Does any1 know stuff about the Bismarck Ship?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck

Excerpt:



http://www.battleshipbismarck.info/

Photos and more narrative

That ain't the way it works; you ask your question here, and get your answers here.

Now, as for your question, I'm going to assume you refer to the battleship Bismarck - 4th, and last, German Navay vessel to bear the name. She was built by Blohm & Voss at the Hamburg Yards, her keel laid down in July 1936, was launched in February of 1940, with commissioning taking place in April of 1940. She began sea trials in September of 1940, following successful completion of which she entered operational service in May of 1941. Ostensibly a 35,000-Ton-class capital ship in line with the requirements of the Versailles Treaty and the Washington Naval Agreement, she actually displaced over 50,000 tons in full war-ready trim. Her main belt armor was 12.5", with deck armor of 4.5". Over 40% of the ship's weight was due to her armor, an extraordinarily high proportion.

Her main battery consisted of 8 Krupp-built 15-Inch naval rifles arranged in 4 turrets of 2 tubes each, 2 turrets fore, 2 turrets aft. Her primary gunlaying system was optical (radar not yet commonly being used for the purpose) and was of very high precision, allowing for very accurate salvo placement to the extremes of her battery's range.The main battery tubes were capable of a rate-of-fire approaching 2.5 rounds-per-minute per tube, throwing a 1700 pound round to a maximum range in excess of 22 miles. Her secondary battery consisted of 12 6" naval rifles arrayed in 6 2-tube turrets and 16 4" dual-purpose (anti-aircraft/surface bombardment) rifles arrayed in 8 twin-tube turrets. Her tertiary, or dedicated air-defense, battery consisted of 16 37MM automatic cannons arrayed in 8 twin-tube open mounts and 20 20MM automatic cannons arrayed in individual single-tube open mounts. In addition, she disposed a number of machineguns, ranging from 12.5MM down to 7.62 MM, in bot single and twin open mounts. Her aircraft component disposed 4 catapult-launched Blohm & Voss floatplanes, lightly armed (1 rear-firing 7.62MM machinegun), intended for reconnaissance only. There was a single trunnion-mounted, double-ended steam catapult, and 2 recovery cranes, mounted roughly midship. Her powerplant was composed of 12 Wagner Super-Heat boilers in 3 banks of 4, each boiler bank driving 1 of her 3 Blohm & Voss steam turbines, each of which turned a shaft mounting a 15" 3-blade propellor. Power output was 150,000 HP, giving her a maximum flank speed in excess of 30 knots. At a cruising speed of 16 knots, she had a combat radius of roughly 4600 nautiucal miles, or a range of some 9300 nautical miles. Her crew mustered approximately 2200 all told.

She was sunk on May 27th 1940, after a 3-day running battle commonly termed the Battle of the Denmark Straight. Fewer than 120 of Bismarck's crew survived her sinking.


What else would you like to know?

Excellent source!

Good post timber, got the impression you knew this...except for propellor size being feet not inches

What I would like to know Dr Naval historian in residence is

has the wreck been located? Is anyone looking for it? I had a model of the Bismark as a boy. Wish I knew where that was.

Sink The Bismarck Lyrics
Johnny Horton


In May of 1941 the war had just begun
The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns
The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the sea
On her decks were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees

Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood
And every British seaman he knew and understood
They had to sink the Bismarck the terror of the sea
Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees
We'll find the German battleship that's makin' such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us
Yeah hit the decks a runnin' boys and spin those guns around
When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down
[ ac.guitar ]
The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day
The Bismarck started firing fifteen miles away
We gotta sink the Bismarck was the battle sound
But when the smoke had cleared away the mighty Hood went down
For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail
Churchill told the people put every ship asail
Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she's gotta be
We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea
We'll find the German battleship...
[ ac.guitar ]
The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the morning sun
Ten hours away from homeland the Bismarck made its run
The Admiral of the British fleet said turn those bows around
We found that German battleship and we're gonna cut her down
The British guns were aimed and the shells were coming fast
The first shell hit the Bismarck they knew she couldn't last
That mighty German battleship is just a memory
Sink the Bismarck was the battle cry that shook the seven seas
We found the German battleship t'was makin' such a fuss
We had to sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us
We hit the deck a runnin' and we and spun those guns around
Yeah we found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down
We found the German battleship...

Steve,

From Wikipedia:

PBS underwater film clips from the documentary the Bismarck and the Hood


http://www.pbs.org/hood/news/video.html

Good catch, Steve - my bad re 15"/15' propellors- no lookup, no preview - can getchya every time

Another goof I managed; the sinking date was 1941, not '40, as I carelessly typed. Editing'proofreading is not one of my strong points

For resident Naval Historians of some repute, I think I'd defer to Setanta and george0b1; I'm more "nuts & bolts" equipment-oriented, those 2 get more into "history" than I do, but I do know the gear and the orders of battle.

PBS articles about the Hood/Bismarck documentary.


http://www.pbs.org/hood/history/index.html


Links to other sources from the PBS documentary:

http://www.pbs.org/hood/links/index.html

Probably the most authoritative website for Bismarck: KBismarck-dot-Com - The Battleship Bismarck

I can sing da Bismark song made famous by Johny Horton. Or was that Tim Horton?

In English and not from Germany, might well be. :wink:

thanks for info butrflynt

and my toy ship?

Last time I saw it, it was floating in the bathtub with you amongst a bunch of bubbles. You know that photo I'm talking about, don't ya? :wink:

how the hell did you know....just a minute

MUMMY?????

More goodies!

It has..
i WATS LOCATED AND FOUNF IN 1980

WOOOPS SRRY ABOUT THAT SMESSAGE
iT WAS LOCATED AND FOUND IN 1980