When the Treaty of Versailles was abolished, Hitler authorized the construction of battleships of 35,000 tons. On February 14, 1939, the Bismarck was launched. It weighed 6,000 tons more than the treaties had ruled. The Bismarck was completed in November 1940. It was directed to the Baltic, where its training lasted another 8 months before it was considered ready for operations on the high seas. In May 1941 he was to take part in a raid accompanied by the Scharnhorst , Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen. The Scharnhorst being under repair and the Gneisenau having suffered damage by a torpedo, he sailing with the Prinz Eugen only for the North Atlantic to attack the allied convoys. But the English decoded his sailing orders with "Ultra", a system of decoding, and they went after him. On May 24, 1941, the Bismarck destroyed the Hood battleship, the largest battleship the English had and launched in pursuit. This ship was the pride of the English representing them all over the world. Completely stunned by this event, Churchill issued an order that offered no possible discussion: "Sink the Bismarck" Sink the Bismarck no matter the time and the means used to achieve it, flow the Bismarck! Then the hunt was organized. On May 27, after being hit on the rudder by a torpedo from a Swordfish plane, he was joined by the battleships King George V and Rodney who engaged the fight. Two hours later, the Dorsetshire cruiser completed it with three torpedoes and by 10:40, it sank and trained 1800 sailors with him. The Bismarck, despite a very short life still left a mark in history as the biggest battleship and most powerfully armed of its time. He also possessed an avant-garde pointing system which made it a dangerous threat to the allies. That's why Home Fleet did not hesitate to throw everything they had in its pursuit to sink it. When Home Fleet returned to the base of Scapa Flow, she breathed more freely knowing that the Bismarck would not threaten them anymore. But they were not at the end of their pains because the sister ship of the Bismarck completed its construction: the Tirpitz.
Specifications :
Class: Battleship Speed: 30.1 knots
Length: 251 m Crew: 2092 men
Width: 36 m Displacement: 50,900 tons
Draft: 8.7 m
Armament: 8x 38 cm.
12x15 cm.
16x 105 mm
16x 37 mm
12x 20 mm
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