KMS Bismarck

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Schlachtschiff Bismarck was one of two Bismarck-class battleships deployed by the Kriegsmarine in World War II. Its sister-ship was Schlachtschiff Tirpitz. Commissioned in 1940, Bismarck had four turrets of two 15" naval guns each, so she was slightly undergunned in comparison with the 16" and 18.1" guns of American and Japanese battleships.

Battle of the Denmark Strait

Commissioned in 1940, Bismarck undertook Operation Rheinübung, accompanied by the light cruiser Prinz Eugen, in May 1941. Admiral Günther Lütjens was in tactical command of the task force; Captain Ernst Lindemann was the commanding officer of Bismarck. The purpose of Rheinübung was to disrupt allied convoys crossing the Atlantic.

Once the British became aware of the sortie, they put heavy ships on each possible approach. In the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the German ships encountered the large battlecruiser HMS Hood and the new battleship HMS Prince of Wales, which was still in shakedown with shipyard technicians aboard. Hood exploded and sank with only three survivors. Prince of Wales, having sustained casualties and damage, laid down a smokescreen and headed for port in Iceland. Bismarck itself had sustained hits which caused a serious oil leakage. Prinz Eugen was detached from Bismarck and ordered to continue the mission while Bismarck headed to Brest for repair.

Sinking

Bismarck was spotted by a Catalina flying boat and most of the British Home Fleet gave chase. Torpedo bombers from HMS Ark Royal damaged Bismarck's rudder and left her steering in circles southwest of Ireland. Heavy ships of the Home Fleet engaged her and caused massive structural damage. The destroyer HMS Dorsetshire launched a torpedo attack which sank Bismarck.

Bismarck demonstrated very bad, and very good, aspects of safety and survivability of naval vessels. Her rudder was unprotected, and key control and communications cables ran on the deck and were quickly cut. Nevertheless, her watertight compartmentation was superb and she took immense damage before sinking.

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