Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

Lead Ship,Battleship Bismarck near completion,pictured in early August 1940 just prior to her commissioning at Blohm & Voss Shipyards,Hamburg.

The mighty BISMARCK, one more photo, well 2... DFO

yes and what a beast she proved to be eh Dennis

It took the bulk of RN to get her, but get her they did. Should have proved that the day of the large surface raider warship was KAPUT! Raiders like ATLANTIS and U-bootes were far more effective. Of course, neither disguised merchies or subs had quite the effect of a battleship; as proven by PQ-17 and threat of TIRPITZ.

Given the relatively close calls others, like HIPPER, had the Germans seemingly should have learned, but.......... DFO

We should not forget "his" brother(?) the TIRPITZ. TIRPITZ did influence events for a while, merely laying in Norwegian fjords! DFO

Lead Ship,Battleship Bismarck is pictured prior to launch at Blohm & Voss Shipyards,Hamburg, February 14th, 1939.

A few more, including a sort of "recent" view of her conning tower........DFO

I just purchased the recent BISMARCK by Garzke & Dulin; like their other books it is very well researched, not simply parroting the words of others from previous books. I started reading it yesterday when it arrived at my front door. The level of background and detail they have unearthed is simply fascinating. They also lay out and discuss both political and physical considerations that factored into his design.

So far the "MYTH" of this 3rd gen. BB simply being a enlarged BADEN is very handily reputed by the facts the authors enumerate about her design. Of particular note to me was the, IMO, rather poorly designed side torpedo protective system built into her(hind sight is GR8!). Despite the thought and experimentation the German designers put into it, the final arrangement seems very weak. USN 3rd gen torpedo protection systems seem significantly stronger and more elastic, thereby dissipating the explosive energy of any hits.

This book is proving to be chock full of what amounts to a honest, new look at the BISMARCK and her design plus her fateful single mission! DFO

BISMARCK from PE meeting in Baltic for their one Atlantic mission. DFO

During a brief period of time both BISMARCK and TIRPITZ were at Gotenhafen(Gdynia). Here TIRPITZ pulls in on 5 May, '41. der fueher inspected BISMARCK on that date as well. DFO