In
Service: 24 August 1940 to 27 May 1941
Ordered: 16 November 1935
Builder: Blohm
& Voss, Hamburg
Construction No: 509
Laid down: 1 July
1936
Launched: 14 February 1939
Commissioned: 24 August
1940
Type: Battleship
Class: Bismarck
Displacement:
41,700 tons standard. 50,300 tons full load
Length: 251 m
Beam:
36 m
Draft: 9.9 m
Propulsion: 12 × Wagner high pressure
3 × Blohm & Voss geared turbines producing up to 150,170 hp
Propellers:
3 blade propellers, 4.70 m in diameter
Speed: 30.01 knots
Range:
8,525 nautical miles 19 knots
Crew: 2,200 men and officers
Armament:
8 × 38 cm L/47 SK C/34 range 36,200 m
carried 940 to 960 rounds
12 × 15 cm L/55 SK C/28 range 23,000 m
carried 1,800 rounds
16 ×
10.5 cm L/65 SK C/33
carried 6,720 rounds
16 × 3.7 cm L/83 SK C/30
carried 32,000 rounds
12 × 2 cm MG L/64 C/30
carried 24,000 rounds
Armour Belt 145 to 320 mm, Deck 50 to 120 mm,
Bulkheads 220 mm, Turrets
130 to 360 mm,
Barbettes 342 mm, Conning tower 360 mm,
Aircraft:
6 ×
Arado
Ar 196 seaplanes
Electronics: Operators: Kriegsmarine
Variants: Bismarck Tirpitz
Other: Battleships Articles:
The German
battleship Bismarck is one of the most prominent warships of the Second World
War. The lead ship of her class and named after the 19th century German chancellor
Otto von Bismarck, The Bismarck was the largest warship then designated. Her claim
to celebrity came from the Battle of the Denmark Strait in May 1941 during which
the battlecruiser HMS Hood, flagship of the Home Fleet and pride of the Royal
Navy, was sunk. In response, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued the
order to Sink the Bismarck.
24 August 1940 The Bismarck is commissioned.
19 May 1941 Operation Rhein�bung (Rhine Exercise) The Bismarck left
the port of Gotenhafen and was accompanied by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and
escorted by the destroyers Z23, Z24, Friedrich Eckoldt, Hans Lody. for commerce
raiding in the North Atlantic.
21 May 1941 The Bismarck and
Prinz Eugen are spotted by a British reconnaissance plane while at Bergen, Both
ships leave Bergen before British bombers can attack them.
22 May
1941 The Bismarck detaches destroyer escort
23 May 1941
The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen are detected by the heavy cruisers HMS Suffolk and
HMS Norfolk, that had been patrolling the Denmark Strait. The British ships are
able to shadow the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen during the night.
24
May 1941 At 6 am, the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser
HMS Hood open fire on the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. After exchanging fire, the
HMS Hood magazines explodes and splits the ship in two. HMS Prince of Wales is
hit several times, The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen head for Brest, France.
24 May 1941 The Prinz Eugen parted company with Bismarck to carry on
commerce raiding.
24 May 1941 Later that day, the Bismarck
is attacked by group of Swordfish torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS
Victorious. One torpedo hit but no damage.
26 May 1941 After
being detected by planes from the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, Swordfish
torpedo bombers attack the Bismarck and a torpedo destroys the rudder. The ship
is unable to control its course.
26 to 27 May 1941 During
the night, several British and Polish destroyers HMS Cossack, HMS Sikh, HMS Maori,
HMS Zulu, and the ploish destroyer ORP Piorun, attack the Bismarck with torpedo's
but archived no hits.
27 May 1941 The Bismarck is unable to
control its course and is at the mercy of the British battleships HMS Rodney and
HMS King George V. After two hours the Bismarck is a burning wreck and her crew
scuttle her
Ernst
Lindemann
Takes command on 24 August 1940
Ends command on 27 May 1941
This clip shows the Bismarck Battleship being launched from the shipyard
Blohm
& Voss in Hamburg on 14 February 1939.
by Ed
Hosch 30/08/2010
Bismark was a beautiful ship.I just wonder what kind
of career she would have had if she had not been hit by a lucky torpedoe in the
rudder.
German
Warships, 1815-1945: Major Surface Vessels.
ISBN-10: 0851775330
German
Warships, 1815-1945: U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels.
ISBN-10: 155750301X
German warships of the Second World War.
ISBN-10: 0668040378
For a complete list of
sources 
