Bismarck (Battleship)

Design

The Bismarck-class had displacement that broke both treaties Germany had signed during her construction- mostly because the international treaty system had already fallen off. They were construction in response to counter French naval expansion. Bismarck was built to be durable, however she was too durable, that she can hardly sink after her last battle. She displaced more than any European battleship except HMS Vanguard.

History

In the night of 18th May 1941, heavy cruiser KMS Prinz Eugen, followed by Bismarck at 2:00 am the next morning, departed from Gotenhafen and sailed to the Danish Straits to sortie for Operation Rheinünbung- Bismarck’s first and only mission. Escorted by three destroyers Z10 Hans Lody, Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt and Z23, a floatilla of minesweepers, as well as Luftwaffe air cover, they sailed in and through the Straits, where at Skagerrak they encountered by Swedish cruiser HSwMS Gotland which reported their location to the British.

Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were ordered to dash through the Denmark Straits, there on 23rd May they encountered the British heavy cruiser HMS Suffolk, which saw the Germans first. Later Norfolk was joined by heavy cruiser HMS Suffolk. Both shadowed the German ships until the British force- battlecruiser HMS Hood and the new battleship Prince of Wales- arrived. The German and British capital ships duelled each other in The Battle of the Denmark Straits. In the ensuing battle, one of Bismarck’s shells hit Hood’s aft ammunition magazine and the battlecruiser blew up with her back broken and sank. Prince of Wales continued the battle, and after taking heavy damage, she fled with a smokescreen cover.

The loss of HMS Hood greatly broke British morale and caused most of the Royal Navy ships to be scrambled to hunt down the Bismarck. Two aircraft carriers, HMS Victorious and Ark Royal, six battleships and battlecruisers (among these were King George V, Rodney, Revenge, her sister Ramilies, Prince of Wales, Renown and her sister Repulse), thirteen cruisers (including Norfolk and Suffolk, Dorsetshire and Sheffield) and 21 destroyers were committed to the chase. Prinz Eugen was detached to continue mission while Bismarck drew off the chase and headed for western France for repairs.

In the morning of the 24th, Victorious scrambled six Fulmar fighters and nine Swordfish torpedo bombers to attack the Bismarck, but the only one torpedo which hit did not slow down the battleship. Two days later, a RAF Catalina aircraft spotted the Bismarck, and the dusk of the next day, Ark Royal scrambled her Swordfishes and one of the torpedoes hit Bismarck’s rudder and deemed her unmanoeuvrable.

That night, six British destroyers HMS Cossack, Sikh, Maori, Zulu and Mashona, and Polish destroyer ORP Piorun terrorized the Bismarck throughout the night, and the next morning HMS King George V, Rodney, Norfolk and Dorsetshire fought the Last Battle of the Bismarck. Even after heavily damaging the ship and the crews’ attempt to scuttle it, the Bismarck refused to sink, and due to fuel shortages, the battleships turned home. Dorsetshire finished the action by launching torpedoes on both sides of the battleship and the ship finally capsized.

U-boat alarms meant that HMS Dorsetshire and Maori could only rescue 111 survivors, a few of the rest saved later by U-boat U-74 and weather ship KMS Sachsenwald.

• The Bismarck is one of the most famous European battleships and is a common icon of the Kriegsmarine. She has been featured in numerous media.
  * The ship is featured in two songs, Sink the Bismarck! by Johnny Horton and Bismarck by Sabaton.
  * Featured in a film which depicts her last battle and sinking.

• Bismarck is famously featured in three anime media: Azur Lane, Arpeggio of Blue Steel and Kantai Collection. She also appears shorty in the anime Strike Witches, in the 10th episode of the second season.

In Suyukaz's Works and Fiction

• Suyukaz has drawn the Bismarck in May 2021 to celebrate the anniversary of the ship's sinking. Additionally, he has also drawn arts of the Azur Lane character.