WW2 German Battleship Bismarck - by Zio Prudenzio

A great Christmas present, by Mr. Fabrizio Prudenziatti!

Bismarck in port in Hamburg

Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the German unification in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched nearly three years later in April 1939. Work was completed in August 1940, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Along with her sister ship Tirpitz, Bismarck was the largest battleship ever built by Germany, and the heaviest built by any European power. Bismarck conducted only one offensive operation, codenamed Rheinübung, in May 1941. The ship, along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, was to break out into the Atlantic Ocean and raid Allied shipping from North America to Great Britain. The two ships were detected several times off Scandinavia, however, and British naval units were deployed to block their route. At the Battle of Denmark Strait, Bismarck engaged and destroyed the battlecruiser HMS Hood, the pride of the Royal Navy, and forced the battleship HMS Prince of Wales to retreat with heavy damage, although Bismarck herself had been hit three times and suffered an oil leak from a ruptured tank. The destruction of Hood spurred a relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy with dozens of warships involved. Two days later, while steaming for the relative safety of occupied France, Bismarck was attacked by Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal; one hit was scored that jammed the battleship's steering gear and rendered her unmanoeuvrable. The following morning, Bismarck was destroyed by a pair of British battleships. The cause of her sinking is disputed: some in the Royal Navy claim that torpedoes fired by the cruiser HMS Dorsetshire administered the fatal blow, while German survivors argue that they scuttled the ship. In June 1989, Robert Ballard discovered the location of Bismarck's wreck. Several other expeditions have surveyed the sunken battleship in an effort to document more completely the condition of the ship and to determine the cause of the ship's loss. - Wikipedia

Bismak em 1940.

O Bismarck foi um couraçado alemão da classe Bismarck construído e operado durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Batizado com este nome em homenagem a Otto von Bismarck, tornou-se famoso por ser o responsável pelo afundamento do cruzador-de-batalha e orgulho da Marinha Real Britânica, o HMS Hood, durante a batalha do Estreito da Dinamarca, em 1941, e pela subsequente perseguição que culminou na sua destruição, apenas três dias depois. Isso só foi possível após ter sido torpedeado no leme por aviões Fairey Swordfish lançados do porta-aviões Ark Royal, sendo este o primeiro ataque realizado por aviões lançados a partir de um navio. Apenas com o leme avariado, pôde ser alcançado pela esquadra inglesa e afundado após um terrível bombardeamento, tendo perdido mais de 2.000 homens. Em tal batalha, os ingleses alegam ter liquidado o navio alemão com seus torpedos, mas tal fato não é verídico, posto que expedições sub-aquáticas confirmaram que o casco interno está intacto. A verdadeira causa do afundamento foi a abertura das comportas para inundar o navio pela sua tripulação, pois assim, vendo os britânicos se aproximarem cada vez mais, com o navio indefeso após quase duas horas de batalha desigual, impediriam uma tentativa inglesa de tomar a belonave germânica. O couraçado alemão somente foi afundado devido ao grande número de aviões e navios que o cercaram. Além disso, com o leme avariado devido ao ataque de aeronaves Swordfish, o Bismarck só conseguia navegar em círculos, sendo impossível escapar do cerco britânico, que atacou sem piedade o navio e sua tripulação. - Wikipedia


Link: WW2.German.Battleship.Bismarck.by.Zio.Prudenzio


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