It has been 81 year since the Bismarck sank on 27th May 1941. The battleship Bismarck was named in honor of Otto Von Bismarck, first-ever chancellor of German Empire. The battleship Bismarck was the fourth ship of German Navy named after Otto Von Bismarck.
He was born on April 1st, 1815, in Altmark, Prussia. Through countless battles, he united the 39 German States into one German nation in 1871. Founder and first chancellor of the German Empire or the Second Reich. Died in July 30th 1898, near Hamburg. In 1862, he became prime minister of the Prussia. When he became the prime minister, Prussia was considered the weakest of the five European Powers. However under his leadership, he won wars against the Denmark, Seven Weeks's War and Franco-Prussian War.Through these wars, he achieved his'goal of political unification of a Prussian-dominated German Empire. However, the German Empire, his greatest achievement, only lasted 20 years because he had failed to create an internally unified people.
The first ship was corvette Bismarck which was launched on 25th July 1877 and commissioned on 27th August 1878. Corvette served in South Seas for 10 years and represented the German Navy at 1880 World's Affair in Australia. She was broken up(disband) in 1920.
She was launched on 25th September 1897 and commissioned on April 1st 1900. She served in East-Asian Squadron for 9 years. In 1910s, she was repaired at Kiel Dockyard and served as a coastal defense ship. In 1919, she was used as a naval office ship until she was disband.
This one was laid down on November the 3rd 1915. But she was never launched and 26 months before completion, the ship was stricken on November the 17th 1918. Finally she was broken up in 1922.
The two Bismarck-class battleships were designed in the mid 1930s. Both ships were rated for a top speed of 30 knots. Bismarck reached 30.01 knots (56km/h), while Tirpitz made 30.08 knots (57km/h) on trials. After many modification, Tirpitz was 2,000 tonnes heavier than Bismarck, made her the heaviest ship ever built by a European Navy.
It is May the 22nd , 1941. Heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and battleship Bismarck departed from the Fjord port. Admiral Lütjens led his task force to Denmark Strait, hoping worsening weather would help to break out into Atlantic Ocean without detecting. In the evening of the 23rd of May, they reached the ice limit and set course along the Greenland’s coast. Soon, HMS Suffolk spotted the task force, an hour later, HMS Norfolk also spotted. Operation was no longer a secret. Five salvos were fired from Bismarck, but none of these hit the Norfolk. She quickly retreated into the fog. But British ships were still able to track the group because of Suffolk’s radar. But Bismarck’s radar was broken due to the force of the blast from her owns artillery. As a result, admiral ordered Prinz Eugen to take the lead. 6 hours later, Prinz Eugen detected the propellers noises from her port side. The mighty battlecruiser, pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, and HMS Prince of Wales approached. Fierce artillery trade-off ensued resulting in the sinking of Hood, a symbolic British ship. Also damaged the Prince of Wales, forcing her to retreat. And now, British Navy ordered all possible ships to hunt down the Bismarck. In 26th of May, a plane spotted the trail of oil, and found the Bismarck. Force H was ordered to sunk the ship. HMS King George V and HMS Rodney fired first salvoes at Bismarck. Soon another two British cruisers joined the battle. For the last 90 minutes, Bismarck suffered relentless British fires, causing enormous damage to the ship and huge casualties to the crew. Due to fuel shortage, 3 ships were sent back to the port. Ordered HMS Dorsetshire to finish the job. Eventually, at the 10:39 on the 27th of May, Bismarck, flagship of the Navy went under the waves. A little more than a hundred of sailors were survived. The eight-day long voyage of Bismarck became a highlight of the battle of the Atlantic and one of the most famous events in European theater of Second World War.
The crew from the HMS Cossack rescued the cat from the Sinking Bismarck and named the cat “Oscar”. Again when the Cossack was sunk, HMS Ark Royal rescued him. Ark Royal was survived from several torpedoes attacks and earned the title “The Lucky Ship”. But…no more luck for the Ark Royal. She was sunk by the torpedoes on November 14th ,1941. Unbelievably, the cat is still alive! Oscar had enough. He was transferred to a job on land.
