My favorite warship is the “Admiral Graf Spee”, a very early war merchant raider in the south atlantic, called a “pocket battleship”.
The Bismark. It took so damn much to take that giant down its amazing.
Any of the Iowa Class battleships are fine with me, but I am also partial to the German battleships.
Bismark!
(its the only battleship I know by name)
If i was a complete moron… then i would use the “angry” emoticon, call all of you retareded, write in bold letters of course…
but i am not, so i just say…
Bismarck… :D :) ;)
Iowa Class battleships were indeed the best. Bismarck was a great BB, but it stupid how the Germans deployed it.
@TG:
Iowa Class battleships were indeed the best. Bismarck was a great BB, but it stupid how the Germans deployed it.
Why was it stupid? How would you have deployed it?
I would of left it off the coast of Norway and leave it there to raid convoys in the North Sea. It was suicidal to run it through the English Canal.
Actually, the original plan for the Bismarck’s deployment (Operation Rhein) was to include the Tirpitz, the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the Prinz Eugen as well. The Tirpitz wasn’t finished on time and both of the battlecruisers were damaged at the time.That force of ships would have been extremely deadly to any force the Brits could have thrown against it considering how spread out their fleet was at the time. So the original plan wasn’t all that suicidal, however it should have been changed once all of the ships weren’t available for the operation. Imagine if Hitler had waited for his Plan Z navy to be completed, how different would the war at sea been then?
I do agree that the Iowas were the best battleships built…my vote for the worst…the Kongos, converted battlecruisers that had no business going up against modern battleships as the Washington showed when it demolished the Kirishima in Ironbottom Sound.
Why was it stupid? How would you have deployed it?
I would of at least given her better escorts and kept her near the coast. At least this way the Luftwaffe could’ve supplied her with air cover. Plus her destination was way too off. Traveling all the way to Greenland wasn’t a smart move, leaving her cut off from resupply. After she sunk the Hood she was way off from her home bases and had no way of returning home before the Brits were able to trap her. No a very smart move by the Germans… :-?
I would of left it off the coast of Norway and leave it there to raid convoys in the North Sea. It was suicidal to run it through the English Canal.
Uhh…. she never traveled through the English Channel…
Actually, the original plan for the Bismarck’s deployment (Operation Rhein) was to include the Tirpitz, the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the Prinz Eugen as well. The Tirpitz wasn’t finished on time and both of the battlecruisers were damaged at the time.That force of ships would have been extremely deadly to any force the Brits could have thrown against it considering how spread out their fleet was at the time. So the original plan wasn’t all that suicidal, however it should have been changed once all of the ships weren’t available for the operation. Imagine if Hitler had waited for his Plan Z navy to be completed, how different would the war at sea been then?
Agreed. All she had was Prinz Eugen to protect her (which later fled after the Bismarck’s rudder was damaged). I would’ve at least waited, like you said, until the rest of the battle fleet was available.
Whoa Whoa I think I could be completely off here… here is my recollection about the end of the Bismarck…
Bismarck is out raiding convoys Northwest of Iceland. British attempt to trap and destroy it. Bismarck commander flees toward English channel after a close encounter with the British. Bismark commander thinks he is in the clear and breaks radio silence while in range of British land based aircraft. The old obsolete British WWI biplane torpedo bombers are deployed, and a few lucky shots sends the Bismark down.
English channel after a close encounter with the British
The Bismarck was trying to return to French/German Ports near the English Channel, but never made it there. Also the Biplanes didn’t sink the Bismarck. They just damaged it enough for the Brit BB’s to close in and sink it.
I believe the Bismarck was scuttled in which the charges were set off before the Royal Navy got the kill.
Regarding Bismarck’s deployment, that was always a standard strategy for most of Germany’s raiders to pass through the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland. After sinking the Hood, I would have just turned back around to Norway. First of all, all of the Home Fleet was after the Bismarck. Second, the Bismarck was leaking oil from the engagement with the Hood and Prince of Whales. Third, Prinz Eugen didn’t have the endurance to keep up with the Bismarck (a bad pairing indeed). Just my thoughts.
After sinking the Hood, I would have just turned back around to Norway
True, the Bismarck was already damaged in the battle with the Hood. At that point I would’ve turned back from where I came from instead of heading Southwest straight into British homewaters.
I believe the Bismarck was scuttled in which the charges were set off before the Royal Navy got the kill.
Correct, though the fate of the ship was sealed a long way ahead of time.
One major mistake made by Admiral Lutjens was not refueling when he put in in Norway before heading out to raid convoys. One of the main rules of naval warfare is never, ever pass up a chance to refuel when you can. Had he had the Bismarcks fuel bunkers topped off when he had the chance he may not have had to worry about his fuel situation and be forced to turn for France. One other thing, even if the Bismarck HAD attempted to run the English Channel, she may have made it. The Scharnhorst and Gniesenau ran the Channel in broad daylight and got through without a scratch.
The Scharnhorst and Gniesenau ran the Channel in broad daylight and got through without a scratch.
That was more of a rare fluke to the humiliation of the British HMS. :)
Had he had the Bismarcks fuel bunkers topped off when he had the chance he may not have had to worry about his fuel situation and be forced to turn for France
If I remember correctly, the Bismarck wasn’t too worried with Fuel but making it into safer waters from the entire British fleet.
No doubt he wanted to get away from the Brits but more fuel would have given him a better chance of doing it. He may have been able to try to mavuever a bit more in order to lose the Brits before heading for France. Another thing I just remembered, I’m not sure what sub it was, but a German U-Boat sighted the carrier Ark Royal and battle cruiser Renown just before the carrier launched the strike that crippled the Bismark but her captainwas unable to do anything because he had no torpedoes left. Just another example of how much luck really does play in a war.
. Another thing I just remembered, I’m not sure what sub it was, but a German U-Boat sighted the carrier Ark Royal and battle cruiser Renown just before the carrier launched the strike that crippled the Bismark but her captainwas unable to do anything because he had no torpedoes left. Just another example of how much luck really does play in a war.
THis sub was sighted by the british fleet after sinking the Bismarck. The main reason why the british didn’t pick up any surviving germans…. not knowing the sub without fishes was harmless.
No doubt he wanted to get away from the Brits but more fuel would have given him a better chance of doing it. He may have been able to try to mavuever a bit more in order to lose the Brits before heading for France
Not really, by then the Bismarck had already sustained rudder damage and was already below its normal waterline. Extra fuel wouldn’t help it that much.
I disagree. The rudder wasn’t damaged until the attack by the Swordfish. Up until that time Lutjens would have had a few options open to him when it came to avoiding the British.
