Quote:
Originally Posted by Dread Knot
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. |
Two myths keep popping up in this discussion.
1. (The Bismarck class was not designed to go against other capital ships.)
WRONG! That is exactly what she was designed for.
2. (She was designed for commerce raiding.)
Her tactical use by the Kriegsmarine due to the war situation against convoys was a valid tactic. When the Bismarck was designed she was designed for a war with England in 1944,45 or 46' under the Z-Plan.
Had the timetable of war been met by the Z-plan then Germany would have had many more capital ships.
Also the Bismarck in the Atlantic would not have been an outright war winner but her influence in the convoy's area could cause dispersal which in turn would leave the U-boats happy pickings.
Another thing I had just found out was that the Kreigsmarine had another plan that lost out. Wait a few more months and send out the Bismarck, Tirpitz, Gneisneau, Scharnhorst, Prinze Eugen, Admiral Scheer and Hipper.
In the End the leadership of the Surface fleet was impatient and decided to act with just the Bismarck and prince Eugen.
Had they sent out the whole fleet the British would have been hard pressed to maintain controll of the Atlantic without sacrificing the Med to keep the Atlantic. Could have been as epic as Jutland!
