German battleship Bismarck
The keel of the German battleship Bismarck was laid down on the 1st of July 1936 at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg. This massive vessel displaced 42,000 tons as built and reached 57,000 tons when fully loaded. Her overall length stretched to 251 meters with a beam of 36 meters. Engineers used welded construction for 90 percent of her hull to save weight while maintaining structural integrity. The design included 22 watertight compartments and a double bottom running 83 percent of the ships length. A single large funnel amidships vented steam from twelve oil-fired Wagner superheated boilers. Three Blohm & Voss geared steam turbines drove three-bladed screw propellers. Trials proved the propulsion system could produce 150,000 shaft horsepower for a top speed of 30 knots. The ship stored 3,200 tons of oil giving her a cruising range of 8,800 nautical miles at 19 knots. Standard crew numbered 103 officers and 1,962 enlisted men. When leaving port fleet staff and war correspondents increased the complement to over 2,200 men. Roughly 600 of these personnel came from the light cruiser Königsberg which had been lost during Operation Weserübung.
Hitler and Wehrmacht High Command Chief Wilhelm Keitel arrived in Gotenhafen on the 5th of May 1941 to view Bismarck and Tirpitz before their mission. Lütjens reported that both ships were fully prepared for Operation Rheinübung by the 16th of May. Orders came to proceed with the mission on the evening of the 19th of May. At 02:00 on the 19th of May Bismarck departed Gotenhafen heading for the Danish straits. She joined Prinz Eugen at 11:25 off Cape Arkona where the heavy cruiser had departed the previous night at 21:18. Three destroyers escorted the pair along with a flotilla of minesweepers. Luftwaffe aircraft provided air cover during the voyage out of German waters. Lindemann informed his crew via loudspeaker about the mission around noon on the 20th of May. A group of ten or twelve Swedish reconnaissance aircraft encountered the force and reported its composition and heading. An hour later the flotilla met the Swedish cruiser Gotland which shadowed them for two hours in the Kattegat. Gotland transmitted a report stating two large ships three destroyers five escort vessels and 10, 12 aircraft passed Marstrand on course 205 degrees. The report eventually reached Captain Henry Denham the British naval attaché to Sweden who sent it to the Admiralty.
At 05:45 on the 24th of May German lookouts spotted smoke from Hood and Prince of Wales under Vice Admiral Lancelot Holland. By 05:52 the range had fallen to 26,000 yards and Hood opened fire followed by Prince of Wales a minute later. Adalbert Schneider first gunnery officer aboard Bismarck twice requested permission to return fire but Lütjens hesitated. Lindemann intervened muttering I will not let my ship be shot out from under my ass. He demanded permission to fire from Lütjens who relented at 05:55. Several minutes after opening fire Holland ordered a 20 degree turn to port allowing his ships to engage with rear turrets. Both German ships concentrated fire on Hood. About a minute after firing Prinz Eugen scored a hit with a high-explosive shell detonating unrotated projectile ammunition. After firing three four-gun salvoes Schneider found the range to Hood and ordered rapid-fire salvoes from Bismarcks eight 38 cm guns. At 06:00 Hood was completing her second turn when Bismarcks fifth salvo struck. Two shells landed short striking water close to the ship but one 38 cm armour-piercing shell penetrated thin deck armour. The shell reached Hoods rear ammunition magazine and detonated 70 tons of cordite propellant. The massive explosion broke the back of the ship between main mast and rear funnel. In only eight minutes of firing Hood disappeared taking all but three of her crew of 1,419 men.
At 19:10 Ark Royal launched fifteen Swordfish torpedo bombers armed with contact detonators. They attacked Bismarck at 20:47 through clouds as she turned violently while anti-aircraft batteries engaged. One torpedo hit amidships on the port side just below bottom edge of main armour belt causing minor flooding. A second torpedo struck Bismarck in her stern on port side near port rudder shaft. Coupling on port rudder assembly was badly damaged and rudder became locked in a 12 degree turn to port. Explosion caused much shock damage. Crew eventually repaired starboard rudder but port rudder remained jammed. At 21:15 Lütjens reported that ship was unmanoeuvrable. With port rudder jammed Bismarck steamed in large circle unable to escape Toveys forces. Lütjens signalled headquarters at 21:40 on the 26th of May stating Ship unmanoeuvrable We will fight to last shell Long live Führer. Mood of crew became increasingly depressed as messages from naval command reached ship highlighting desperate situation. As Swordfish returned to carrier Bismarck briefly fired main battery at shadowing Sheffield killing three men and wounding two others.
At 08:43 lookouts on King George V spotted Bismarck some 37,000 yards away. Four minutes later Rodneys forward turrets opened fire then Kings guns began firing. Bismarck returned fire at 08:50 with forward guns straddling Rodney with second salvo. Ability to aim deteriorated as ship moved erratically deprived Schneider of predictable course for range calculations. At 09:02 a 16-inch shell from Rodney struck Bismarcks forward superstructure killing hundreds and severely damaging two forward turrets. Main fire control director destroyed probably also killing Schneider. Second shell disabled forward main battery though it fired one last salvo at 09:27. Lieutenant Müllenheim-Rechberg took over firing control for rear turrets managing three salvos before gun director destroyed disabling equipment. By 09:31 all four main battery turrets put out of action. One Bismarck shell exploded 20 feet off Rodneys bow damaging starboard torpedo tube closest direct hit on opponents. At 09:30 executive officer Fregattenkapitän Hans Oels decided to scuttle ship to prevent boarding and allow crew to abandon ship. He ordered men below decks to abandon ship instructing engine room crews to open watertight doors and prepare scuttling charges.
Scuttling charges detonated around 10:20. By 10:35 ship assumed heavy port list capsizing slowly sinking by stern. Running low on fuel Tovey ordered cruiser Dorsetshire to sink Bismarck with torpedoes. Dorsetshire fired pair of torpedoes into Bismarcks starboard side one hitting. She then moved to port side firing another torpedo which also hit. Deck partly awash as ship listed so badly final torpedo may have detonated against port side superstructure already underwater. Bismarck disappeared beneath surface at 10:40. Around eight-hundred to thousand men now in water. Dorsetshire rescued 85 men and Maori picked up 25 before leaving scene. U-74 rescued three men from rubber dinghy evening at 19:30. Next day German trawfer rescued two more from raft at 22:45. One man picked up by British died following day. Out of crew over 2,200 men only 114 survived. Wreck discovered on the 8th of June 1989 by Robert Ballard resting on keel at depth approximately 4,790 meters about 360 kilometers west of Brest.
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Common questions
When was the keel of the German battleship Bismarck laid down?
The keel of the German battleship Bismarck was laid down on the 1st of July 1936 at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg. The vessel displaced 42,000 tons as built and reached 57,000 tons when fully loaded.
What happened to the British battlecruiser Hood during the engagement with the German battleship Bismarck?
Hood disappeared in only eight minutes after a single 38 cm armour-piercing shell from the German battleship Bismarck penetrated her thin deck armour and detonated 70 tons of cordite propellant in her rear ammunition magazine. All but three of her crew of 1,419 men perished in the explosion.
How did the German battleship Bismarck become unmanoeuvrable before its final sinking?
A second torpedo struck the stern of the German battleship Bismarck near the port rudder shaft causing coupling damage that locked the rudder in a 12 degree turn to port. This jammed steering forced the ship into large circles while it steamed unable to escape pursuing forces.
When did the German battleship Bismarck sink following the naval battle?
The German battleship Bismarck disappeared beneath the surface at 10:40 on the 26th of May 1941 after scuttling charges detonated around 10:20. The wreck was later discovered on the 8th of June 1989 by Robert Ballard resting on the keel at a depth of approximately 4,790 meters.
How many survivors were rescued from the water after the German battleship Bismarck sank?
Out of over 2,200 men aboard the German battleship Bismarck only 114 survived the sinking. Rescue efforts included 85 men picked up by the cruiser Dorsetshire and 25 men taken off by the destroyer Maori before other vessels arrived to recover additional survivors.