Germany - Bismarck Class Battleship

maomatic

Post subject: Germany - Bismarck Class Battleship

Posted: April 8th, 2014, 3:16 pm

Posts: 493
Joined: February 20th, 2014, 7:46 pm
Location: Germany

("Schlachtschiff Bismarck" Mützenband / "Battleship Bismarck" Tally - never issued)

"Bismarck" was the lead ship of the two Bismarck-class battleships built for the German Kriegsmarine. After being awarded to Blohm & Voss shipyard on 16th November 1935, she was laid down in Hamburg on 1st July 1936. Her Hull was launched in February 1939 and she was commissioned on 24th August 1940.

Initial discussions about a new German battleship dated back as far as spring 1934.
The battleship was intended to be a replacement for the old pre-dreadnought (SMS) "Hannover". Following German naval tradition the ship`s name was not known until it`s launch and christening ceremony. Until then the ship was only reffered to under her contract name Schlachtschiff "F" (battleship "F") followed by the name of the ship it was to replace: "Ersatz Hannover" ("Hannover replacement").

The first drawing depicts one of the preliminary plans of Schlachtschiff "F".
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In 1938 the plan for the new battleship evolved even further:
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Due to wartime needs, "Bismarck" was rushed into service and was commissioned on 24th August 1940.
The battleship was still missing parts of her intended equipment (rangefinders, heavy AA-guns) on this date.
Some of it was installed in the following months, while other parts were never fitted (SL-8 AA-Rangefinders, 10,5cm LC/37 FLAK).
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In autumn "Bismarck" received her first camouflage, while she was on exercises in the Baltic.
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By March 1941 "Bismarck" had already received her first refit and was conducting sea trials and training exercises in the Baltic Sea.
Among the changes were the addition of FuMO 23 Radars on top of each armored fire-control station.

Between 8th and 17th March a "Baltic" camouflage scheme was added.
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Following the success achieved by "Scharnhorst" & "Gneisenau" during Operation Berlin, "Bismarck" was to embark on a similar commerce raiding mission into the Atlantic. The new Operation was to be called Unternehmen "Rheinübung" (Operation Rhine-Exercise).
Originally she was to be accompanied by the aforementioned battleships, but those ships were not available because they underwent repairs at the time. Thus the heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen" became the accompanying vessel. The Operation started on 18th May 1941.

Battleship "Bismarck" is depicted on her way from Gdynia (Gotenhafen) to Norway (Grimstadfjord) during the first part of "Unternehmen Rheinuebung" ("Operation Rhine-Exercise") on 19th March 1941.

Note that the light AA-guns were slightly updated with added 2cm guns (quads on the conning tower and Army-mounts aft).
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"Bismarck's" (probable) appearance during the Battle of the Denmark Strait and her last stand against superior British forces.
She was sunk on Tuesday 27th May 1941 10:39.
2104 men of her crew perished - 116 were saved.
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Since "Bismarck" was rushed into service,there was no time to fully equip her.
A contemporary shipyard model built by Blohm & Voss shows "Bismarck" in her intended "final" appearance.
Oddly some of the light AA-guns which were eventually installed on the real "Bismarck" are missing here. Also no FuMO 23 was mounted on the models' 7m rangefinder.
The model is still displayed at the shipyard`s Hamburg headquarters.
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And as a "bonus" - a multiple angle few of the final version:
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("Schlachtschiff Tirpitz" Mützenband / "Battleship Tirpitz" Tally - never issued)

As commissioned in February 1941 - still lacking euqipment.
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Tirpitz undergoing her first refit in June / July 1941.
Please note that I have based this camo-scheme on a drawing found in "German Naval Camouflage Vol 1" by J. Asmussen & E. Leon. Available photos of that period seem to show a somewhat different camo-pattern and possibly a camouflaged superstructure. I could not really confirm this, so I went with the pattern shown in the book...
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Tirpitz after second refit. The ship was now fully equipped. Note the three FuMO 27's and the "Timor" passive array.
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Tirpitz during "Operation Sportpalast" - the attempted attack on convoys PQ12 and QP8.
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Tirpitz in a splinter-camouflage during the summer of 1942.
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Tirpitz depicted as of July 1943, sporting a different splinter-camouflage pattern:
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Tirpitz during spring / early summer 1944. She was subjected to numerous British air attacks during this time-frame.
Note the three large (6,6 x 3,2m) mattress antennae for the FuMO 26s and the freshly installed FuMO 213 on one of the aft AA-rangefinders. Also observe the missing stem anchor, which had to be cut during the X-Craft attack on 22nd September 1943 and wasn't replaced.
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Tirpitz as she appeared during her final days in November 1944. After being damaged beyond repair in the British "Operation Paravane" attack, she received her "coup de grâce" on 12th November 1944 ("Operation Catechism") by receiving two direct hits and a near miss from British Tallboy bombs. About 1000 crewmen lost their lives during the sinking in shallow waters.
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Thanks for looking!

Last edited by maomatic on April 6th, 2015, 8:34 pm, edited 11 times in total.

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Germany - Bismarck Class Battleship

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