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Bismarck
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Bismarck,
launched in 1939,
was a German Bismarck Class battleship named
after Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck and built
for Nazi Germany’s navy, the Kriegsmarine.
Bismarck had a sister ship Tirpitz, and the
two of them were the largest battleships
that Germany ever built. Commanded by
Captain Ernst Lindemann, Bismarck came into
service during WW2, but had a short career.
After
being heavily pursued in the Atlantic Ocean
by a major force of British warships and
torpedo laden aircraft, Bismarck was sunk by
a combination of British firepower and
German scuttling charges. In 1989 the wreck
of Bismarck was discovered to be in the
Atlantic Ocean, four hundred miles west of
Brest, France.
Why
was Bismarck built?
A new battleship was required to replace
SMS Hannover, a pre-dreadnought battleship
launched in 1905. The name that was
initially used for the new ship when it was
ordered, under Contract F', was Ersatz
Hannover, which translates as Hannover
replacement.
Where
was Bismarck built?
The contract to build Bismarck was won by
the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg,
Germany, and her keel was laid down on July
1, 1936.
The
Launch of Bismarck
Bismarck was launched on February 14,
1939, with the christening speech being made
by
Adolph Hitler, and the christening being
carried out by the granddaughter of Otto von
Bismarck, Dorothee von Lowenfeld.
How Big was Bismarck?
At the time of her launch,
Bismarck was the largest of
Germany’s warships and had a larger
displacement (41,700 tons) than any
other European battleship. Bismarck
had a length of 823ft 6ins, a beam
of 118ft and a draft of 32ft
6ins. Twelve superheated boilers,
three Blohm and Voss geared turbines
and three 3 bladed screws powered
Bismarck to a top speed of 30 knots.
How Big was the Crew on Bismarck?
A standard complement of crew
aboard Bismarck consisted of just
over one hundred officers and
approximately two thousand enlisted
men. The crew was made up of twelve
divisions which would each be
assigned their positions. Three
divisions would be assigned to the
engine room, two to the anti
aircraft guns, four to the main and
secondary batteries, one to
ammunition handling, one to cooking
and carpentry, and the remaining
division would be signalmen, radio
operators and quartermasters.
Bismarck Armament
Eight 38cm SK C/34 guns were the
backbone of Bismarck’s armament. Two
turrets, Anton and Bruno, house two
guns each and face forward, while a
further two turrets, Caesar and
Dora, faced to the rear with two
guns each. Twelve 15cm SK C/28,
sixteen 10.5cm SK C/33, sixteen
3.7cm SK C/30 and twelve 2cm Flak
30/38 guns made up the secondary
armament. Bismarck also carried four
Arado Ar 196 Floatplanes.
Bismarck Sea Trials
Bismarck commenced her sea
trials on September 15, 1940, when
she headed for Kiel Bay before
moving on to Arcona and the Gulf of
Danzig. During the trials it was
discovered that steering Bismarck
purely by altering the revolutions
of the propeller proved to be
extremely difficult, however she was
very stable when it came to testing
the guns. Bismarck returned to
Hamburg for minor alterations when
the trials were completed. Her
fitting out was also completed
during this visit.
Bismarck Description Leaked to
the British
The sinking of a merchant ship
in the Kiel Canal prevented Bismarck
from reaching Kiel to begin her
service. During the five week delay
the Swedish naval attaché to Berlin,
Captain Anders Forshell, was hosted
aboard Bismarck. Forshell took a
detailed description of Bismarck
back to Sweden with him, which was
subsequently leaked to Britain by
sympathisers in the Swedish Navy.
Arrival of Bismarck in Kiel
Once the wrecked merchant ship
had been removed, Bismarck made her
way to Kiel, briefly grounding on
the Kiel Canal’s south shore. She
arrived in Kiel on March 9, 1941,
where she was supplied with
ammunition, fuel and other supplies.
While in Kiel, Bismarck was given a
coat of dazzle camouflage paint.
Hitler Tours Bismarck
On March 17, 1941, Bismarck
moved on to Gotenhafen in
preparation for her first operation.
While moored there she visited by
Adolph Hitler and Field Marshall
Wilhelm Keitel, who were given an
extensive tour of Bismarck and her
sister ship Tirpitz.
What was Operation Rheinubung?
Operation Rheinubung, translated
as Exercise Rhine, was an operation
planned by the Axis Power Germany to carry out
raids on Allied Powers' shipping in the
Atlantic Ocean. It’s purpose was to
prevent merchant shipping from
bringing supplies of food and raw
materials to Britain. Tirpitz was
due to join Bismarck for the
operation however delays in her
completion meant that Bismarck would
be joined by the heavy cruiser Prinz
Eugen instead. Operation Rheinubung
was commanded by Admiral
Gunther
Lutjens who was stationed aboard
Bismarck.
Bismarck and Operation Rheinubung
With a complement of more than
2,200, Bismarck left Gotenhafen on
May 19, 1941, to take part in
Operation Rheinubung with the Prinz
Eugen. They were escorted by three
destroyers, five minesweepers and
approximately 10 aircraft. The fleet
and escort were shadowed, for a
while, by Sweden’s cruiser HSwMS
Gotland, who transmitted their
position to Sweden's naval headquarters.
Britain’s naval attaché to Sweden,
Captain Henry Denham, forwarded the
information to the Admiralty.
Bismarck reaches Norway
When Bismarck and Prinz Eugen
reached Bergen, Norway, the
minesweepers left them and Bismarck
was repainted ‘outboard grey’.
Spitfire pilot Michael Suckling
managed to photograph Bismarck and
her fleet anchored at Bergen, which
led to the strengthening of the
Allied patrol of the Denmark Strait.
Battle cruiser HMS Hood, the pride
of the Royal Navy, and their newest battleship
HMS Prince of Wales, two cruisers
and six destroyers now patrolled the
area.
Bismarck Engages HMS Norfolk
On May 24, 1941, having realised
she was being shadowed a little too
closely by the British heavy cruiser
HMS Norfolk, Bismarck engaged HMS
Norfolk firing five salvoes. HMS
Norfolk retreated behind a smoke
screen and Bismarck discovered that
her radar had been disabled by the
concussion from the gunfire.
Bismarck at the Battle of Denmark
Strait
Just before 06.00 on the morning
of May 25, HMS Hood and HMS Prince
of Wales were spotted by the
Germans. Approaching Bismarck and
Prinz Eugen head on, Hood fired
first followed by Prince of Wales.
While Hood engaged Prinz Eugen and
Prince of Wales engaged Bismarck,
both German ships concentrated their
fire on HMS Hood.
Bismarck Sinks HMS Hood
Bismarck continued to fire at
Hood with it’s 38cm guns while her
secondary guns turned on HMS Prince
of Wales. Prinz Eugen was also
ordered to attack Prince of Wales.
During the salvoes, at least one of
Bismarck's armor piercing shells
punctured Hood's armor and made
it’s way to the ammunition magazine
causing a huge explosion that tore
HMS Hood apart and sunk her. After
managing three hits on Bismarck, HMS
Prince of Wales retreated badly damaged after being hit by
both Bismarck and Prinz Eugen.
Damage to Bismarck
Two of the hits received by
Bismarck led to approximately 2,000
tons of water flooding into the bow
which contaminated the oil stored
there, which caused a list to port of
nine degrees and a trim by the bow
of three degrees. The oil slick
being left by Bismarck was spotted
by a British Short Sunderland that
reported it to Norfolk and Suffolk.
The Pursuit of Bismarck
With Bismarck now needing
repairs, Bismarck and Prinz Eugen
headed south towards occupied
France,
while the British Prime
Minister
Winston Churchill issued
the order to sink the Bismarck.
Consequently, the Royal Navy ordered every
warship in the location to join in
the pursuit of Bismarck. In total 2
aircraft carriers, 6 battle cruisers
and battleships, 21 destroyers and
13 cruisers were all chasing
Bismarck.
British Aircraft Attack Bismarck
Around midnight
the aircraft carrier HMS
Victorious launched 9 Fairey
Swordfish torpedo bombers and 6
Fairey Fulmar fighters to attack
Bismarck. Although alerted to the
attack, Bismarck didn’t manage to
shoot down any of the aircraft,
although she evaded eight of the
torpedoes. The ninth torpedo struck
Bismarck amidships and caused minor
damage. More damage was caused to
Bismarck by her evasive action,
causing her speed to drop to 16
knots.
The British Lose Bismarck
Shortly after the Swordfish
attack Bismarck doubled back behind
Prinz Eugen into a squall, and the
two ships separated, Bismarck
heading east and Prinz Eugen south
west. The confusion caused by this
manoeuvre allowed them to get away
from the British, who had lost radar
contact with them. Bismarck managed to carry out a
few repairs and transfer some oil
from the front of the ship to the
back, giving them a slightly increased
speed of 20 knots. Bismarck
continued on towards Brest, France.
Bismarck Relocated
Following a long message to shore
from Bismarck, which the British
intercepted, they wrongly deduced that Bismarck was heading
for Norway. Admiral John Tovey
reacted by sending the British fleet
in the wrong direction for
seven hours. On May 25, British code
breakers decoded an order to the
German Luftwaffe to provide support
for Bismarck on her journey to
Brest. Armed with this information,
the British concentrated their
search and Bismarck was spotted 790
miles north west of Brest, by a
United States Navy Catalina piloted
by Ensign Leonard B. Smith, and soon
after by Fairey Swordfish from the
carrier Ark Royal.
HMS Sheffield Mistaken for
Bismarck
After returning to Ark Royal,
the Swordfish were armed with
torpedoes and sent after Bismarck.
Unknown to them, HMS Sheffield had
been order to shadow Bismarck and
the Swordfish attacked Sheffield by
mistake. However the torpedoes,
which had been fitted with magnetic
detonators, failed to work correctly
and left Sheffield undamaged.
Bismarck Disabled
The Swordfish returned to Ark
Royal and were rearmed with
torpedoes fitted with contact
detonators. Meanwhile Bismarck fired
at Sheffield as fifteen Swordfish
approached. Sheffield retreated and
the Swordfish attacked Bismarck.
Bismarck fired her main guns into
the sea to cause spray that would
interfere with the aircraft but was was hit by two torpedoes,
one that caused minor damage
amidships and a second that struck
her stern near the rudder. This
second hit caused the port rudder to
become locked, leaving Bismarck only
able to steam in a large circle.
Bismarck’s Final Battle
On the morning of May 27, the
British battleships HMS Rodney and
HMS King George V opened fire on
Bismarck. Bismarck returned fire
with a salvo that straddled Rodney,
but her accuracy declined as the
disabled ship moved unreliably in
the heavy seas. In excess of 700
shells had been fired by the two
British battleships causing heavy
damage to Bismarck, who was on fire
and listing at twenty degrees. HMS
Rodney fired two torpedoes and
claimed a hit.
The Sinking of Bismarck
The crew of Bismarck were
believed to have opened sea cocks
and set
scuttling charges as they were ordered to
abandon ship. The British Cruiser
HMS Dorsetshire was ordered to sink
the Bismarck so fired torpedoes
into her starboard side and then her
port side. Bismarck sank at 10.40 on
May 27, 1941.
What Happened to the Crew of the
Bismarck?
Many of the crew were killed in
action, particularly those who had
been on deck. However those who
remained alive
as the scuttling charges were
ignited endeavoured to leave the
stricken ship. HMS Dorsetshire and
the British Destroyer HMS Maori
lowered ropes into the sea to pick
up the estimated 800 men in the sea,
however rescue attempts were
abandoned after lookouts spotted
what they believed to be U-boats. Dorsetshire had rescued 85 men and
Maori 25. A few others were rescued later
but many were drowned. Only 114 of the estimated 2,200
crew survived.
Who Sank the Bismarck?
There has been much conjecture
over whether the Bismarck was sunk
by the British ships or by the
scuttling carried out by her crew.
Discovery and inspection of the
wreck on June 8, 1989, by
oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard
(who also located RMS Titanic), and
later inspections by subsequent
expeditions, led to the conclusion
that whether or not she sank by
scuttling, she would have sunk from
her damage anyway.
Where Did Bismarck Sink?
Bismarck was discovered in the
Atlantic Ocean approximately 400
miles (650km) west of Brest, France.
She is laying at depth of around
15,719ft (4,791m) and is in an
upright position. While sinking,
Bismarck collided with an underwater
volcano (extinct) causing a
landslide and sliding down it.
Bismarck came to rest approximately
two thirds of the way down the
mountain. The stern of Bismarck,
which appears to have become
detached where a torpedo hit, has
not yet been found.
Bismarck Specifications:
Class and Type: Bismarck
Class Battleship -
Complement: 2,065
Displacement: 41,700 tons
-
Length: 823ft 6in (251m)
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Beam: 118ft (36m) -
Draft: 30ft 6in (9.3m)
Power: 148,116 shp, 12
Wagner superheated boilers - Propulsion:
3 x geared turbines,
3 x three blade screws -
Speed: 30 knots -
Range: 8,870 nautical miles
Armament: 8 x 38cm SK C/34 -
12 x 15cm SK C/28 -
16 x 10.5cm SK C/33 -
16 x 3.7cm SK C/30 -
12 x 2cm Flak 30/38
Armour:
Main Deck 4 to 4.7ins -
Belt 12.6ins -
Turrets 14ins
Aircraft: 4 x Arado Ar 196
floatplanes
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