Bismarck class battleship

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Bismarck class Kriegsmarine Jack
General Characteristics
Displacement: 41,700 t standard;
50,900 t full load
Length: 241.6 m waterline
251 m overall
Width: 36.0 m
Draft: 9.3 m standard
10.2 m full load
Armament: 8 × 380 mm (15 in) SKC 34(4×2)
12 × 150 mm (5.9 in) (6×2)
16 × 105 mm (4.1 in) (4×2)
16 × 37 mm (8×2)
20 × 20 mm (20 × 1)
Aircraft: 4, with 1 double-ended catapult
Propulsion: 12 Wagner superheated boilers;
3 Blohm & Voss geared turbines;
3 three-blade propellers, 4.70 m diameter
150,170 hp (110 MW) = 30 knots trials
Range: 9,280 nautical miles (17,200 km) @ 16 knots (30 km/h)
Complement: 2,200+ (officers, non-commissioned officers, enlisted men and prize crew)

The Bismarck class battleships were a class of capital ships built by Germany.

Contents

[edit] History

The design of the Bismarck class was influenced by the successful World War I Bayern class battleship. Even the arrangement of the turrets and machinery on the Bismarck class was similar to those on its Bayern predecessors.

The Bismarck and the Tirpitz, the only two ships of this class, were laid down in 1936 and launched three years later, nominally 35,000 tons each in accordance with the 1923 Washington Naval Treaty after the tonnage restriction set in place by the Treaty of Versailles was effectively lifted by the Anglo-German Naval Agreement. In reality, both were considerably heavier weighing in at 43,000 tons. Although Bismarck and Tirpitz were nearly identical insofar as basic configuration and dimensions, Bismarck has become something of a naval legend while Tirpitz led a comparatively unglamorous life. A rough maritime comparison might be made between the White Star Line's sister liners Titanic and Olympic, the former, like the Bismarck, going down on its maiden voyage and into popular mythology, while the latter, like Tirpitz, served much longer but with far less excitement.

The Bismarck class embodied much of what made Germany's World War I battleships outstanding combat vessels. It also represented a twenty year gap between German naval technology and advances made in other navies, most notably in the provision of anti-aircraft armament and the location of fire-control systems. Close inspection of the design reveals it to be little more than an enlarged progression of such WWI vessels as Seydlitz.

The Bismarck class included Krupp steel armour; the side belt armour was nearly 13 inches (330 mm) thick amidships, outstanding centralized fire control systems, almost impregnable turret protection, excellent flash protection for her magazines, great range and an impressive top speed of over thirty knots (56 km/h), comparable to the performance of vessels in the U.S. Navy's "fast battleship" program of a few years later.

Despite her excellent qualities, the Bismarck class was not without flaws. The main fire control system was located above the main armour deck of the vessel and more vulnerable to shellfire from large and intermediate calibre guns (most British and American capital ships mounted their main fire control systems underneath the main armour deck.) This meant that it could be damaged more easily.

The German Battleship Tirpitz during her early career in 1941
The German Battleship Tirpitz during her early career in 1941

The Bismarck class also had excellent armour, however its basic layout was questionable in light of lessons learned after the First World War. That conflict had all but destroyed the traditional battlecruiser concept (huge, heavily armed but lightly armoured, fast ships intended to be the "eyes of the fleet"), thanks mostly to the tactical defeat Admiral David Beatty's battlecruiser squadron took from the German fleet at the 1916 Battle of Jutland. Plunging shellfire had caused the sinking of three prize battlecruisers in a short engagement. Thereafter, British battlecruisers were either used more cautiously or modified to improve available deck armour. The German battlecruisers that caused the destruction of Beatty's ships were better-armoured, but would have also been vulnerable if struck by plunging fire. Their survival can be traced not only to excellent handling by their commanders but also by superior flash protection in their ammunition handling systems, coupled with the superior initial accuracy of the German gunners compared to their Royal Navy adversaries and poor performance of the British AP shells which burst in front of the armour. The difference afterward between the two fleets was that the British changed their doctrine where as the Germans, for the most part, did not.

The Bismarck class had somewhat thin deck armour and its main armour deck was below some very important areas, such as the fire control system, radio rooms, and officers departments. The Bismarck class rudder has also been criticized as being too small to effectively turn the ship quickly, and is seen by some as being in a "too-vulnerable" configuration compared to the double rudder setup of the American "Iowa" class. These latter criticisms are often considered as being based solely on the freak torpedo hit (described as a "one in a million" shot) scored on Bismarck's rudder by Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers during the British pursuit of the vessel. Many naval authorities hold that a similar torpedo hit scored on a comparable vessel in any other navy would also have been catastrophic. One minor flaw that is often overlooked is the choice of only 3 screws instead of a more common four as in most American, British, and Japanese battleships of the time. The central shaft of the 3 screw setup compromises the strength of the keel particularly where it emerges from the hull. A four screw setup allows greater flexibility and maneuverability. It would have also allowed the Bismarck more effective steering "by propeller revolutions" after her rudder was disabled by a torpedo.

Lastly, the armament of the Bismarck class, while devastating, is sometimes criticized as being less devastating than it ought to be for a ship of its size. The Iowa class American battleships had approximately the same standard displacement (45,000 tons) but had more and heavier guns, nine 16 inch (406 mm) cannons in three turrets, to eight 15 inch (381 mm) cannons in four turrets. It could be argued that this is an unfair comparison, because the Iowa class represented a later design than the Bismarck class; the "Iowa" class was the third of the American post-Washington Treaty "fast battleship" designs. However, the Nelson class also sported 9 16" guns, and was a much earlier design, on several thousand tons less.

The Bismarck class was also never intended to be a line of battle ship as British capital ships were designed. A battle line is a naval squadron of at least four heavy ships that act in concert to engage a similar squadron of an opposing navy in an extended gun duel (see Line of battle article). Line of battle fleets involving modern dreadnought-style ships rarely occurred, however, to the displeasure of those who had invested billions in equipping themselves with expensive capital ships.

The Bismarck class was instead intended to use its main guns to attack enemy commerce vessels at long range, using its speed to elude any escorting ships. The Bismarck class' top speed was greater than any opposing British capital ship, including the new King George V class battleships, although only a little faster than some of them. Germany, always in an inferior naval position compared to Britain, could never meet the Royal Navy in a traditional, Trafalgar or Jutland battle, therefore until Raeder's "Plan Z" could be completed (and a navy that could fight the British on equal terms built), the existing battleships, including Bismarck and Tirpitz, would be used for these hit and run raids. The Bismarck class, with its somewhat obsolete design, was intended merely as an interim ship class that would eventually be supplemented in the German main battle line by larger and even more capable designs. Raeder had in mind ships in the 60,000 ton category, armed with a dozen 16 inch (406 mm) guns, but of course the outbreak of war and the subsequent tertiary status given the navy compared to the army and Luftwaffe prevented any of these grandiose schemes from coming to pass.

The secondary armament of the Bismarck class was also criticized as being in some ways "overkill" and inadequate. While comparable Royal Navy ships typically had three classes of artillery: heavy main battery weapons intended to engage opposing battleships (12 inch (305 mm) or heavier cannons), intermediate secondary battery weapons intended to provide defense against fast cruisers and destroyers (5 to 8 inch (127 to 203 mm) cannons), and light weapons, which included heavy anti-aircraft flak batteries and machine guns dispersed throughout the ship, German ships tended to have more guns than necessary to do an adequate job.

For example, Royal Navy ships often removed the dedicated, anti-ship secondary batteries altogether since the problem of rushing cruisers and destroyers never came up. Instead, they were equipped with more dual purpose guns that could be used against aircraft but were also effective against ships if roving cruisers and destroyers ever did become a problem in a heated battle. Therefore, Royal Navy vessels had heavy cannon for engaging heavy vessels, secondary cannon for engaging lighter vessels and aircraft, and light weapons useful mainly against aircraft. The space thus saved added to simplification of supply, increased deck armour coverage, stowage of other equipment, and other needs.

German vessels such as the Bismarck class, by comparison, had extensive secondary anti-ship batteries as well as extensive secondary anti-aircraft batteries. This tended to complicate ammunition supplies and render certain armament useless in some situations. For example, a Royal Navy battleship of the King George V class had sixteen 5.25 inch (132 mm) guns that could engage either enemy ships or high level aircraft as necessary. The Bismarck, by comparison, had a battery of twelve 6 inch (150 mm) cannon that could be used against ships only, as they could not be elevated to fire on high-level targets and another sixteen 4 inch (105 mm) battery was mounted to deal with air threats.

Despite the approach the Germans took in giving the Bismarck class its firepower, the air threat was still underestimated (as indeed the increasing air threat to capital ships in much naval doctrine of the time was) and even the (for its time) extensive antiaircraft defenses of the Bismarck class were inadequate to meet the technological advances made by World War II. Through a curious oversight in the design of the Bismarck's AA gun directors, obsolescent Fairey Swordfish biplanes were able to penetrate its heavy flak screens and deliver torpedo attacks without casualty. The Bismarck class was, however, certainly as capable of defending itself against air attack as any contemporary British or American battleship; a fact HMS Prince of Wales was to discover to her detriment when dispatched to Singapore in late December 1941, and sunk by Japanese bombers.

However, despite the flaws of the Bismarck class, Bismarck and Tirpitz were perhaps the finest battleships in the world when they entered service — better than Britain's King George V class, and capable of meeting the Americans' later South Dakota and Iowa class battleships on competitive terms. Limited as they were, the Bismarck class at least had the advantage of being new whereas most of the capital ships of the British fleet were holdovers from World War I and rapidly growing obsolete in armour, armament, and speed, despite modernization attempts. Few British battleships had a chance of catching either Bismarck or Tirpitz — their combination of high speed and heavy armament made them very powerful battleships.

[edit] Ships in class

Image:German Battleship Bismarck firing on PoW.jpg
Bismarck on 24 May 1941

[edit] Bismarck

Tirpitz
Tirpitz

[edit] Tirpitz

[edit] See also


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German naval ship classes of World War II
Battleships Battlecruisers
Bismarck Gneisenau
pre-dreadnought battleships Aircraft carrier
Deutschland Graf Zeppelin
Light cruisers Heavy cruisers
Emden | K | Leipzig Deutschland | Admiral Hipper
Destroyers
Type: 1934 | 1934A | 1936 | 1936A / 1936A (Mob) / Narvik | 1936B
Torpedo boats
Type: 1923 (Raubvogel) | 1924 {Raubtier) | 1935 | 1937 | 1939 (Elbing)
U-boats (submarines)
Type: I | II | VII | IX | X | XIV | XXI | XXII | XXIII
Other
Auxiliary cruisers
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