Bismarck

History

Design

Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the unification of Germany in 1871, 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 the largest battleships ever built by Germany, and two of the largest built by any European power.

Service

In the course of the warship's eight-month career under its sole commanding officer, Capt. Ernst Lindemann, Bismarck conducted only one offensive operation, in May 1941, code named Operation 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 British Admiralty learning of the sortie, ordered several ships to patrol the three possible break-out points into the Atlantic. The two ships were detected moving into the Denmark Strait by the HMS Suffolk and Norfolk on 23 May at 19:22. Bismarck, the lead ship, went to action stations and Captain Lindemann announced at 20:30 to the crew “Feind in Sicht an Backbord, Schiff nimmt Gefecht auf! (Enemy sighted to port. Engage!)”. Bismarck fired several salvos but failed to score a direct hit. Heavily outgunned, the British cruisers retired to a safe distance and shadowed the Bismarck until reinforcements could arrive. Due to heavy vibration from the main guns firing, Bismarck’s forward radar failed. Admiral Lütjens ordered Prinz Eugen to take the lead position and provide radar coverage.

At the Battle of the Denmark Strait on 24 May 1941, Prinz Eugen detected a ship by hydrophone, and at 05:45 sighted two ships which were initially misidentified as cruisers. The two ships were the battlecruiser HMS Hood, pride of the Royal Navy, and the HMS Prince of Wales, the newest battleship in the British arsenal. She was so new that she still had the various civilian techs on board testing and maintaining the various machinery of the British battleship. At 05:53 the British battleships opened fire on the two German ships. The British admiral on board Hood had intended on targeting Bismarck first, but due to the change in the German battle line Hood targeted Prinz Eugen instead. The German force — on the orders of Admiral Lütjens — did not open fire. After roughly two minutes of fire, Captain Lindemann grew tired of not being given the order to open fire and issued the following directive: "Ich lasse mir doch nicht mein Schiff unter dem Arsch wegschießen. Feuererlaubnis! (I'm not letting my ship get shot out from under my arse. Open fire!)". At 06:01, the fifth salvo fired by Bismarck fired at a range of 18,000 meters (20,000 yards) struck Hood near her mainmast. The 380mm (15-inch) shell plunged through her decks and caused a magazine detonation. The resulting explosion broke Hood into three sections; she sank in a mere three minutes, taking all but three of her crew with her.

Bismarck and Prinz Eugen now turned their attention to the bewildered Prince of Wales. During this part of the engagement, Bismarck landed seven hits and took three damaging hits in return. Prince of Wales disengaged from the battle and the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen continued their mission. The damage caused to Bismarck dictated that she return for repairs and that Prinz Eugen continue on into the open Atlantic to commence commerce raiding. It has been reported that Admiral Lütjens and Captain Lindemann argued about which port to return to, with Lindeman advocating a return through the Denmark Strait and returning to Bergen, Norway. Lütjens overruled him and ordered a course be set for Saint Nazaire, France.

The destruction of Hood spurred a relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy involving dozens of warships, with Prime Minister Winston Churchill demanding that the Bismarck be sunk. Two days later, heading for the relative safety of occupied France, Bismarck was attacked by obsolescent Fairey Swordfish biplane 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 the following morning, Bismarck was neutralized by a sustained bombardment from a British fleet led by the British battleships HMS King George V and HMS Rodney. Bismarck was eventually scuttled by her crew, and sank with heavy loss of life. Most experts agree that the battle damage would have caused her to sink eventually, regardless.

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  The wappen (coat of arms) of Bismarck.

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  Launching ceremony of Bismarck, 14 February 1939.

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  Bismarck on trials in the summer of 1940; the rangefinders had not yet been installed.

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  Bismarck in 1940.

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  Bismarck in port in Hamburg.

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  3D rendering of Bismarck during Operation Rheinübung, May 1941.

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  Bismarck in the Baltic Sea — as seen from Prinz Eugen — departing Gotenhafen (now Gdynia, Poland), 19 May 1941.

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  Bismarck, photographed from Prinz Eugen, in the Baltic at the outset of Operation Rheinübung, 19 May 1941.

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  A British aerial reconnaissance photo taken by Flying Officer Michael Suckling shows Bismarck anchored in Norway, 22 May 1941.

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  Bismarck as seen from Prinz Eugen during the Battle of the Denmark Strait, 24 May 1941.

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  Bismarck firing her main battery during the Battle of the Denmark Strait, 24 May 1941.

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  A Swordfish returns to HMS Ark Royal after making a torpedo attack against Bismarck.

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  HMS Rodney firing on Bismarck, which can be seen burning in the distance, 27 May 1941.

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  HMS Dorsetshire picking up survivors following the sinking of Bismarck, 27 May 1941.

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  Painting by Ken Marschall depicting Argo exploring the wreck. Famed naval archaeologist Robert Ballard discovered the wreck of Bismarck in June 1989.

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  A 150mm turret, similar to those installed as secondary batteries aboard Bismarck.