
{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width=300 |- |colspan="2" align="center"| |- !align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background-color: navy;"|Career !align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background-color: navy;"| |- |Ordered: |16 November 1935 |- |Laid down: |1 July 1936 |- |Launched: |14 February 1939 |- |Commissioned: |20 August 1940 |- |Fate: |Sunk on 27 May 1941 |- !colspan=2 style="color: white; background-color: navy"|General Characteristics |- |Displacement: |41,700 t standard; 50,900 t full load |- |Length: |241.5 m waterline
251 m overall |- |Width: |36.0 m |- |Draft: |8.7 m standard
10.2 m full load |- |Armament: |8 x 380 mm (15 in) (4×2)
12 x 150 mm (5.9 in) (6×2)
16 x 105 mm (4.1 in) (4×2)
16 x 37 mm (8×2)
12 x 20 mm (12 x 1) |- |Aircraft: |4, with 1 double-ended catapult |- |Propulsion: |12 Wagner superheaded boilers; 3 Brown-Bovera geared turbines; 3 three-blade propellers, 4.85 m diameter
150,170 hp (110 MW) = 30.1 knots (54 km/h) Trials |- |Range: |9280 nautical miles @16 knots |- |Complement: |2,092 (103 officers, 1962 enlisted, 27 prize crew) |} ''Bismarck'' was a German battleship during World War II. She was named after Otto von Bismarck and is famous for sinking HMS Hood (1918) in 1941, and for the subsequent pursuit which ended with her destruction just three days later. == History == Design of the ship started in 1934. The construction of the second French ''Dunquerque'' class battleship made redesign necessary, and ''Bismarck's'' displacement increased to 42,600 tons, although officially her tonnage was still only 35,000 tons in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty. She was primarily intended as a commerce raider, having fuel stores as large as those of battleships intended for opeations in the Pacific ocean, but was also capable of engaging enemy warships. Her keel was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg on 1 July 1936, she was launched on 14 February 1939, and commissioned in August 1940 with ''Kapitän zur See'' Ernst Lindemann in command. == Combat history == ===Breakout into the Atlantic=== ''Bismarck'' sailed on her first and last mission, codenamed ''Rheinübung'', on 18 May 1941, accompanied by the heavy cruiser German cruiser Prinz Eugen. Other German capital ships that were to have participated in the sortie were unavailable because of mechanical problems and war damage, but the mission went ahead under the command of Admiral Günther Lütjens. The Germans had various objectives, they wished to compensate for their weak submarine presence in the Atlantic and divert British naval forces from the Mediterranean to reduce the risks of the planned invasion of Crete and to allow Rommel’s forces to cross to Libya. The British Admiralty learnt of ''Bismarck's'' departure from deciphered Enigma code messages, from Allied spies who noted her passing the Skagerrak between Denmark and Norway, and from contacts in Sweden. Three days later, she was spotted by Allied reconnaissance aircraft while refueling in a Norwegian fjord. She was then detected and shadowed by the radar-equipped heavy cruiser HMS Suffolk (55) and later a second heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk (78). ===Battle of the Denmark Strait=== On 24 May 1941, as the German squadron was leaving the Denmark Strait between Iceland and Greenland, they were engaged by a British force consisting of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales (1939) and the battlecruiser HMS Hood (1918) under the command of Rear Admiral Lancelot Holland. ''Prince of Wales'' had only recently been completed and was still being worked up (indeed, she sailed to meet ''Bismarck'' with dockyard workmen still on board completing her fitting out). ''Hood'' had been built as a fast battlecruiser and modified to give her protection more like a battleship but still had relatively weak deck armour. Mistakenly believing the ''Bismarck'' to be in the lead, Admiral Holland ordered fire to be concentrated on ''Prinz Eugen'' although fortunately for the British, the captain of ''Prince of Wales'' had realized the error. The British charged straight towards the German ships in an attempt to reduce the range. Closer in, the ''Hood'' would be less vulnerable to plunging fire and the advantage of superior German gunnery control would be neutralized. The disadvantage was that during the dash, eight of the eighteen British heavy guns could not be brought to bear and spray severely hampered accurate fire control. ''Hood'' was hit by ''Prinz Eugen'' and fire broke out then she took one of the ''Bismarck's'' first salvos amidships. Moments later she was split in two by a huge explosion. Only three of her 1,418 crew survived. ''Prince of Wales'' had also been hit a number of times and mechanical failures left her with all but one of her main guns out of action, so she turned and escaped behind a smokescreen. Nevertheless, ''Bismarck'' had received three hits, one of which caused water to be introduced into fuel storage. From then on, she had to reduce speed to conserve fuel, and left an oil slick trail. Admiral Lütjens decided to head for St Nazaire's dry dock in France for repairs. The British continued to shadow her, the ''Prince of Wales'' ordered despite her state to continue to trail. The Bismarck rounded briefly on her pursuers which gave the ''Prinz Eugen'' the opportunity to detach. ==Chase== [[Image:Bismarck firing at Prince of Wales.jpg|200px|left|thumb|''Bismarck'' firing at HMS Prince of Wales (1939) on 24 May 1941, photographed from German cruiser Prinz Eugen]] Determined to avenge the sinking of ''Hood'', the British committed every possible unit to hunting down the ''Bismarck''. An attack was made by a scant group of Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo planes from 825 Naval Air Squadron from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious (R38) during the early evening of 24 May. One hit was scored, but caused only superficial damage to ''Bismarck’s'' armoured belt. The chase continued, with both sides running low on fuel, but the Germans getting ever closer to France and protective air cover and destroyer escort. The British lost contact for over six hours, but the Germans never realized this; they continued to detect the British radar but did not know that the return signals were too weak to be detected by the trailing ship. Despite Capitain Lindemann's objections, Admiral Lütjens foolishly transmitted a half-hour radio message. This message was intercepted but at first the British incorrectly calculated ''Bismarck’s'' position by using the wrong kind of chart. A Coastal Command PBY Catalina reconnaissance aircraft from Number 209 Squadron flying out of Northern Ireland to search for the ''Bismarck'' spotted her and contact was regained. At dusk on 26 May and in worsening weather conditions, Swordfish from HMS Ark Royal (91) launched an attack. The first attack mistakenly attacked the cruiser HMS Sheffield (C24) that was shadowing it. In a subsequent attack, one torpedo hit jammed ''Bismarck’s'' rudder and steering gear, rendering her largely unmanoeuvrable, and now heading back towards her enemies, though the she was able to make some steerage by adjusting the revolution speed of her propellors. The reality was, however, that the largest and most powerful warship in the world had been rendered close to impotent by a tiny aircraft. After extensive efforts to free the jammed rudders, the fleet command finally acknowledged their by-now impossible position in several messages to Naval Headquarters. Throughout the following night, ''Bismarck'' was the target of incessant torpedo attacks by the Tribal class destroyers HMS Cossack (F03), HMS Sikh (F82), HMS Maori (F24) and HMS Zulu (F18), with the Polish ORP Piorun (G65), but neither side scored any hits. === Last battle === The two British battleships, HMS King George V (1939) and HMS Rodney (1925) had been sailing to approach ''Bismarck'' from the west, and on the morning of 27 May 1941 they neared her. The morning sun was behind her and she was well illuminated. ''Rodney'' steered to the north so that her gunfire would work the length of ''Bismarck'' while ''King George V'' took the side. They opened fire just before 0900 hrs. ''Bismarck'' returned fire, but her inability to steer and her list to port affected her shooting capacity. Her low speed also made her a sitting duck and she was soon hit several times, with ''Norfolk'', and HMS Dorsetshire (40) adding their firepower. One salvo destroyed the forward control post killing most of the senior officers. Within half an hour, ''Bismarck's'' guns were all but silent and she was even lower in the water. ''Rodney'' now closed to point blank (approx 3 km) to strike the superstructure while ''King George V'' fired from further out. ''Bismarck'' continued to fly its battle ensign. With no sign of surrender, despite the unequal struggle, the British could not leave the ''Bismarck'' though their fuel supplies were low. The destroyers were sent home as they had no further torpedoes. Similarly, ''Rodney'' and ''King George V'' turned back to base. ''Norfolk'' had used its last torpedoes so ''Dorsetshire'' was ordered to finish the ''Bismarck'' off. Although the upper works were almost completely destroyed, the hull was still sound, so rather than let her be captured, Captain Lindemann gave the order to scuttle and then abandon ship. Shortly after the charges had blown, ''Dorsetshire'' put three torpedoes into her and she sank a few minutes later. ''Dorsetshire'' and ''Maori'' stopped to rescue survivors but a U-boat alarm caused them to sail off with only 110 sailors. The next morning a U-boat and the German weathership ''Sachsenwald'' picked up 5 more. No crew from the lower engine spaces got out alive. Over 2,200 men had lost their lives. The British then systematically hunted down and destroyed all ''Bismarck's'' support vessels. The Germans would never risk their capital ships in the North Atlantic again. ==Aftermath== Over the years, the ship achieved near mythological status, and popularized in the 1960 Johnny Horton hit song, ''Sink the Bismarck''. The wreck of ''Bismarck'' was discovered on 8 June 1989 by Dr. Robert Ballard, the marine archaeologist also responsible for finding the RMS Titanic. ''Bismarck'' rests at a depth of approximately 4,700 m (15,500 ft) about 650 kilometres west of Brest, France. Analysis of the wreck showed extensive damage to the superstructure by shelling and some minor damage to the hull by torpedo hits, but also suggested that the Germans scuttled the ship to hasten its sinking, though this has never been confirmed by marine investigators (but confirmed by survivors). Ballard has kept the location of the wreck a secret to prevent other divers from taking artifacts from the ship. Ballard considers that practice, which happened to ''Titanic'', a form of grave robbing. The documentary film ''Expedition: Bismarck'' (2002), directed by James Cameron, reconstructs the events leading to the sinking of ''Bismarck''. Nearly a hundred ships of all kinds were deployed to operate with, against, or because of ''Bismarck'': * The German heavy cruiser German cruiser Prinz Eugen * The German destroyers Zerstorer Hans Lody, Zerstorer Friedrich Eckoldt, and Zerstorer Z-23. * The German U-boat Unterseeboot 46, Unterseeboot 48, Unterseeboot 66, Unterseeboot 73, Unterseeboot 74, Unterseeboot 93, Unterseeboot 94, Unterseeboot 98, Unterseeboot 108, Unterseeboot 138, Unterseeboot 552, Unterseeboot 556, and Unterseeboot 557. * The Italian submarines Barbarigo and Ghilieri. * The German weather ships Sachsenwald, Lauenburg, and Freese. * The German tankers Belchen, Egerland, Esso Hamburg, Friedrich Breme, Heide, Lohingen, Weisenburg, and Wollin. * Boats of the German 5th Minesweeping Flotilla. * The British battleships HMS King George V (1939), HMS Prince of Wales (1939), HMS Ramillies (1916), HMS Revenge (1915), HMS Rodney (1925), and HMS Nelson (1925). * The British battlecruisers HMS Hood (51), HMS Repulse (1916) and HMS Renown (1916) * The British aircraft carriers HMS Victorious (R38) (800Z and 825 Naval Air Squadrons) and HMS Ark Royal (810, 818, and 820 Naval Air Squadrons) * The British heavy cruisers HMS Suffolk (55), HMS Norfolk (78), HMS Dorsetshire (40), and HMS London (69); and HMS Exeter, with convoy WS-8B. * The British light cruisers HMS Kenya (C14), HMS Galatea (71), HMS Aurora (12), HMS Neptune (20), HMS Hermione (74), HMS Edinburgh (C16), HMS Manchester (C15), HMS Arethusa (26), HMS Birmingham (C19), and HMS Sheffield (C24); and HMS Cairo, with convoy WS-8B. * The British destroyers HMS Achates (H12), HMS Antelope (H36), HMS Anthony (H40), HMS Echo (H23), HMS Somali (F33), HMS Eskimo (F75), HMS Nestor (G02), HMS Jupiter (F85), HMS Electra (H27), HMS Icarus (D03), HMS Active (H14), HMS Inglefield (D02), HMS Intrepid (D10), HMS Lance (G87), HMS Legion (G74), HMS Punjabi (F21), HMS Windsor (D42), HMS Mashona (F59), HMS Cossack (F03), HMS Sikh (F82), HMS Zulu (F18), HMS Maori (F24), HMS Tartar (F43), HMS Faulknor (H62), HMS Foresight (H68), HMS Forester (H74), HMS Foxhound (H69), HMS Fury (H76), HMS Sherwood (I80), and HMS Hesperus (H57). * The British submarine British submarine H-44, British submarine P-31, HMS Sealion (N72), HMS Seawolf (N47), HMS Tigris (N63), HMS Sturgeon (N73), HMS Severn, and HMS Pandora (N42). * The Canadian destroyers HMCS Assiniboine (I18), HMCS Saguenay (D79), and HMCS Columbia (I49) * The Free French Forces submarine French submarine Minerve * The Polish destroyer ORP Piorun (G65) * The Swedish seaplane cruiser Flygplanskryssare Gotland * The Spanish heavy cruiser Spanish cruiser Canarias (attempted to rescue some survivors from ''Bismarck'') * The US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Modoc (WPG-46) ==See also== * The sister ship German battleship Tirpitz and the second ship of the Bismarck class battleships. ==References== * Kennedy, Ludovic ''Pursuit: The Sinking of the Bismarck'' * Ulrich Elfrath and Bodo Herzog, ''The Battleship Bismarck: A Documentary in Words and Pictures'' (Schifer Publishing; Atglen, Pennsylvania; 1989) (originally published in German as ''Schlachtschiff Bismarck, Ein Bericht in Bildern und Dokumentation'', Pldzun-Palles Vertag, Friedberg, 1975). Includes pictures of the ship under construction and interior pictures, detailed descriptions of fittings and equipment, and biographies of the principal admirals. ==Further Reading== *Burkhard Baron von Mullenheim-Rechberg, ''Battleship Bismarck, A Survivor's Story, new and expanded edition'' (United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, 1990), the story of the senior surviving officer of the Bismarck. * Paul J. Kemp, ''Bismarck and Hood: Great Naval Adversaries'' (Arms and Armor Press, London, 1991) * Siegfried Breyer, ''Battleships and Battlecruisers 1905-1970'' (Doubleday and Company; Garden City, New York, 1973) (originally published in German as ''Schlachtschiffe und Schlachtkreuzer 1905-1970'', J.F. Lehmanns, Verlag, Munchen, 1970). Contains various line drawings of the ship as designed and as built. * David J. Berguson and Holder H. Herwig ''The Destruction of the Bismarck'' (Stoddart Pulishing, Toronto, 2001). Includes personal accounts of the Battle Off Iceland and the Final Battle. * Graham Rhys-Jones ''The Loss of the Bismarck: An Avoidable Disaster'' (Cassell & Company, London, 1999). Includes a description of the planning for Exercise Rheinubung. * Robert D. Ballard ''The Discovery of the Bismarck'' (Madison Publishing, Toronto, 1990). Describes the search effort for the wreck of the ''Bismarck'', and includes pictures of the wreck. ==External links== *[http://www.bismarck-class.dk/ Battleship Bismarck & Tirpitz - English] *[http://www.battleshipbismarck.com/ Battleship Bismarck - English] *[http://www.kbismarck.com/ KBismarck - English. The definitive site for information on all aspects of the Bismark and a very complete history of the ship] *[http://www.hmshood.com/hoodtoday/2001expedition/bismarck/index.html Lots of Photos and Drawings of the Bismarck wreck] Bismarck class battleships Shipwrecks Battleships
It was not Captain Lindemann who foolishly sent the long signal, but Admiral Lütjens. [Arthur Morgan] i agree. i changed it 1-Can we cut down the size of this image, it's taking up the whole page and slopping into the margins. 2-Why isn't this article just called Bismarck or Bismarck (battleship)? -- User:Zoe I still question the title of this article. -- User:Zoe :I would support a move to Bismarck, with pointers to Otto von Bismarck and Bismarck, North Dakota. As far as I know, nothing of encyclopedic-article importance is called simply "Bismarck" except the battleship -- and if someone really wants to write about the the pastry, it can be disambiguated. --User:The Epopt 01:51 Mar 19, 2003 (UTC) :: Does no-one realise that the ship was named after a 19th Century German statesman of great historical importance? Otto von Bismarck should definately have priority over the battleship. ::I had somewhat of a preference for German battleship Bismarck, partly because it looks better; to me the parenthetical disambiguators look like an unplanned afterthought ("oh yeah, I guess there is more than one kind of Bismarck"). But more importantly Bismarck (battleship) goes against the naming conventions that have already been set down in Wikipedia:Naming conventions (ships) (I mention that instead of Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships because this particular point is still only described in the naming conventions article...), and a consistent naming scheme is a big timesaver for those of us trying to get all the ship articles to link together correctly. User:Stan Shebs 01:04 Mar 20, 2003 (UTC) :::I left this question here for weeks and nobody commented. I go ahead and change it, and it gets attacked. -- User:Zoe :Your question was answered at length in the naming standards article and in the WikiProject. If you are interested help write about the navies of the world, please join us there. --User:The Epopt 01:19 Mar 20, 2003 (UTC) ::How am I supposed to keep up with all of these Wikiprojects? A link here might have been nice. -- User:Zoe :::I'll take a little blame; I didn't think about advertising the new wikiproject because I thought only the couple of enthusiasts would care. To paraphrase the esteemed Dr Wirtiglieben, "Vut gut eez a Vikiproject eef nobuddy knowz about eet!?" User:Stan Shebs 06:12 Mar 20, 2003 (UTC) ::::Please only place "adverts" for WikiProjects on talk pages. --User:Maveric149 :::::Oh, sure, I totally agree. -- User:Zoe I'm not sure about this new title, I think most people searching for "Bismarck" are looking for the chancellor and that this should redirect to him. - User:SimonP 01:32, Aug 9, 2003 (UTC) There is really no need for the extensive discussion about the name of the article, "DKM Bismarck" was its official designation. "German battleship Bismarck" is clumsy. --User:GeneralPatton 03:31, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC) :Says what authority? You never responded to my query on your talk page, so I'm moving them all back. User:Stan Shebs 15:15, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC) :BTW, I think it's rather interesting that the German WP doesn't use "DKM" at all. User:Stan Shebs 15:18, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC) ---- "though alternate scenarios are available as to the cause of the cordite fire. Hood burned catastrophically,..." Really? First notice that a explosive like cordite is refered has caugth fire, also Hood burned? it looks like more a explosion ! User:Cuye 21:07, 3 Sep 2003 (UTC) Ironically, part of what sank ''Bismarck'' was the fact that the Fairey Swordfish and Albacore biplane torpedo bombers were too slow for her guns to adequately track. :This, I believe, is a myth. It is the case that some British pilots noticed AA fire bursting in front of them, presumably not believing how slow they were going. However, I had a discussion about this point on an internet discussion group about WW2, never got a clear answer. Nobody was able to give an authority for this, or even explain what technical feature of an AA gun would make it incapable of hitting a plane below a certain speed. User:PatGallacher 14:17, 2005 Feb 8 (UTC) ---- ''Because the Bismarck outgunned the obsolete Hood, the Hood needed to close quickly to bring its inferior guns to bear. However whilst doing this the Hood was fatally hit and quickly sank.'' I'd take issue with this. Firstly, the Hood was not obselete, thought it was not cutting edge. Secondly, the Hood and the Bismarck had very similar firepower (although German gunnery was more accurate of course). The issue was the Hood's thinner armour (particularly its deck armour), and it was this which lead the hood to try and close with thee Bismarck as quickly as possible, not a disparity in firepower. User:Cadr : No comments, so I've edited the page. User:Cadr == HMS Minerve == The order of battle includes HMS ''Minerve''. I can find no evidence of such a ship in World War II. Could this have been the Free French submarine of that name? User:Gdr 17:57, 2004 Nov 21 (UTC) == U-Boat == An anonymous user has deleted the word "wrongly" where it said that the British thought they had detected a U-Boat, so calling off the rescue of Bismarck survivors. Do they have any authority for this? I will check my source, Kennedy's "Pursuit", but if nobody responds in a reasonable time I will revert. User:PatGallacherUser:PatGallacher(talk) 16:56, 2005 Jan 31 (UTC) I am not a regidtered user. I am not quite sure what the whole article said. However, the British did not wrongly assume the presence of a U-Boat and in fact there was two U-boats in the area. One, even though I can't remember its u-boat designation, was sent to retrieve Bismarcks war diary, but never made it. == number of survivors from Hood == In this article it says only 3 survived when Bismarck brought down Hood, and the article Cruiser says it was 4... Does anyone knows what the correct number was? :It was definitely three. User:PatGallacher 14:17, 2005 Feb 8 (UTC) == U-Boats were in the area. == As far as it has been ascertained, U-74 (Kptlt. Kentrat) and U-556 (Kptlt. Wohlfahrt) were in the area. U-556 was Bismarck's "guardian" so to speak, and during the battle found himself with a perfect firing solution on both Ark Royal and Renown, but he was out of torpedos. U-74 took over from U-556 and at 10:36 heard the Bismarck sinking. They found a lifeboat at 19:30 with 3 Bismarck men in it. U-74 continued the search for 2 days then returned home. I am not a registered user and I am adding to what the above user has put down. U-556 was assingned to retrieve Bismarcks war diary, but didn't reach the ship in time. The captain of the U-boat was in visual range of the Bismarck when she sank and saw the ship go down through his pariscope. Both the U-556 and U-74 were lost later in the war.
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German_battleship_Bismarck
German_battleship_Bismarck
German battleship Bismarck
{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width=300 |- |colspan="2" align="center"| |- !align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background-color: navy;"|Career !align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background-color: navy;"| |- |Ordered: |16 November 1935 |- |Laid down: |1 July 1936 |- |Launched: |14 February 1939 |- |Commissioned: |20 August 1940 |- |Fate: |Sunk on 27 May 1941 |- !colspan=2 style="color: white; background-color: navy"|General Characteristics |- |Displacement: |41,700 t standard; 50,900 t full load |- |Length: |241.5 m waterline
251 m overall |- |Width: |36.0 m |- |Draft: |8.7 m standard
10.2 m full load |- |Armament: |8 x 380 mm (15 in) (4×2)
12 x 150 mm (5.9 in) (6×2)
16 x 105 mm (4.1 in) (4×2)
16 x 37 mm (8×2)
12 x 20 mm (12 x 1) |- |Aircraft: |4, with 1 double-ended catapult |- |Propulsion: |12 Wagner superheaded boilers; 3 Brown-Bovera geared turbines; 3 three-blade propellers, 4.85 m diameter
150,170 hp (110 MW) = 30.1 knots (54 km/h) Trials |- |Range: |9280 nautical miles @16 knots |- |Complement: |2,092 (103 officers, 1962 enlisted, 27 prize crew) |} ''Bismarck'' was a German battleship during World War II. She was named after Otto von Bismarck and is famous for sinking HMS Hood (1918) in 1941, and for the subsequent pursuit which ended with her destruction just three days later. == History == Design of the ship started in 1934. The construction of the second French ''Dunquerque'' class battleship made redesign necessary, and ''Bismarck's'' displacement increased to 42,600 tons, although officially her tonnage was still only 35,000 tons in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty. She was primarily intended as a commerce raider, having fuel stores as large as those of battleships intended for opeations in the Pacific ocean, but was also capable of engaging enemy warships. Her keel was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg on 1 July 1936, she was launched on 14 February 1939, and commissioned in August 1940 with ''Kapitän zur See'' Ernst Lindemann in command. == Combat history == ===Breakout into the Atlantic=== ''Bismarck'' sailed on her first and last mission, codenamed ''Rheinübung'', on 18 May 1941, accompanied by the heavy cruiser German cruiser Prinz Eugen. Other German capital ships that were to have participated in the sortie were unavailable because of mechanical problems and war damage, but the mission went ahead under the command of Admiral Günther Lütjens. The Germans had various objectives, they wished to compensate for their weak submarine presence in the Atlantic and divert British naval forces from the Mediterranean to reduce the risks of the planned invasion of Crete and to allow Rommel’s forces to cross to Libya. The British Admiralty learnt of ''Bismarck's'' departure from deciphered Enigma code messages, from Allied spies who noted her passing the Skagerrak between Denmark and Norway, and from contacts in Sweden. Three days later, she was spotted by Allied reconnaissance aircraft while refueling in a Norwegian fjord. She was then detected and shadowed by the radar-equipped heavy cruiser HMS Suffolk (55) and later a second heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk (78). ===Battle of the Denmark Strait=== On 24 May 1941, as the German squadron was leaving the Denmark Strait between Iceland and Greenland, they were engaged by a British force consisting of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales (1939) and the battlecruiser HMS Hood (1918) under the command of Rear Admiral Lancelot Holland. ''Prince of Wales'' had only recently been completed and was still being worked up (indeed, she sailed to meet ''Bismarck'' with dockyard workmen still on board completing her fitting out). ''Hood'' had been built as a fast battlecruiser and modified to give her protection more like a battleship but still had relatively weak deck armour. Mistakenly believing the ''Bismarck'' to be in the lead, Admiral Holland ordered fire to be concentrated on ''Prinz Eugen'' although fortunately for the British, the captain of ''Prince of Wales'' had realized the error. The British charged straight towards the German ships in an attempt to reduce the range. Closer in, the ''Hood'' would be less vulnerable to plunging fire and the advantage of superior German gunnery control would be neutralized. The disadvantage was that during the dash, eight of the eighteen British heavy guns could not be brought to bear and spray severely hampered accurate fire control. ''Hood'' was hit by ''Prinz Eugen'' and fire broke out then she took one of the ''Bismarck's'' first salvos amidships. Moments later she was split in two by a huge explosion. Only three of her 1,418 crew survived. ''Prince of Wales'' had also been hit a number of times and mechanical failures left her with all but one of her main guns out of action, so she turned and escaped behind a smokescreen. Nevertheless, ''Bismarck'' had received three hits, one of which caused water to be introduced into fuel storage. From then on, she had to reduce speed to conserve fuel, and left an oil slick trail. Admiral Lütjens decided to head for St Nazaire's dry dock in France for repairs. The British continued to shadow her, the ''Prince of Wales'' ordered despite her state to continue to trail. The Bismarck rounded briefly on her pursuers which gave the ''Prinz Eugen'' the opportunity to detach. ==Chase== [[Image:Bismarck firing at Prince of Wales.jpg|200px|left|thumb|''Bismarck'' firing at HMS Prince of Wales (1939) on 24 May 1941, photographed from German cruiser Prinz Eugen]] Determined to avenge the sinking of ''Hood'', the British committed every possible unit to hunting down the ''Bismarck''. An attack was made by a scant group of Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo planes from 825 Naval Air Squadron from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious (R38) during the early evening of 24 May. One hit was scored, but caused only superficial damage to ''Bismarck’s'' armoured belt. The chase continued, with both sides running low on fuel, but the Germans getting ever closer to France and protective air cover and destroyer escort. The British lost contact for over six hours, but the Germans never realized this; they continued to detect the British radar but did not know that the return signals were too weak to be detected by the trailing ship. Despite Capitain Lindemann's objections, Admiral Lütjens foolishly transmitted a half-hour radio message. This message was intercepted but at first the British incorrectly calculated ''Bismarck’s'' position by using the wrong kind of chart. A Coastal Command PBY Catalina reconnaissance aircraft from Number 209 Squadron flying out of Northern Ireland to search for the ''Bismarck'' spotted her and contact was regained. At dusk on 26 May and in worsening weather conditions, Swordfish from HMS Ark Royal (91) launched an attack. The first attack mistakenly attacked the cruiser HMS Sheffield (C24) that was shadowing it. In a subsequent attack, one torpedo hit jammed ''Bismarck’s'' rudder and steering gear, rendering her largely unmanoeuvrable, and now heading back towards her enemies, though the she was able to make some steerage by adjusting the revolution speed of her propellors. The reality was, however, that the largest and most powerful warship in the world had been rendered close to impotent by a tiny aircraft. After extensive efforts to free the jammed rudders, the fleet command finally acknowledged their by-now impossible position in several messages to Naval Headquarters. Throughout the following night, ''Bismarck'' was the target of incessant torpedo attacks by the Tribal class destroyers HMS Cossack (F03), HMS Sikh (F82), HMS Maori (F24) and HMS Zulu (F18), with the Polish ORP Piorun (G65), but neither side scored any hits. === Last battle === The two British battleships, HMS King George V (1939) and HMS Rodney (1925) had been sailing to approach ''Bismarck'' from the west, and on the morning of 27 May 1941 they neared her. The morning sun was behind her and she was well illuminated. ''Rodney'' steered to the north so that her gunfire would work the length of ''Bismarck'' while ''King George V'' took the side. They opened fire just before 0900 hrs. ''Bismarck'' returned fire, but her inability to steer and her list to port affected her shooting capacity. Her low speed also made her a sitting duck and she was soon hit several times, with ''Norfolk'', and HMS Dorsetshire (40) adding their firepower. One salvo destroyed the forward control post killing most of the senior officers. Within half an hour, ''Bismarck's'' guns were all but silent and she was even lower in the water. ''Rodney'' now closed to point blank (approx 3 km) to strike the superstructure while ''King George V'' fired from further out. ''Bismarck'' continued to fly its battle ensign. With no sign of surrender, despite the unequal struggle, the British could not leave the ''Bismarck'' though their fuel supplies were low. The destroyers were sent home as they had no further torpedoes. Similarly, ''Rodney'' and ''King George V'' turned back to base. ''Norfolk'' had used its last torpedoes so ''Dorsetshire'' was ordered to finish the ''Bismarck'' off. Although the upper works were almost completely destroyed, the hull was still sound, so rather than let her be captured, Captain Lindemann gave the order to scuttle and then abandon ship. Shortly after the charges had blown, ''Dorsetshire'' put three torpedoes into her and she sank a few minutes later. ''Dorsetshire'' and ''Maori'' stopped to rescue survivors but a U-boat alarm caused them to sail off with only 110 sailors. The next morning a U-boat and the German weathership ''Sachsenwald'' picked up 5 more. No crew from the lower engine spaces got out alive. Over 2,200 men had lost their lives. The British then systematically hunted down and destroyed all ''Bismarck's'' support vessels. The Germans would never risk their capital ships in the North Atlantic again. ==Aftermath== Over the years, the ship achieved near mythological status, and popularized in the 1960 Johnny Horton hit song, ''Sink the Bismarck''. The wreck of ''Bismarck'' was discovered on 8 June 1989 by Dr. Robert Ballard, the marine archaeologist also responsible for finding the RMS Titanic. ''Bismarck'' rests at a depth of approximately 4,700 m (15,500 ft) about 650 kilometres west of Brest, France. Analysis of the wreck showed extensive damage to the superstructure by shelling and some minor damage to the hull by torpedo hits, but also suggested that the Germans scuttled the ship to hasten its sinking, though this has never been confirmed by marine investigators (but confirmed by survivors). Ballard has kept the location of the wreck a secret to prevent other divers from taking artifacts from the ship. Ballard considers that practice, which happened to ''Titanic'', a form of grave robbing. The documentary film ''Expedition: Bismarck'' (2002), directed by James Cameron, reconstructs the events leading to the sinking of ''Bismarck''. Nearly a hundred ships of all kinds were deployed to operate with, against, or because of ''Bismarck'': * The German heavy cruiser German cruiser Prinz Eugen * The German destroyers Zerstorer Hans Lody, Zerstorer Friedrich Eckoldt, and Zerstorer Z-23. * The German U-boat Unterseeboot 46, Unterseeboot 48, Unterseeboot 66, Unterseeboot 73, Unterseeboot 74, Unterseeboot 93, Unterseeboot 94, Unterseeboot 98, Unterseeboot 108, Unterseeboot 138, Unterseeboot 552, Unterseeboot 556, and Unterseeboot 557. * The Italian submarines Barbarigo and Ghilieri. * The German weather ships Sachsenwald, Lauenburg, and Freese. * The German tankers Belchen, Egerland, Esso Hamburg, Friedrich Breme, Heide, Lohingen, Weisenburg, and Wollin. * Boats of the German 5th Minesweeping Flotilla. * The British battleships HMS King George V (1939), HMS Prince of Wales (1939), HMS Ramillies (1916), HMS Revenge (1915), HMS Rodney (1925), and HMS Nelson (1925). * The British battlecruisers HMS Hood (51), HMS Repulse (1916) and HMS Renown (1916) * The British aircraft carriers HMS Victorious (R38) (800Z and 825 Naval Air Squadrons) and HMS Ark Royal (810, 818, and 820 Naval Air Squadrons) * The British heavy cruisers HMS Suffolk (55), HMS Norfolk (78), HMS Dorsetshire (40), and HMS London (69); and HMS Exeter, with convoy WS-8B. * The British light cruisers HMS Kenya (C14), HMS Galatea (71), HMS Aurora (12), HMS Neptune (20), HMS Hermione (74), HMS Edinburgh (C16), HMS Manchester (C15), HMS Arethusa (26), HMS Birmingham (C19), and HMS Sheffield (C24); and HMS Cairo, with convoy WS-8B. * The British destroyers HMS Achates (H12), HMS Antelope (H36), HMS Anthony (H40), HMS Echo (H23), HMS Somali (F33), HMS Eskimo (F75), HMS Nestor (G02), HMS Jupiter (F85), HMS Electra (H27), HMS Icarus (D03), HMS Active (H14), HMS Inglefield (D02), HMS Intrepid (D10), HMS Lance (G87), HMS Legion (G74), HMS Punjabi (F21), HMS Windsor (D42), HMS Mashona (F59), HMS Cossack (F03), HMS Sikh (F82), HMS Zulu (F18), HMS Maori (F24), HMS Tartar (F43), HMS Faulknor (H62), HMS Foresight (H68), HMS Forester (H74), HMS Foxhound (H69), HMS Fury (H76), HMS Sherwood (I80), and HMS Hesperus (H57). * The British submarine British submarine H-44, British submarine P-31, HMS Sealion (N72), HMS Seawolf (N47), HMS Tigris (N63), HMS Sturgeon (N73), HMS Severn, and HMS Pandora (N42). * The Canadian destroyers HMCS Assiniboine (I18), HMCS Saguenay (D79), and HMCS Columbia (I49) * The Free French Forces submarine French submarine Minerve * The Polish destroyer ORP Piorun (G65) * The Swedish seaplane cruiser Flygplanskryssare Gotland * The Spanish heavy cruiser Spanish cruiser Canarias (attempted to rescue some survivors from ''Bismarck'') * The US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Modoc (WPG-46) ==See also== * The sister ship German battleship Tirpitz and the second ship of the Bismarck class battleships. ==References== * Kennedy, Ludovic ''Pursuit: The Sinking of the Bismarck'' * Ulrich Elfrath and Bodo Herzog, ''The Battleship Bismarck: A Documentary in Words and Pictures'' (Schifer Publishing; Atglen, Pennsylvania; 1989) (originally published in German as ''Schlachtschiff Bismarck, Ein Bericht in Bildern und Dokumentation'', Pldzun-Palles Vertag, Friedberg, 1975). Includes pictures of the ship under construction and interior pictures, detailed descriptions of fittings and equipment, and biographies of the principal admirals. ==Further Reading== *Burkhard Baron von Mullenheim-Rechberg, ''Battleship Bismarck, A Survivor's Story, new and expanded edition'' (United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, 1990), the story of the senior surviving officer of the Bismarck. * Paul J. Kemp, ''Bismarck and Hood: Great Naval Adversaries'' (Arms and Armor Press, London, 1991) * Siegfried Breyer, ''Battleships and Battlecruisers 1905-1970'' (Doubleday and Company; Garden City, New York, 1973) (originally published in German as ''Schlachtschiffe und Schlachtkreuzer 1905-1970'', J.F. Lehmanns, Verlag, Munchen, 1970). Contains various line drawings of the ship as designed and as built. * David J. Berguson and Holder H. Herwig ''The Destruction of the Bismarck'' (Stoddart Pulishing, Toronto, 2001). Includes personal accounts of the Battle Off Iceland and the Final Battle. * Graham Rhys-Jones ''The Loss of the Bismarck: An Avoidable Disaster'' (Cassell & Company, London, 1999). Includes a description of the planning for Exercise Rheinubung. * Robert D. Ballard ''The Discovery of the Bismarck'' (Madison Publishing, Toronto, 1990). Describes the search effort for the wreck of the ''Bismarck'', and includes pictures of the wreck. ==External links== *[http://www.bismarck-class.dk/ Battleship Bismarck & Tirpitz - English] *[http://www.battleshipbismarck.com/ Battleship Bismarck - English] *[http://www.kbismarck.com/ KBismarck - English. The definitive site for information on all aspects of the Bismark and a very complete history of the ship] *[http://www.hmshood.com/hoodtoday/2001expedition/bismarck/index.html Lots of Photos and Drawings of the Bismarck wreck] Bismarck class battleships Shipwrecks Battleships
German battleship Bismarck
It was not Captain Lindemann who foolishly sent the long signal, but Admiral Lütjens. [Arthur Morgan] i agree. i changed it 1-Can we cut down the size of this image, it's taking up the whole page and slopping into the margins. 2-Why isn't this article just called Bismarck or Bismarck (battleship)? -- User:Zoe I still question the title of this article. -- User:Zoe :I would support a move to Bismarck, with pointers to Otto von Bismarck and Bismarck, North Dakota. As far as I know, nothing of encyclopedic-article importance is called simply "Bismarck" except the battleship -- and if someone really wants to write about the the pastry, it can be disambiguated. --User:The Epopt 01:51 Mar 19, 2003 (UTC) :: Does no-one realise that the ship was named after a 19th Century German statesman of great historical importance? Otto von Bismarck should definately have priority over the battleship. ::I had somewhat of a preference for German battleship Bismarck, partly because it looks better; to me the parenthetical disambiguators look like an unplanned afterthought ("oh yeah, I guess there is more than one kind of Bismarck"). But more importantly Bismarck (battleship) goes against the naming conventions that have already been set down in Wikipedia:Naming conventions (ships) (I mention that instead of Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships because this particular point is still only described in the naming conventions article...), and a consistent naming scheme is a big timesaver for those of us trying to get all the ship articles to link together correctly. User:Stan Shebs 01:04 Mar 20, 2003 (UTC) :::I left this question here for weeks and nobody commented. I go ahead and change it, and it gets attacked. -- User:Zoe :Your question was answered at length in the naming standards article and in the WikiProject. If you are interested help write about the navies of the world, please join us there. --User:The Epopt 01:19 Mar 20, 2003 (UTC) ::How am I supposed to keep up with all of these Wikiprojects? A link here might have been nice. -- User:Zoe :::I'll take a little blame; I didn't think about advertising the new wikiproject because I thought only the couple of enthusiasts would care. To paraphrase the esteemed Dr Wirtiglieben, "Vut gut eez a Vikiproject eef nobuddy knowz about eet!?" User:Stan Shebs 06:12 Mar 20, 2003 (UTC) ::::Please only place "adverts" for WikiProjects on talk pages. --User:Maveric149 :::::Oh, sure, I totally agree. -- User:Zoe I'm not sure about this new title, I think most people searching for "Bismarck" are looking for the chancellor and that this should redirect to him. - User:SimonP 01:32, Aug 9, 2003 (UTC) There is really no need for the extensive discussion about the name of the article, "DKM Bismarck" was its official designation. "German battleship Bismarck" is clumsy. --User:GeneralPatton 03:31, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC) :Says what authority? You never responded to my query on your talk page, so I'm moving them all back. User:Stan Shebs 15:15, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC) :BTW, I think it's rather interesting that the German WP doesn't use "DKM" at all. User:Stan Shebs 15:18, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC) ---- "though alternate scenarios are available as to the cause of the cordite fire. Hood burned catastrophically,..." Really? First notice that a explosive like cordite is refered has caugth fire, also Hood burned? it looks like more a explosion ! User:Cuye 21:07, 3 Sep 2003 (UTC) Ironically, part of what sank ''Bismarck'' was the fact that the Fairey Swordfish and Albacore biplane torpedo bombers were too slow for her guns to adequately track. :This, I believe, is a myth. It is the case that some British pilots noticed AA fire bursting in front of them, presumably not believing how slow they were going. However, I had a discussion about this point on an internet discussion group about WW2, never got a clear answer. Nobody was able to give an authority for this, or even explain what technical feature of an AA gun would make it incapable of hitting a plane below a certain speed. User:PatGallacher 14:17, 2005 Feb 8 (UTC) ---- ''Because the Bismarck outgunned the obsolete Hood, the Hood needed to close quickly to bring its inferior guns to bear. However whilst doing this the Hood was fatally hit and quickly sank.'' I'd take issue with this. Firstly, the Hood was not obselete, thought it was not cutting edge. Secondly, the Hood and the Bismarck had very similar firepower (although German gunnery was more accurate of course). The issue was the Hood's thinner armour (particularly its deck armour), and it was this which lead the hood to try and close with thee Bismarck as quickly as possible, not a disparity in firepower. User:Cadr : No comments, so I've edited the page. User:Cadr == HMS Minerve == The order of battle includes HMS ''Minerve''. I can find no evidence of such a ship in World War II. Could this have been the Free French submarine of that name? User:Gdr 17:57, 2004 Nov 21 (UTC) == U-Boat == An anonymous user has deleted the word "wrongly" where it said that the British thought they had detected a U-Boat, so calling off the rescue of Bismarck survivors. Do they have any authority for this? I will check my source, Kennedy's "Pursuit", but if nobody responds in a reasonable time I will revert. User:PatGallacherUser:PatGallacher(talk) 16:56, 2005 Jan 31 (UTC) I am not a regidtered user. I am not quite sure what the whole article said. However, the British did not wrongly assume the presence of a U-Boat and in fact there was two U-boats in the area. One, even though I can't remember its u-boat designation, was sent to retrieve Bismarcks war diary, but never made it. == number of survivors from Hood == In this article it says only 3 survived when Bismarck brought down Hood, and the article Cruiser says it was 4... Does anyone knows what the correct number was? :It was definitely three. User:PatGallacher 14:17, 2005 Feb 8 (UTC) == U-Boats were in the area. == As far as it has been ascertained, U-74 (Kptlt. Kentrat) and U-556 (Kptlt. Wohlfahrt) were in the area. U-556 was Bismarck's "guardian" so to speak, and during the battle found himself with a perfect firing solution on both Ark Royal and Renown, but he was out of torpedos. U-74 took over from U-556 and at 10:36 heard the Bismarck sinking. They found a lifeboat at 19:30 with 3 Bismarck men in it. U-74 continued the search for 2 days then returned home. I am not a registered user and I am adding to what the above user has put down. U-556 was assingned to retrieve Bismarcks war diary, but didn't reach the ship in time. The captain of the U-boat was in visual range of the Bismarck when she sank and saw the ship go down through his pariscope. Both the U-556 and U-74 were lost later in the war.
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