Quote:
Originally Posted by Pacific_Ace
Had Bismark made it into the North Atlantic in battle worthy condition the consequences would have been immense and cannot be underestimated. This was 7 months before Pearl Harbor, UK could conceivably have been forced to end the war.
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Yeah...I love this. One German battleship was magically going to do what 300 submarines under Donitz couldn't do later. Or the existing fleet of German pocket battleships and auxiliary cruisers which sank a lot more ships than the Bismarck ever did. Or the entire German High Seas fleet in WWI either.
I kind of blame the elevation of the Bismarck as some sort of supership on the James Cameron documentary he made after diving on the Bismarck's wreck. In it he characterized the warship as the German equivalent of the "Death Star." (even down to an Achilles Heel exploited by a Swordfish pilot apparently gifted with The Force.
) As talented as Cameron is a filmaker and storyteller I don't think he qualifies as a naval historian.
In the big picture I feel Bismarck was a extravagant ship Germany could ill afford and in the end was ill used as a commerce raider. It doesn't take a 15" shell to sink a lowly merchantman.