retreating, Prince of Wales joined Norfolk and Suffolk ; the ships briefly engaged Bismarck at around 18:00. Neither side scored a hit. By this time, 19 warships were involved in the chase. This included six battleships and battlecruisers and two aircraft carriers, along with a number of cruisers and destroyers. After the second engagement with Prince of Wales , Lütjens detached Prinz Eugen to continue
10670-469: The British with confirmation that Luftwaffe units were relocating there. Tovey could now turn his forces toward France to converge in areas through which Bismarck would have to pass. Two Consolidated Catalina flying boats from No. 209 Squadron RAF and No. 240 Squadron RAF based out of RAF Castle Archdale in Northern Ireland joined the search, covering areas where Bismarck might head in
10864-400: The British, and so sent a series of radio transmissions, which were intercepted by the British and used to gain a rough fix on his position. Due to the damage his ship had sustained, Lütjens decided to head for occupied France rather than continue his mission. On the morning of 26 May, a Coastal Command PBY Catalina flying boat spotted Bismarck 690 nmi (1,280 km; 790 mi) to
11058-429: The British. The British ships approached the German ships head on, which permitted them to use only their forward guns; Bismarck and Prinz Eugen could fire full broadsides . Several minutes after opening fire, Holland ordered a 20° turn to port, which would allow his ships to engage with their rear gun turrets. Both German ships concentrated their fire on Hood . About a minute after opening fire, Prinz Eugen scored
11252-472: The German naval design staff began work in late October to lay out requirements for armament, armor, and speed. A preliminary design was completed in November, which resulted in a ship armed with eight 33 cm guns in four twin gun turrets , protected by an armored belt that was 350 mm (13.8 in) thick, and capable of a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). The staff noted that such
11446-496: The German raiders too closely. Lütjens ordered his ships to engage the British cruiser; Bismarck fired five salvoes, three of which straddled Norfolk and rained shell splinters on her decks. The cruiser laid a smoke screen and fled into a fog bank, ending the brief engagement. The concussion from the 38 cm guns' firing disabled Bismarck ' s FuMO 23 radar set; this prompted Lütjens to order Prinz Eugen to take station ahead so she could use her functioning radar to scout for
11640-419: The Germans. Victorious launched a strike of twelve Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers, however the aircraft were repulsed without having scored any hits on the German ships. Tirpitz and the destroyers were back in port by 12 March. The close call prompted Hitler to mandate that Tirpitz was not to attack another convoy unless its escorting aircraft carrier had been sunk or disabled. The RAF launched
11834-712: The North Atlantic. While on the trip through the Danish Belt , Bismarck and Prinz Eugen encountered the Swedish cruiser HSwMS Gotland in Kattegat ; the sighting was passed through the Swedish Navy to the British naval attaché in Stockholm. The British Royal Air Force conducted aerial reconnaissance of the Norwegian fjord in which Bismarck and Prinz Eugen had stopped, to confirm
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#173278292848312028-412: The North Atlantic. In the engagement, Bismarck had fired 93 armour-piercing shells and had been hit by three shells in return. The forecastle hit allowed 1,000 to 2,000 t (980 to 1,970 long tons) of water to flood into the ship, which contaminated fuel oil stored in the bow. Lütjens refused to reduce speed to allow damage control teams to repair the shell hole which widened and allowed more water into
12222-460: The North Sea and then in the Baltic. After Bismarck joined the fleet, plans were drawn up for a sortie into the North Atlantic, which was codenamed Operation Rheinübung (Rhine Exercise). The operation initially called for a force composed of Bismarck , Tirpitz , and the two Scharnhorst -class battleships. Tirpitz was not yet ready for service by May 1941, and Scharnhorst
12416-546: The OKM decided to proceed with the operation, codenamed Operation Rheinübung , with a force consisting of only Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen . At a final meeting with Raeder in Paris on 26 April, Lütjens was encouraged by his commander-in-chief to proceed and he eventually decided that an operation should begin as soon as possible to prevent the enemy gaining any respite. On 5 May 1941, Hitler and Wilhelm Keitel , with
12610-504: The Royal Navy was Ark Royal with Force H, under the command of Admiral James Somerville . Victorious , Prince of Wales , Suffolk and Repulse were forced to break off the search due to fuel shortage; the only heavy ships remaining apart from Force H were King George V and Rodney , but they were too distant. Ark Royal ' s Swordfish were already searching nearby when the Catalina found her. Several torpedo bombers also located
12804-662: The Sunderland reported the oil slick and guided the destroyer Electra to the site where Hood had blown up. The destroyer found only three survivors. After the engagement, Lütjens reported, "Battlecruiser, probably Hood , sunk. Another battleship, King George V or Renown , turned away damaged. Two heavy cruisers maintain contact." At 08:01, he transmitted a damage report and his intentions to OKM, which were to detach Prinz Eugen for commerce raiding and to make for Saint-Nazaire for repairs. Shortly after 10:00, Lütjens ordered Prinz Eugen to fall behind Bismarck to determine
12998-429: The Swordfish loaded torpedoes equipped with contact detonators. The second attack comprised fifteen aircraft and was launched at 19:10. At 19:50, Ark Royal and Renown passed the position of U-556 . The U-boat was in an ideal shooting position, but had expended all torpedoes on previous operations and could not launch an attack. Before attacking, the Swordfish made first contact at 20:00 with Sheffield , which gave them
13192-419: The aft superstructure deck. These were used in conjunction with the bow protection gear. The Bismarck -class ships both had three sets of geared turbine engines; Bismarck was equipped with Blohm & Voss turbines, while Tirpitz used Brown, Boveri, and Co. engines. Each set of turbines drove a 3-bladed screw that was 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) in diameter. The three-shaft arrangement
13386-480: The assistance of all Atlantic U-boats, Lütjens requested to set up a patrol line on the extrapolated route of Bismarck into the open Atlantic. Five U-boats— U-43 , U-46 , U-66 , U-94 , and U-557 were ordered to take up positions south of Greenland where they were expected to make contact in the morning of 25 May. Since Lütjens had intentions to make for a French port, a second group of U-boats consisting of U-48 , U-74 , U-97 , U-98 , and U-556
13580-577: The attempt to reach occupied France. At 10:30 on 26 May, a Catalina piloted by British Flying Officer Dennis Briggs and co-piloted by Ensign Leonard B. Smith of the US Navy located her, some 690 nmi (1,280 km; 790 mi) northwest of Brest. At her current speed, she would have been close enough to reach the protection of U-boats and the Luftwaffe in less than a day. Most British forces were not close enough to stop her. The only possibility for
13774-533: The back of the ship between the main mast and the rear funnel; the forward section continued to move forward briefly before the in-rushing water caused the bow to rise into the air at a steep angle. The stern also rose as water rushed into the ripped-open compartments. Schneider exclaimed "He is sinking!" over the ship's loudspeakers. In only eight minutes of firing, Hood had disappeared, taking all but three of her crew of 1,419 men with her. Bismarck then shifted fire to Prince of Wales . The British battleship scored
13968-549: The battleship, about 60 nmi (110 km; 69 mi) away from Ark Royal . Somerville ordered an attack as soon as the Swordfish returned and were rearmed with torpedoes. He detached the cruiser Sheffield to shadow Bismarck , though Ark Royal ' s aviators were not informed of this. As a result, the Swordfish, which were armed with torpedoes equipped with magnetic detonators , accidentally attacked Sheffield . The magnetic detonators failed to work properly and Sheffield emerged unscathed. Upon returning to Ark Royal ,
14162-402: The bombers. One torpedo hit amidships on the port side, just below the bottom edge of the main armour belt. The force of the explosion was largely contained by the underwater protection system and the belt armour but some structural damage caused minor flooding. The second torpedo struck Bismarck in her stern on the port side, near the port rudder shaft. The coupling on the port rudder assembly
14356-445: The bombs. The bomb completely penetrated the ship and exploded directly under her keel. This caused 1,500 long tons (1,524 t) of water to flood the ship; Tirpitz had again been disabled. A month later, on 15 October, Tirpitz was moved to Håkøya Island off Tromsø to be used as a floating artillery battery. Two weeks later, on 29 October, the British launched Operation Obviate , which consisted of 32 Lancaster bombers. Only
14550-428: The bow and 80 mm (3.1 in) at the stern. The deck was mounted low in the hull, however, which reduced the volume of internal space protected by the armored citadel. This contrasted with contemporary British and American designs that featured a single thick armored deck mounted high in the ship. The forward conning tower had a 200 mm (7.9 in) thick roof and 350 mm (13.8 in) thick sides, while
14744-469: The centerline, on top of the aircraft hangar and just after turret ‘Caesar’. The four stabilized anti-aircraft directors were of the SL-8 type, which was an improved version of the previous SL-6 type: the gyrostabilization system in the cylindrical base was now motorized which saved a lot of weight. By May 1941, only the two forward SL-8 directors on Bismarck were equipped with the conical cupola containing
14938-678: The command of Vice Admiral Lancelot Holland . Lütjens ordered his ships' crews to battle stations . By 05:52, the range had fallen to 26,000 m (28,000 yd) and Hood opened fire, followed by Prince of Wales a minute later. Hood engaged Prinz Eugen , which the British thought to be Bismarck , while Prince of Wales fired on Bismarck . Adalbert Schneider , the first gunnery officer aboard Bismarck , twice requested permission to return fire, but Lütjens hesitated. Lindemann intervened, muttering "I will not let my ship be shot out from under my ass." He demanded permission to fire from Lütjens, who relented and at 05:55 ordered his ships to engage
15132-519: The contract name Ersatz Schleswig-Holstein to replace the obsolete battleship Schleswig-Holstein . Tirpitz was named for Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz , the architect of the High Seas Fleet before World War I. His daughter, Ilse von Hassel, christened the ship on 1 April 1939. Fitting out work lasted until February 1941; Tirpitz was commissioned into the fleet on 25 February. A series of trials were then conducted, first in
15326-421: The convoys from Britain to the Soviet Union. She was repeatedly attacked by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force between 1942 and 1944, but she was not seriously damaged in these attacks. In 1944, Lancaster bombers hit the ship with two Tallboy bombs , which caused extensive internal damage and capsized the battleship. Tirpitz was broken up for scrap between 1948 and 1957. A series of conceptual designs
15520-416: The crew complement to over 2,200 men. Roughly 600 of the crew came from the light cruiser Karlsruhe , which had been lost during Operation Weserübung , the German invasion of Norway. Bismarck ' s crew published a ship's newspaper titled Die Schiffsglocke (The Ship's Bell). Bismarck carried four Arado Ar 196 reconnaissance floatplanes in a double hangar amidships and two single hangars abreast
15714-600: The design requirements. The Naval Ordnance Department argued for an increase to 35 cm guns to keep parity with the expected Italian and French ships, which Raeder approved on 19 January. Another meeting in March saw the Ordnance Department raise the possibility of increasing the projected main battery again to 38 cm (15 in), though Raeder initially rejected the idea owing to the significant increase in displacement. Nevertheless, though he formally approved
15908-464: The direct cause of Bismarck ' s sinking. Only 110 men were rescued by the British before reports of U-boats forced them from the scene. A further five men were rescued by German vessels. Tirpitz ' s first action following her commissioning into the Kriegsmarine on 25 February 1941 was to act as a deterrent to a possible Soviet attempt to break out their Baltic Fleet following
16102-424: The double bottom and fuel bunkers on the port side. Structural damage in the engine plant of the housing and components of the port turbine and condenser; the tail shafts were out of alignment, the thrust bearing was damaged, the propellers were immobilized, and the port rudder assembly was flooded. The main gun turrets had been jolted off their roller tracks, only one rangefinder was still active, one 15 cm turret
16296-487: The eighth division consisted of ammunition handlers. The radio operators , signalmen, and quartermasters were assigned to the ninth division. The last three divisions were the engine room personnel. When Bismarck left port, fleet staff, prize crews , and war correspondents increased the crew complement to over 2,200 men. Although both ships were from the same class, there were substantial differences between Bismarck and Tirpitz . The funnel cap on Bismarck
16490-415: The engagement with Hood and forced to reduce speed, she was still capable of reaching 27 to 28 knots (50 to 52 km/h; 31 to 32 mph), the maximum speed of Tovey's King George V . Unless Bismarck could be slowed, the British would be unable to prevent her from reaching Saint-Nazaire. Shortly before 16:00 on 25 May, Tovey detached the aircraft carrier Victorious and four light cruisers to shape
16684-646: The fire control solution for naval anti-aircraft guns necessitated the guns to be provided with a three axial mounting, which could not work for the heavier anti-aircraft gun. Only from the next generation of H-class battleship proposals on, a turret mounted and heavier anti-aircraft defense was designed. As built, Bismarck and Tirpitz were equipped with an anti-aircraft battery of sixteen 10.5 cm (4.1 in) C/33 65-caliber guns in eight twin mounts, sixteen 3.7 cm (1.5 in) C/30 guns in eight dual mounts, and twelve 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 guns in individual mounts. The 10.5 cm guns were
16878-458: The first time Tirpitz fired her main guns in anger. On 22/23 September, six British midget submarines attacked Tirpitz while at anchor. Only two of the submarines, X6 and X7 successfully planted explosive charges against the battleship's hull. The first charge exploded at 0812, the second shortly afterwards. Very extensive damage was sustained; nearly all electric lighting failed, partial flooding of electric switchboard room 2, flooding of
17072-789: The fleet on 24 August 1940, with Kapitän zur See Ernst Lindemann in command. Three weeks later, the ship left Hamburg for trials in the Baltic Sea , before returning in December for final fitting-out work. Further trials and tests were conducted in the Baltic in March and April; Bismarck was placed on active status the following month. Tirpitz ' s keel was laid at the Kriegsmarinewerft ( Kriegsmarine Shipyard) in Wilhelmshaven on 20 October 1936, under construction number 128. She had been ordered under
17266-422: The flooding from the earlier battle damage. Her speed was reduced to 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) to slow the flooding while repair teams fixed the reopened wounds. Early on 25 May, Bismarck doubled back past her pursuers in a wide circle. The maneuver successfully shook off the British ships, which turned west in an attempt to find the ship. Despite the maneuver, Lütjens was unaware that he had evaded
17460-531: The flotilla. German aerial reconnaissance confirmed that one aircraft carrier , three battleships, and four cruisers remained at anchor in the main British naval base at Scapa Flow , which persuaded Lütjens that the British were unaware of his operation. On the evening of 20 May, Bismarck and the rest of the flotilla reached the Norwegian coast; the minesweepers were detached and the two raiders and their destroyer escorts continued north. The following morning, radio-intercept officers on board Prinz Eugen picked up
17654-452: The following morning, observers aboard Bismarck spotted the masts of the battlecruiser Hood and the new battleship Prince of Wales . The British ships steamed directly towards Bismarck and Prinz Eugen , before attempting a turn to bring the two forces on a roughly parallel course. During the turn, at least one of Bismarck ' s 38 cm shells penetrated one of the aft ammunition magazines aboard Hood , which caused
17848-415: The following morning, the already-crippled Bismarck was engaged by two British battleships and two heavy cruisers, and sustained incapacitating damage and heavy loss of life. The ship was scuttled to prevent her being boarded by the British, and to allow the ship to be abandoned so as to limit further casualties. Most experts agree that the battle damage would have caused her to sink eventually. The wreck
18042-442: The formation. At around 22:00, Lütjens ordered Bismarck to make a 180-degree turn in an effort to surprise the two heavy cruisers shadowing him. Although Bismarck was visually obscured in a rain squall, Suffolk ' s radar quickly detected the manoeuvre, allowing the cruiser to evade. The cruisers remained on station through the night, continually relaying the location and bearing of the German ships. The harsh weather broke on
18236-537: The funnel, with a double-ended thwartship catapult . Bismarck was armed with a main battery of eight 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns arranged in four twin gun turrets : two super-firing turrets forward—"Anton" and "Bruno"—and two aft—"Caesar" and "Dora". Secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) L/55 guns. The main-battery and secondary guns were aimed from three fire-control director stations, using mechanical computers to plot target distances and courses and to calculate angles for
18430-402: The guns. The 3.7 cm and 2 cm guns did not have any fire direction control. The crews of these guns were equipped with portable rangefinders. The armor plate was mainly Krupp cemented steel . This had two classifications, Ww for Wotan (soft) and Wh for Wotan hard. The Bismarck -class ships had an armored belt that ranged in thickness from 220 to 320 mm (8.7 to 12.6 in);
18624-406: The guns. On top of each fire-control station a rangefinder was mounted in a rotating cupola, a FuMO 23 Seetakt radar set was installed by March 1941 on the front of all three cupolas. The heavy anti-aircraft armament consisted of sixteen 10.5 cm (4.1 in) C/33 guns in eight twin mountings. The forward two pairs of gun mountings were of the old C/31 type whilst the aft two pairs were of
18818-673: The harbour was empty. On receiving the report, Tovey left Scapa Flow with the Home Fleet at 22:15. By 04:00 on 23 May, Lütjens ordered Bismarck and Prinz Eugen to increase speed to 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) to make the dash through the Denmark Strait. Upon entering the Strait, both ships activated their FuMO radar detection equipment sets. Bismarck led Prinz Eugen by about 700 m (770 yd); mist reduced visibility to 3,000–4,000 m (3,300–4,400 yd). The Germans encountered some ice at around 10:00, which necessitated
19012-601: The heavy seas of the North Atlantic. Bismarck and Tirpitz were responsive to commands from the helm; they were capable of maneuvering with rudder deflections as small as 5°. With the rudder completely over, the ships heeled only 3°, but lost up to 65% of their speed. The ships handled poorly at low speeds or when traveling astern. As a result, tugs were necessary in confined areas to avoid collisions or grounding. The ships carried smaller boats, including three picket boats, four barges, one launch , two pinnaces , two cutters , two yawls , and two dinghies . The ships had
19206-665: The heavy smokescreen over the battleship. The Royal Navy launched the Operation Goodwood series in late August. Goodwood I took place on 22 August, with 38 bombers and 43 fighters from five carriers. The attackers failed to score any hits. Goodwood III followed two days later, with 48 bombers and 29 fighters from Formidable , Furious , and Indefatigable . The bombers made two hits on the ship, which did only minor damage. The last Royal Navy operation, Goodwood IV, followed on 29 August. Thirty-four bombers and 25 fighters, launched from Formidable and Indefatigable , attacked
19400-430: The hunt: Revenge , from Halifax, and Ramillies , which was escorting Convoy HX 127. In all, six battleships and battlecruisers, two aircraft carriers, thirteen cruisers, and twenty-one destroyers were committed to the chase. By around 17:00, the crew aboard Prince of Wales restored nine of her ten main guns to working order, which permitted Wake-Walker to place her in the front of his formation to attack Bismarck if
19594-411: The inclement weather prevented them from finding the convoys. A Soviet freighter that was sailing independently of the convoys was sunk by the destroyers. The British submarines Trident and Seawolf reported Tirpitz . A Home Fleet squadron consisting of the battleships King George V and Duke of York , the aircraft carrier Victorious , the heavy cruiser Berwick and destroyers failed to find
19788-600: The keel, especially where it emerged from the hull. In addition to retaining greater hull strength, a four-shaft arrangement would have allowed a greater ability to steer the ship using only propeller revolutions than the three-screw system according to Ballard. During Bismarck ' s Atlantic operation in May 1941, the ship's rudder was disabled by a torpedo hit, and her course could not be corrected by altering screw revolutions; this problem had already been revealed during sea trials, but it could not be corrected. Electric power
19982-520: The largest and most powerful warships built for the Kriegsmarine ; displacing more than 41,000 metric tons (40,000 long tons) normally, they were armed with a battery of eight 38 cm (15 in) guns and were capable of a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). Bismarck was laid down in July 1936 and completed in September 1940, while the keel of her sister ship, Tirpitz ,
20176-605: The largest battleships ever built by Germany, and two of the largest built by any European power. In the course of the warship's eight-month career, Bismarck conducted only one offensive operation that lasted 8 days in May 1941, codenamed Rheinübung . The ship, along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen , was to break into the Atlantic Ocean and raid Allied shipping from North America to Great Britain. The two ships were detected several times off Scandinavia, and British naval units were deployed to block their route. At
20370-476: The last shell. Long live the Führer." At 08:47 the following morning, the battleship Rodney opened fire, followed directly by King George V . Bismarck replied three minutes later, though at 09:02 a 16-inch shell from Rodney destroyed the forward turrets. Half an hour later, Bismarck ' s rear turrets were silenced as well. At around 10:15, both British battleships had ceased fire, their target
20564-401: The last shell. Long live the Führer." The mood of the crew became increasingly depressed, especially as messages from the naval command reached the ship. Intended to boost morale, the messages only highlighted the desperate situation in which the crew found itself. As the Swordfish returned to the carrier, Bismarck briefly fired her main battery at the shadowing Sheffield . The first salvo went
20758-555: The location of Norfolk and Suffolk , which were still 10 to 12 nmi (19 to 22 km; 12 to 14 mi) to the east. At 06:00, Hood was completing the second turn to port when Bismarck ' s fifth salvo hit. Two of the shells landed short, striking the water close to the ship, but at least one of the 38 cm armour-piercing shells struck Hood and penetrated her thin deck armour. The shell reached Hood ' s rear ammunition magazine and detonated 112 t (110 long tons) of cordite propellant. The massive explosion broke
20952-461: The machinery, and from 23,319 meters for the magazine. Bismarck was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard on 1 July 1936. The ship was assigned construction number 509, and the contract name Ersatz Hannover , since she had been ordered as a replacement for the old battleship Hannover . The ship was launched on 14 February 1939 with Adolf Hitler in attendance. The granddaughter of
21146-427: The mid-Atlantic. Force H , with the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and steaming up from Gibraltar , was still at least a day away. Unaware that he had shaken off Wake-Walker, Lütjens sent long radio messages to Naval Group West headquarters in Paris. The signals were intercepted by the British, from which bearings were determined. They were wrongly plotted on board King George V , leading Tovey to believe that Bismarck
21340-400: The middle of the year. On 6 September, Tirpitz , Scharnhorst , and the destroyers Z27 , Z29 , Z30 , Z31 , Z33 , Z15 Erich Steinbrinck , Z20 Karl Galster , Z10 Hans Lody and Z6 Theodor Riedel bombarded the island of Spitzbergen , which served as a British refueling station. The two battleships destroyed their targets and returned safely to Altenfjord; this was
21534-408: The middle pair of 15 cm turrets were equipped with rangefinders, although the rangefinder on turret "Anton" was removed as it was useless because of seawater spray. Bearings and distance to targets for the sixteen 10.5 cm anti-aircraft guns were taken from four stabilized anti-aircraft directors . Two of these directors were mounted on each side of the foretop and the two others were mounted on
21728-521: The mission. At 02:00 on 19 May, Bismarck departed Gotenhafen and made for the Danish straits . She was joined at 11:25 by Prinz Eugen , which had departed the previous night at 21:18, off Cape Arkona. The two ships were escorted by three destroyers — Z10 Hans Lody , Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt , and Z23 —and a flotilla of minesweepers . The Luftwaffe provided air cover during the voyage out of German waters. At around noon on 20 May, Lindemann informed
21922-511: The morning of 24 May was still over 350 nmi (650 km; 400 mi) away. The Admiralty ordered the light cruisers Manchester , Birmingham , and Arethusa to patrol the Denmark Strait in case Lütjens attempted to retrace his route. The battleship Rodney , which had been escorting RMS Britannic and was due for a refit in the Boston Navy Yard , joined Tovey. Two old Revenge -class battleships were ordered into
22116-430: The morning of 24 May, revealing a clear sky. At 05:07, hydrophone operators aboard Prinz Eugen detected a pair of unidentified vessels approaching the German formation at a range of 20 nmi (37 km; 23 mi), reporting "Noise of two fast-moving turbine ships at 280° relative bearing!" At 05:45 on 24 May, German lookouts spotted smoke on the horizon; this turned out to be from Hood and Prince of Wales , under
22310-460: The most likely threats. Due to the numerical inferiority of the German fleet and the assumption that naval battles would take place at relatively close range in the North Sea , the design staff placed great emphasis on stability and armor protection. Very thick vertical belt armor was adopted, along with heavy upper- citadel armor plating and extensive splinter protection in the bow and stern of
22504-676: The navy to revert to high-pressure steam turbines. The displacement of Bismarck and Tirpitz was ultimately limited by the capabilities of existing infrastructure in Kiel and Wilhelmshaven , and the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal , rather than international agreements. On 11 February 1937, the Construction Office informed Raeder that the ships could not displace more than 42,000 long tons (43,000 t) due to harbor constraints and canal depths. The office also expressed
22698-424: The new battleships; they would have to make long voyages from German ports to reach the Atlantic, and Germany had no overseas bases where the ships could refuel. Raeder ordered the turbo-electric engines for the new ships, but the contracting manufacturer, Siemens-Schuckert , could not meet the navy's requirements and removed itself from the project less than a month before construction on Bismarck began, forcing
22892-447: The newer C/37 type. The middle and light anti-aircraft armament consisted of sixteen 3.7 cm (1.5 in) C/30 , and initially twelve 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft guns. In April 1941 two of the single 2 cm guns mounted on the searchlight platform on the foretop were replaced by two quadruple 2 cm C/38 guns. Anti-aircraft fire control for the 10.5 cm guns was provided by four stabilized SL-8 directors , though
23086-714: The newly commissioned battleship HMS Prince of Wales , and six destroyers to reinforce the pair of cruisers patrolling the Denmark Strait . The rest of the Home Fleet was placed on high alert in Scapa Flow. Eighteen bombers were dispatched to attack the Germans, but weather over the fjord had worsened and they were unable to find the German warships. Bismarck did not replenish her fuel stores in Norway, as her operational orders did not require her to do so. She had left port 200 t (200 long tons) short of
23280-508: The next two battleships built by Germany would need to be of a similar size and armament. At the same time, Germany was preparing to begin negotiations with Great Britain to secure a bilateral naval agreement that would effectively abrogate the naval restrictions of the Versailles treaty. In exchange, Germany would limit its fleet to a third the size of the Royal Navy . With the construction of at least two 35,000-ton battleships within reach,
23474-652: The night. These destroyers encountered Bismarck at 22:38; the battleship quickly engaged them with her main battery. After firing three salvos, she straddled the Polish destroyer ORP Piorun . The destroyer continued to close the range until a near miss at around 12,000 m (39,000 ft) forced her to turn away. Throughout the night and into the morning, Vian's destroyers harried Bismarck , illuminating her with star shells and firing sixteen torpedoes in nine separate attacks, none of which hit. Between 05:00 and 06:00, Bismarck ' s crew attempted to launch one of
23668-495: The north-west of Brest; she was steaming at a speed that would put her under the protective umbrella of German aircraft and U-boats within 24 hours. The only British forces close enough to slow her down were the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and her escort, the battlecruiser Renown . At approximately 20:30, a flight of fifteen Ark Royal ' s 820 Naval Air Squadrons Swordfish torpedo bombers launched an attack on Bismarck . Three torpedoes were believed to have struck
23862-422: The number 4 turbo-generator feedwater system, which would have permitted saltwater to reach the turbines. The saltwater would have damaged the turbine blades and thus greatly reduced the ship's speed. By morning on 25 May, the danger had passed. The ship slowed to 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) to allow divers to pump fuel from the forward compartments to the rear tanks; two hoses were successfully connected and
24056-524: The old battleship Schlesien , now used as an icebreaker, escorted Bismarck through the ice to Gotenhafen, where the latter continued combat readiness training. The Naval High Command ( Oberkommando der Marine or OKM), commanded by Admiral Erich Raeder , intended to continue the practice of using heavy ships as surface raiders against Allied merchant traffic in the Atlantic Ocean. The two Scharnhorst -class battleships were based in Brest, France , at
24250-423: The operation while Bismarck sailed for port. Shortly before midnight on 24 May, a group of Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from 825 Naval Air Squadron on Victorious attacked Bismarck . One torpedo struck the ship amidships, though without doing any serious damage. The shock from the explosion, coupled with Bismarck ' s maneuvering at high speed, damaged the temporary repairs that had stopped
24444-418: The operation, she destroyed the British battlecruiser HMS Hood and damaged the new battleship Prince of Wales in the Battle of the Denmark Strait . Bismarck was defeated and sunk in a final engagement after a three-day chase by the Royal Navy . Although some disagreement over the cause of the sinking persists, evidence reviewed by Robert Ballard and James Cameron indicates that her loss
24638-784: The opportunity arose. With the weather worsening, Lütjens attempted to detach Prinz Eugen at 16:40. The squall was not heavy enough to cover her withdrawal from Wake-Walker's cruisers, which continued to maintain radar contact. Prinz Eugen was therefore recalled temporarily. The cruiser was successfully detached at 18:14. Bismarck turned around to face Wake-Walker's formation, forcing Suffolk to turn away at high speed. Prince of Wales fired twelve salvos at Bismarck , which responded with nine salvos, none of which hit. The action diverted British attention and permitted Prinz Eugen to slip away. After Bismarck resumed her previous heading, Wake-Walker's three ships took up station on Bismarck ' s port side. Although Bismarck had been damaged in
24832-477: The paths of the incoming torpedo bombers. None of the attacking aircraft were shot down. One of the Swordfish lost its way in the cloud and failed to attack. Bismarck evaded seven of the torpedoes launched at her, but the eighth struck amidships on the main armoured belt, throwing one man into a bulkhead and killing him and injuring five others. The explosion also caused minor damage to electrical equipment. The ship suffered more serious damage from manoeuvres to evade
25026-542: The plan to lure the pursuers to the U-boat trap and to head directly for France. He ordered an increase to maximum speed, which at this point was 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). He then ordered the ship to circle away to the west and then north. This manoeuvre coincided with the period during which his ship was out of radar range; Bismarck successfully broke radar contact and circled back behind her pursuers. Suffolk ' s captain assumed that Bismarck had broken off to
25220-479: The planned sortie. Attacks by British bombers on supply depots in Kiel delayed repairs to the heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper . The two ships would not be ready for action until July or August. Admiral Günther Lütjens , Flottenchef (Fleet Chief) of the Kriegsmarine, chosen to lead the operation, wished to delay the operation at least until either Scharnhorst or Tirpitz became available, but
25414-406: The port rudder jammed, Bismarck was now steaming in a large circle, unable to escape from Tovey's forces. Though fuel shortages had reduced the number of ships available to the British, the battleships King George V and Rodney were still available, along with the heavy cruisers Dorsetshire and Norfolk . Lütjens signalled headquarters at 21:40 on the 26th: "Ship unmanoeuvrable. We will fight to
25608-434: The project, and he later supervised the launching of Tirpitz . During this period, the naval leadership grappled with a variety of problems, including the strategic and operational use of such a ship and the preferred propulsion system. War games suggested that the new battleships could be used both to attack French shipping at long range and to fight in a traditional battle against the French and Polish navies, then seen as
25802-495: The propellant charges. Under optimal conditions, the rate of fire was one shot every 18 seconds, or three per minute. The gun turrets were electrically trained and the guns were hydraulically elevated. Gun elevation was controlled remotely. The turrets required each gun to return to 2.5° elevation for loading. Tirpitz was eventually provided with time-fuzed shells to combat the repeated Allied bombing attacks. The Bismarck s' use of four twin turrets (the 4 × 2 configuration)
25996-411: The radio signals being sent by Suffolk and learned that their location had been reported. Lütjens gave permission for Prinz Eugen to engage Suffolk , but the captain of the German cruiser could not clearly make out his target and so held fire. Suffolk quickly retreated to a safe distance and shadowed the German ships. At 20:30, the heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk joined Suffolk , but approached
26190-546: The raid. The three escorting destroyers were detached at 04:14 on 22 May, while the force steamed off Trondheim . At around 12:00, Lütjens ordered his two ships to turn toward the Denmark Strait to attempt the break-out into the open Atlantic. The same bad weather that had encouraged Lütjens to start the break-out attempt, prevented any reconnaissance flights over Bergen. But at 16:00 a Martin Maryland managed to take off from RNAS Hatston and made it to Bergen where it could see
26384-403: The raiding mission. The destruction of Hood spurred a relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy involving dozens of warships. Two days later, heading for occupied France for repairs, Bismarck was attacked by fifteen Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal ; one scored a hit that rendered the battleship's steering gear inoperable. In her final battle
26578-473: The range finder had an armored roof 100 mm (4 in) thick and 200 mm (8 in) thick sides. The aft conning tower had much lighter armor: the roof was 50 mm thick and the sides were 150 mm (5.9 in), while the aft range finder had a 50 mm thick roof and 100 mm sides. The main battery turrets were reasonably well-protected: the turret forward roofs were 180 mm (7.1 in) and roof rears were 130 mm (5.1 in) thick,
26772-443: The rear control station, took over firing control for the rear turrets. He managed to fire three salvos before a shell destroyed the gun director, disabling his equipment. He gave the order for the guns to fire independently, but by 09:31, all four main battery turrets had been put out of action. One of Bismarck ' s shells exploded 20 feet off Rodney ' s bow and damaged her starboard torpedo tube—the closest Bismarck came to
26966-403: The recently commissioned British ship, which still had civilian technicians aboard. Despite the technical faults in the main battery, Prince of Wales scored three hits on Bismarck in the engagement. The first struck her in the forecastle above the waterline but low enough to allow the crashing waves to enter the hull. The second shell struck below the armoured belt and exploded on contact with
27160-435: The rudders to be replaced. Naval historians William Garzke and Robert Dulin stated that "the repairs to this ship were one of the most difficult naval engineering feats of World War II." In January 1943, Tirpitz emerged from the lengthy overhaul, after which she was transferred to Altafjord . Here, she participated in extensive training operations with Scharnhorst and the heavy cruiser Lützow , which lasted until
27354-513: The same weapons as used aboard the Scharnhorst class, and were mounted on the first superstructure deck. After Bismarck was sunk in 1941, two amidships guns on Tirpitz were moved forward so as to provide them with better fields of fire. The ships' 3.7 cm 83-caliber guns were twin mounted and placed in the superstructure. The mounts were hand-operated and automatically stabilized for roll and pitch. These guns were supplied with
27548-484: The severity of the oil leakage from the bow hit. After confirming "broad streams of oil on both sides of [ Bismarck ' s] wake", Prinz Eugen returned to the forward position. About an hour later, the shadowing Sunderland reported the oil slick to Suffolk and Norfolk , which had been joined by the damaged Prince of Wales . Rear Admiral Frederic Wake-Walker , the commander of the two cruisers, ordered Prince of Wales to remain behind his ships. When Dönitz offered
27742-557: The ship at the time of commissioning. On 15 September 1940, three weeks after commissioning, Bismarck left Hamburg to begin sea trials in Kiel Bay . Sperrbrecher 13 escorted the ship to Arcona on 28 September, and then on to Gotenhafen for trials in the Gulf of Danzig . The ship's power-plant was given a thorough workout; Bismarck made measured-mile and high speed runs. As the ship's stability and manoeuvrability were being tested,
27936-462: The ship's crew via loudspeaker of the ship's mission. At approximately the same time, a group of ten or twelve Swedish aircraft flying reconnaissance encountered the German force and reported its composition and heading, though the Germans did not see the Swedes. An hour later, the German flotilla encountered the Swedish cruiser HSwMS Gotland ; the cruiser shadowed the Germans for two hours in
28130-417: The ship's namesake, Otto von Bismarck , christened the ship. As with other German capital ships, Bismarck was originally built with a straight bow. Experiences with other ships revealed the necessity of a clipper bow to prevent them from shipping too much water in heavy seas, so Blohm & Voss accordingly modified Bismarck ' s bow during the fitting-out process. The ship was commissioned into
28324-481: The ship's namesake. Adolf Hitler made the christening speech. Fitting-out work followed the launch, during which time the original straight stem was replaced with a raked "Atlantic bow" similar to those of the Scharnhorst -class battleships . Bismarck was commissioned into the fleet on 24 August 1940 for sea trials , which were conducted in the Baltic. Kapitän zur See Ernst Lindemann took command of
28518-462: The ship, though fog prevented them from scoring any hits. The task of sinking Tirpitz now fell to the RAF, which performed three airstrikes armed with new 5,400 kg (11,900 lb) Tallboy bombs . The first attack, Operation Paravane , came on 15 September, when a force of 27 Lancasters dropped a single Tallboy each; the bombers succeeded in hitting Tirpitz directly in the bow with one of
28712-435: The ship, unable to steer, moved erratically in the heavy seas and deprived Schneider of a predictable course for range calculations. As the range fell, the ships' secondary batteries joined the battle. Norfolk and Dorsetshire closed and began firing with their 8 in (203 mm) guns. At 09:02, a 16-inch shell from Rodney struck Bismarck ' s forward superstructure , killing hundreds of men and severely damaging
28906-445: The ship. The second hit caused some additional flooding. Shell-splinters from the second hit also damaged a steam line in the turbo-generator room, but this was not serious, as Bismarck had sufficient other generator reserves. The combined flooding from these two hits caused a 9-degree list to port and a 3-degree trim by the bow. While Prince of Wales was retreating, the hydrophone operators on Prinz Eugen detected torpedoes. It
29100-413: The ship; the first two torpedoes failed to do serious damage to the ship, but the third hit jammed Bismarck ' s rudders hard to starboard. The damage could not be repaired, and the battleship began turning in a large circle, back towards her pursuers. An hour after the Swordfish attack, Lütjens transmitted the following signal to Naval Group Command West: "Ship unable to maneuver. We will fight to
29294-418: The ships as long-range commerce raiders against British shipping in the Atlantic Ocean . As such, their design represented the strategic confusion that dominated German naval construction in the 1930s. Both ships had short service careers. Bismarck conducted only one operation, Operation Rheinübung , a sortie into the North Atlantic to raid supply convoys sent from North America to Great Britain. During
29488-421: The ships were not designed for that mission. Their steam turbines did not afford the necessary cruising radius for such a role, and many of the decisions made for the ships' armament and armor layout reflect the expectation to fight a traditional naval battle at relatively close range in the North Sea. The disconnect between how Bismarck and Tirpitz were designed and how they were ultimately used represents
29682-507: The ships. The Reichsmarine learned in June 1934 that Italy had decided to build a pair of 35,000-ton battleships armed with 35 cm (13.8 in) guns—the Littorio class —which would surely provoke the construction of similar ships for the French fleet. The French response came in the form of two Richelieu -class battleships ordered in 1935. To keep pace with their French rivals,
29876-532: The sides were 220 mm thick, and the faces were 360 mm (14 in) thick with 220 mm (8.7 in) thick shields. These armor thicknesses were less than those of contemporary British ( King George V ) and French ( Richelieu ) designs. Conversely, the secondary battery was better-protected than most rivals. The 15 cm gun turrets had 35 mm (1.4 in) thick roofs, 40 mm (1.6 in) sides, and 100 mm fronts. The 10.5 cm guns had 20 mm (0.79 in) shields. The roof armor
30070-406: The sighting. While in Norway, Lütjens failed to replenish the approximately 1,000 long tons (1,016 t) of fuel Bismarck had spent on the first leg of the voyage. By 23 May, Bismarck and Prinz Eugen had reached the Denmark Strait . That evening, the British cruisers Suffolk and Norfolk briefly engaged Bismarck before dropping back to shadow the German ships. At 06:00
30264-633: The single-gun turrets used aboard the Scharnhorst class . They could elevate to 40° and depress to −10°; they had a rate of fire of around six shots per minute. The 15 cm guns fired a 45.3 kg (100 lb) shell at a muzzle velocity of 875 m/s (2,871 ft/s). At maximum elevation, the guns could hit targets out to 23,000 m (25,000 yd). As with the main battery guns, Tirpitz ' s 15 cm guns were later supplied with time-fused shells. The decision to mount low-angle 15 cm guns has been criticized by naval historians, including Antony Preston , who stated that they "imposed
30458-869: The sinking ship, and a further 82 were rescued from the capsized hulk. The wreck was gradually broken up for scrap between 1948 and 1957. Beam (nautical) Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship (or boat), the more initial stability it has, at the expense of secondary stability in the event of a capsize , where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position. A ship that heels on her beam ends has her deck beams nearly vertical. Typical length-to-beam ratios ( aspect ratios ) for small sailboats are from 2:1 (dinghies to trailerable sailboats around 20 ft or 6 m) to 5:1 (racing sailboats over 30 ft or 10 m). Large ships have widely varying beam ratios, some as large as 20:1. Rowing shells designed for flatwater racing may have length to beam ratios as high as 30:1, while
30652-409: The speed that the command staff determined was the most economical for the voyage to occupied France. Shortly after the Swordfish departed from the scene, Bismarck and Prince of Wales engaged in a brief artillery duel. Neither scored a hit. Bismarck ' s damage control teams resumed work after the short engagement. The sea water that had flooded the number 2 port side boiler threatened to enter
30846-413: The standard rangefinder, the other two still had their temporary equipment in an open position. One of the directors on Tirpitz received a Würzburg radar in 1944. Besides calculating angles and the time of firing of the guns, the anti-aircraft fire control system also calculated the fuze settings which were applied to the shells by a fuze setting apparatus mounted externally to the protective shield of
31040-401: The strategic incoherence that dominated German naval construction in the 1930s. The Bismarck -class battleships were 251 m (823 ft 6 in) long overall and 241.60 m (792 ft 8 in) long at the waterline . The ships had a beam of 36 m (118 ft 1 in), and a designed draft of 9.30 m (30 ft 6 in); the draft at standard displacement
31234-442: The thickest section of armor covered the central portion, where the gun turrets, ammunition magazines, and machinery spaces were located. This portion of the belt was capped on either end by 220 mm thick transverse bulkheads. The ships had an upper deck that was 50 mm (2 in) thick, and an armored deck that was between 100 and 120 mm (3.9 and 4.7 in) thick amidships, and tapered down to 60 mm (2.4 in) at
31428-481: The time, having just completed Operation Berlin , a major raid into the Atlantic. Bismarck ' s sister ship Tirpitz rapidly approached completion. Bismarck and Tirpitz were to sortie from the Baltic and rendezvous with the two Scharnhorst -class ships in the Atlantic; the operation was initially scheduled for around 25 April 1941, when a new moon period would make conditions more favourable. Work on Tirpitz
31622-519: The time, the German Navy was constrained by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles that had ended World War I , which restricted battleships to a maximum displacement of 10,000 long tons (10,160 t). The sketch design for what became the Bismarck class was produced by the Construction Office in 1933 and the final design agreed 1936. Ministerial advisor Hermann Burckhardt was responsible for
31816-461: The torpedoes: rapid shifts in speed and course loosened collision mats , which increased the flooding from the forward shell hole and eventually forced abandonment of the port number 2 boiler room. This loss of a second boiler, combined with fuel losses and increasing bow trim, forced the ship to slow to 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). Divers repaired the collision mats in the bow, after which speed increased to 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph),
32010-485: The total tonnage of the Royal Navy; this granted Germany effective parity with France, at least in terms of allotted tonnage. It also made Germany party to the international treaty system begun at the Washington Conference . By this time, the only significant issue to be settled was the propulsion system, which was largely dependent on strategic questions. Many senior officers in the navy envisioned using
32204-483: The two forward turrets. According to survivors, this salvo probably killed both Lindemann and Lütjens and the rest of the bridge staff, although other survivors stated that they saw Lindemann on the deck as the ship sank. The main fire control director was also destroyed by this hit, which probably also killed Schneider. A second shell from this salvo struck the forward main battery, which was disabled, though it fired one last salvo at 09:27. Lieutenant Müllenheim-Rechberg, in
32398-406: The west and attempted to find her by also steaming west. After half an hour, he informed Wake-Walker, who ordered the three ships to disperse at daylight to search visually. The Royal Navy search became frantic, as many of the British ships were low on fuel. Victorious and her escorting cruisers were sent west, Wake-Walker's ships continued to the south and west, and Tovey continued to steam toward
32592-453: Was 40mm (1.6 in). Regarding underwater protection, the armor was resistant to a 250 kg TNT explosive charge. Armor depth was 5.5 meters (216.5 in), with the longitudinal bulkhead thickness being 53 mm (2.1 in). Overall bottom protection had a depth of 1.7 meters (66.9 in). The citadel could resist a hit from a 38 cm shell of a weight of 1,016 kg fired from ranges between 10,793 meters and 21,031 meters for
32786-471: Was 8.63 m (28 ft 4 in), and 9.90 m (32 ft 6 in) at a full load. The ships had a designed displacement of 45,950 metric tons (45,220 long tons ); Bismarck ' s standard displacement was 41,700 t (41,000 long tons), and when fully laden, the ship displaced 50,300 t (49,500 long tons). Tirpitz was heavier, displacing 42,900 t (42,200 long tons) and 52,600 t (51,800 long tons), respectively. The ships had
32980-509: Was a design practice that hearkened back to the First World War. Almost all other post-1921 capital ships had triple or even quadruple turrets, which allowed for additional heavy caliber guns, while reducing the number of turrets. Fewer turrets reduced the length of the battleship's armored citadel (particularly magazine length and the armor needed to protect it) and shortened the vessel itself. Although triple turrets were considered for
33174-467: Was a very stable gun platform. Trials lasted until December; Bismarck returned to Hamburg, arriving on 9 December, for minor alterations and the completion of the fitting-out process. The ship was scheduled to return to Kiel on 24 January 1941, but a merchant vessel had been sunk in the Kiel Canal and prevented use of the waterway. Severe weather hampered efforts to remove the wreck, and Bismarck
33368-915: Was assigned at once to this task, but the U-boat missed the signalled order because it was submerged. U-556 was anyway too low on fuel to be able to carry out the order. After daybreak on 27 May, King George V led the attack. Rodney followed off her port quarter; Tovey intended to steam directly at Bismarck until he was about 8 nmi (15 km; 9.2 mi) away. At that point, he would turn south to put his ships parallel to his target. At 08:43, lookouts on King George V spotted her, some 23,000 m (25,000 yd) away. Four minutes later, Rodney ' s two forward turrets, comprising six 16 in (406 mm) guns, opened fire, then King George V ' s 14 in (356 mm) guns began firing. Bismarck returned fire at 08:50 with her forward guns; with her second salvo, she straddled Rodney . Thereafter, Bismarck ' s ability to aim her guns deteriorated as
33562-423: Was badly damaged and the rudder became locked in a 12° turn to port. The explosion also caused much shock damage. The crew eventually managed to repair the starboard rudder but the port rudder remained jammed. A suggestion to sever the port rudder with explosives was dismissed by Lütjens, as damage to the screws would have left the battleship helpless. At 21:15, Lütjens reported that the ship was unmanoeuvrable. With
33756-512: Was begun by the Reichsmarine (Navy of the Realm) in 1932 to determine the ideal characteristics of a battleship built to the 35,000 long tons (36,000 t) limit of the Washington Naval Treaty . These early studies determined that the ship should be armed with eight 33 cm (13 in) guns, have a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), and have strong armor protection. At
33950-422: Was being overhauled. The force was reduced to Bismarck , Gneisenau , and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen . Gneisenau was damaged by a British bombing raid on Brest , so it was decided that only Bismarck and Prinz Eugen would conduct the operation. Admiral Günther Lütjens was placed in command of the pair of ships. Early on the morning of 19 May, Bismarck left Gotenhafen , bound for
34144-549: Was chosen over a four-shaft system, as was typically used on foreign capital ships, since it would save weight. At a full load, the high and medium-pressure turbines ran at 2,825 rpm , while the low-pressure turbines ran at 2,390 rpm. The ships' turbines were powered by twelve Wagner ultra high-pressure, oil-burning water-tube boilers . Bismarck and Tirpitz were originally intended to use electric-transmission turbines that would have produced 46,000 shp (34,000 kW) apiece. These engines would have provided for
34338-521: Was completed later than anticipated, and she was not commissioned until 25 February; the ship was not ready for combat until late in the year. To further complicate the situation, Gneisenau was torpedoed in Brest and damaged further by bombs when in drydock . Scharnhorst required a boiler overhaul following Operation Berlin; the workers discovered during the overhaul that the boilers were in worse condition than expected. She would also be unavailable for
34532-482: Was designed to carry 3,000 tons of fuel, and with additional bunkers, was able to store up to 7,780 tons. At 19 knots, Bismarck could steam for 8,525 nautical miles (15,788 km), and Tirpitz had a maximum range of 8,870 nautical miles (16,430 km) at that speed. Robert Ballard, the discoverer of the Bismarck wreck, noted that the adoption of the three-shaft arrangement caused serious problems for Bismarck . The center shaft weakened
34726-409: Was due to a combination of battle damage and scuttling , with the Royal Navy battleships Rodney and King George V inflicting fatal damage before Bismarck ' s crew scuttled the foundering ship. Tirpitz ' s career was less dramatic; she operated in the Baltic Sea briefly in 1941 before being sent to Norwegian waters in 1942, where she acted as a fleet in being , threatening
34920-471: Was followed on 28/29 April by 23 Halifaxes of No 76 Squadron and 11 Lancasters. A combination of heavy German anti-aircraft fire and poor weather caused all three missions to fail. Over the rest of the year and into late 1942, Tirpitz underwent a refit in the Faettenfjord, which lacked dockyard facilities of any type. As a result, the work was done incrementally; a large caisson was built to allow
35114-417: Was forwarded to two switch rooms (German: Schaltstellen ) where it was configured which data was used by the fire control systems (German: Rechenstellen ) to compute firing solutions for the different guns and targets. The guns were fired electrically by the fire control system but in case of problems each turret could switch to local control. For firing under local control each of the 38 cm turrets and
35308-537: Was heading back to Germany through the Iceland-Faeroe gap, which kept his fleet on the wrong course for seven hours. By the time the mistake had been discovered, Bismarck had put a sizeable gap between herself and the British ships. British code-breakers were able to decrypt some of the German signals, including an order to the Luftwaffe to provide support for Bismarck making for Brest, decrypted by Jane Fawcett on 25 May 1941. The French Resistance provided
35502-501: Was increased to 78 guns in single and quadruple mountings. By 1944 she carried over ninety thousand 2 cm rounds. Bismarck had none, while Tirpitz was fitted with two banks of 53.3 cm (21 in) quadruple torpedo tube mounts between the end of 1941 and early 1942. Tirpitz carried 24 torpedoes . The main and secondary battery could be directed from three fire control stations. These stations contained either two or three director positions that took bearings of
35696-402: Was jammed, three of four fire control centers were damaged, the aircraft catapult was inoperable and two Arado 196 floatplanes were seriously damaged. Casualties were light however, one dead and 40 wounded. Tirpitz had been successfully neutralized. Over the next six months, a workforce of some 1,000 men effected the needed repairs, which were finished by March 1944. The British resumed
35890-722: Was laid in October 1936 and work finished in February 1941. The ships were ordered in response to the French Richelieu -class battleships , themselves laid down in response to the Italian Littorio -class battleships . The Bismarck -class was designed with the traditional role of engaging enemy battleships in home waters in mind, though the Oberkommando der Marine (High Command of the Navy) envisioned employing
36084-466: Was largely the result of a significant increase in horsepower for Tirpitz , which reached 163,023 PS (160,793 shp ; 119,903 kW ), compared to 148,116 for Bismarck . The two ships had different fuel stores; Bismarck was designed to carry 3,200 tons of fuel oil, but could store up to 6,400 tons of fuel in a normal configuration; with extra fuel bunkers, the fuel carried could be increased up to 7,400 tons. Tirpitz
36278-400: Was launched she had a straight stem, and Tirpitz had the Atlantic bow. Both ships had a degaussing coil fitted prior to commissioning. Bismarck had a single aircraft hangar on each side of the funnel and a double hangar at the base of the mainmast. Tirpitz had two double hangars on each side of the mainmast base. Four minesweeping paravanes were carried, two on either side of
36472-548: Was located in June 1989 by Robert Ballard , and has since been further surveyed by several other expeditions. The two Bismarck -class battleships were designed in the mid-1930s by the German Kriegsmarine as a counter to French naval expansion, specifically the two Richelieu -class battleships France had started in 1935. Laid down after the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935, Bismarck and her sister Tirpitz were nominally within
36666-513: Was not able to reach Kiel until March. The delay greatly frustrated Lindemann, who remarked that "[ Bismarck ] had been tied down at Hamburg for five weeks ... the precious time at sea lost as a result cannot be made up, and a significant delay in the final war deployment of the ship thus is unavoidable." While waiting to reach Kiel, Bismarck hosted Captain Anders Forshell, the Swedish naval attaché to Berlin. He returned to Sweden with
36860-511: Was ordered under the name Ersatz Hannover (" Hannover replacement"), a replacement for the old pre-dreadnought SMS Hannover , under contract "F". The contract was awarded to the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, where the keel was laid on 1 July 1936 at Helgen IX. The ship was launched on 14 February 1939 and during the elaborate ceremonies was christened by Dorothee von Löwenfeld, granddaughter of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck ,
37054-598: Was provided by a variety of generators, including two electric plants of four 500 kW diesel generators, two electric plants each with five 690 kW turbo-generators, one at 460 kW generator connected to a 400 k VA AC generator and one 550 kVA AC diesel generator. The generators were manufactured by Garbe, Lahmeyer & Co. The electrical plant provided a total 7,910 kW at 220 volts. Bismarck ' s and Tirpitz ' s main battery consisted of eight 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns in four twin turrets, Anton and Bruno in
37248-412: Was silver-grey, however the cap on Tirpitz was always black. The two cranes on Bismarck were sited 3.5 m (11 ft) further outboard and 3 m (9.8 ft) further aft, and Tirpitz mounted her two cranes on the superstructure deck. The 10.5 cm (4.1 in) flak guns (starboard II and port II) were mounted 5 m (16 ft) further inboard on Bismarck . When Bismarck
37442-509: Was stationed in the Bay of Biscay . Three other U-boats— U-73 , U-93 , and U-111 —were rushing to reinforce the trap. U-108 and U-552 were ordered to sail from port to reinforce the Biscay group. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered all warships in the area to join the pursuit of Bismarck and Prinz Eugen . Tovey's Home Fleet was steaming to intercept the German raiders, but on
37636-403: Was unlikely that torpedoes were actually fired but both German ships took evasive manoeuvres. At the same time a shadowing Short Sunderland flying boat from No. 201 Squadron RAF approached too closely and the German heavy anti-aircraft artillery fired on it. A Lockheed Hudson from No. 269 Squadron RAF witnessed the battle from a distance and remained in touch until 08:08. After the battle,
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