Bismarck-class battleship

Bismarck in 1940
Class overview
Name:	Bismarck-class battleship
Operators:	Kriegsmarine
Preceded by:	Scharnhorst class
Succeeded by:	H class (planned)
Cost:	196,800,000 RM
Built:	1936-1939
In commission:	1940 - 44
Completed:	2
Lost:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Battleship
Displacement:	Bismarck: 41,700 t (41,000 long tons) standard 50,300 t (49,500 long tons) full load Tirpitz: 42,900 t (42,200 long tons) standard 52,600 t (51,800 long tons) full load
Length:	241.60 m (792 ft 8 in) waterline 251 m (823 ft 6 in) overall
Beam:	36 m (118 ft 1 in)
Draft:	9.30 m (30 ft 6 in) standard
Propulsion:	12 Wagner superheated boilers; 3 geared turbines; 3 three-blade propellers Bismarck: 148,120 shp (110,450 kW) Tirpitz: 160,795 shp (119,905 kW)
Speed:	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range:	Bismarck: 8,525 nmi (15,788 km; 9,810 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) Tirpitz: 8,870 nmi (16,430 km; 10,210 mi) at 19 kn
Complement:	103 officers 1,962 enlisted men
Armament:	8 × 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 (4 × 2) 12 × 15 cm (5.9 in) (6 × 2) 16 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/33 (8 × 2) 16 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 (8 × 2) 20 × 2 cm (0.79 in) FlaK 30 (20 × 1)
Armor:	Belt: 320 mm (12.6 in) Turrets: 360 mm (14 in) Main deck: 100 to 120 mm (3.9 to 4.7 in)
Aircraft carried:	4 × Arado Ar 196
Aviation facilities:	1 double-ended catapult

The Bismarck class was a pair of battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine shortly before the outbreak of World War II. The ships were the largest warships built for the Kriegsmarine. Bismarck was laid down in July 1936 and completed in September 1940, while her sister Tirpitz's keel was laid in October 1936 and work finished in February 1941. The two ships were broadly similar to the World War I-era Bayern class, in that they mounted a similar main battery.

Both ships had short service careers. Bismarck conducted only one operation, Operation Rheinübung, a sortie into the North Atlantic to raid supply convoys sent from North America to Great Britain. During the operation, she destroyed the British battlecruiser HMS Hood and damaged the new battleship Prince of Wales in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Bismarck was defeated and sunk in a final engagement after a three-day chase by the Royal Navy. Disagreements over the cause of the sinking persist with chiefly British sources claiming responsibility for the sinking of the ship. Evidence reviewed by Robert Ballard and James Cameron indicates that her loss was most likely due to scuttling as originally claimed by her surviving crew-members.

Tirpitz's career was less dramatic; she was sent to Norwegian waters in 1942, where she acted as a fleet in being, threatening the convoys from Britain to the Soviet Union. She was repeatedly attacked by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. In 1944, Lancaster bombers hit the ship with three Tallboy bombs, which caused extensive internal damage and capsized the battleship. Tirpitz was broken up for scrap between 1948 and 1957.

...
Wikipedia