Ship 3: The Battleship Bismark

Ship 3: The Battleship Bismark



“I'm not letting my ship get shot out from under my arse. Open fire!” - Captain Ernst Lindemann, in response to the requests from First Gunnery Officer Adalbert Schneider.

Nationality: German (Third Reich)
Year of Production: 1936. (Launched 1939.)
Number built: 2.
Weight: 41,700 tons. (42,900 tons for sister ship Tirpitz)
Length: 251 metres
Beam: 36 metres
Draught: 9.3 metres
Complement: 2065 to 2608.
Speed: 30 knots (55 kph). (29 knots, 54 kph, for sister ship).
Armament: 8x 38 cm naval guns, 12x 15 cm naval guns, 16x 10.5 cm flak cannons, 16x 3.7 cm flak cannons, 12x 2 cm flak cannons (to 20 for Bismark, 78 for Tirpitz), 4x Arado Ar 196 aircraft. (2x torpedo tubes for Tirpitz)

Background: In the mid 1930s, the main threat to Germany was interestingly enough, France, with their Richelieu-class battleships, and their announcement to arm them with their own 38 cm naval guns. In response, Germany also armed the two battleships, then under construction, with their own large guns. The other concern was for the battleships to have sufficient range to reach the Atlantic without the crew having to get out the oars and paddle, since that would be fairly humiliating.

The Bismark-class was limited by the infrastructure and the Kaiser Wilheim Canal that they would have to pass through, being unable to be built much heavier than 43,000 tons, or risk getting stuck.

Despite that, the battleships were completed, with over 150,000 horsepower to thrust them along, with the guns firing 800 kg shells over 36 kilometres, three rounds per minute for each of their 8 main guns. The smaller naval guns fired shells a fairly nice 23 km, at a rate of six rounds per minute.

Anti-aircraft consisted of a variety of guns, with some being added over the original, such as the extra 8 for the Bismark, and an extra 66 for the Tirpitz, since the Allies were bent on bombing the heck out of it.

I could go on, and I'm tempted to, but that would lead to a vast amount of political intrigue, so I'll just settle for some links at the bottom.

Instead, we'll go into the combat, a most interesting tale.

Why should I be afraid of it? And what was it for?

“The objective of the Bismarck is not to defeat enemies of equal strength, but to tie them down in a delaying action, while preserving her combat capacity as much as possible.” - Grand Admiral Erich Raeder's orders regarding the Bismark.

After the Bismark had been commissioned and joined the fleet, a small sortie was planned for the North Atlantic, planning to consist of Bismark, Tirpitz, and the members of the Scharnhorst/ Gneisenau-class, unfortunately, the Tirpitz was not ready, and Scharnhorst was being overhauled, so instead, Bismark was sent out with the cruiser Prinz Eugen, the Gneisenau having been damaged by Allied bombing.

As they were heading through the Denmark Strait, they encountered the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Hood, leading to the Battle of the Denmark Strait.

10 minutes into the battle, a shot from Bismark struck Hood near one of her ammunition magazines, causing her to blow up three minutes later. Prince of Wales continued to exchange fire, but suffered from malfunctions in the main armament and broke off. Bismark and Prinz Eugen continued onto the Atlantic, the three hits on the Bismark destroying the catapult, flooded a generator room, damaged a bulkhead and cut access to the forward fuel tanks.

The damage reduced speed to 28 knots, as well as leaving a trail of oil which helped the Allies shadow the two ships. Prinz Eugen broke off to the Atlantic while Bismark set out to return to France to repair. Bismark was attacked by a group of Swordfish torpedo bombers on the 24th of May, with minimal damage, before losing the British, who were highly annoyed over the sinking of the Hood.

Not realising they had lost the British, a 30 minute radio call was made to Germany, allowing the British to pick up on the signal and continue the pursuit.

More Swordfish from HMS Ark Royale attacked the cruiser HMS Sheffield by mistake, but no major damage was done, and the faulty torpedos were replaced. The next time they attacked, Bismark's rudder was damaged, and ignored all attempts to repair it. After, they were attacked by torpedos from British and Polish destroyers, causing no further damage.

After the Bismark ran into the King George V and the Rodney, the game was up, and the Bismark was sunk.

The Tirpitz was went to Norway, where the British invested a fair amount of time in destroying it, with no less then 10 operations from midget subs to chariot boats to bombing, before it was finally sunk.

I'm not sure about you, but if I had a ship that took that long to sink, and caused that much headache for my foe's air and naval forces, well, who knows.

Sources used:
German battleship Bismark
German battleship Tirpitz
Operation Rheinburg
Bismark-class battleship
Battle of the Denmark Strait
Last battle of the Bismark
Anglo-German Naval Agreement
Plan Z