Secrets of the Bismark

10-20-09, 01:42 AM

Concerning the intact POW
After the hunt, POW was drydocked again for finishing works. The dockworkers were quite astonished to find a hole below the waterline and after tracing it, they found a 38 cm dud sitting in a quite crucial sport below turret B. Had it gone boom POW would have also gone boom.

Concerning the faulty aft portion
Lützow and Prinz Eugen got their tails shoot of by torps. The german engineers had overlooked the fact that the keel didn't stretch so far, so it was a strukturly weak spot for almost all german fighting ships. Bismarks tail also broke of during sinking, as the layout of wreckage on the seabed explains.
Scharnhorst got hit a bit foreward, which flooded parts of her engine compartment, the wreck has still gotten his tail (but not the bow - other story).

Concerning self-sinking
Evidence is not conclusive. During Camerons media-expedition it was shown that large parts of the outer hull had been broken of by the impact on the seabed. This allowed an inspection of the torpedo-bulkhead which looked intact. But some parts of the Bismarks are sitting almost to the waterline in the seabed, so until the ship isn't excavacated and raised there might still be some holes of deep running torpedos buried. For the sake of the argument lets say, the Bismark wouldn't have sunk without the British but the Germans have lend a helping hand in sinking this ship.

Guns layout
The german admirality wanted an equal firing cover at 360°. Thats why 4 turrets were installed. For the medium calibers, the Germans didn't have an all-purpose-gun like the Americans with their 5". So different calibers were installed with different goals. Why different bores were installed for the 10,5 cm flak beats me.

Tactical situation
Raeder was an admiral of the old guard. For him battles were fought above the sealevel, not bellow. In the 1930's he had Hitlers ear and Hitler liked big ships (after the war scetches with his initials were found, which showed ships with 60 cm guns). Would the German navy have accepeted her status as cruiser navy and neglected building big ships in favour for subs, the war might have gone otherwise.

10-20-09, 01:42 AM	#14
gmuno Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Concerning the intact POW After the hunt, POW was drydocked again for finishing works. The dockworkers were quite astonished to find a hole below the waterline and after tracing it, they found a 38 cm dud sitting in a quite crucial sport below turret B. Had it gone boom POW would have also gone boom. Concerning the faulty aft portion Lützow and Prinz Eugen got their tails shoot of by torps. The german engineers had overlooked the fact that the keel didn't stretch so far, so it was a strukturly weak spot for almost all german fighting ships. Bismarks tail also broke of during sinking, as the layout of wreckage on the seabed explains. Scharnhorst got hit a bit foreward, which flooded parts of her engine compartment, the wreck has still gotten his tail (but not the bow - other story). Concerning self-sinking Evidence is not conclusive. During Camerons media-expedition it was shown that large parts of the outer hull had been broken of by the impact on the seabed. This allowed an inspection of the torpedo-bulkhead which looked intact. But some parts of the Bismarks are sitting almost to the waterline in the seabed, so until the ship isn't excavacated and raised there might still be some holes of deep running torpedos buried. For the sake of the argument lets say, the Bismark wouldn't have sunk without the British but the Germans have lend a helping hand in sinking this ship. Guns layout The german admirality wanted an equal firing cover at 360°. Thats why 4 turrets were installed. For the medium calibers, the Germans didn't have an all-purpose-gun like the Americans with their 5". So different calibers were installed with different goals. Why different bores were installed for the 10,5 cm flak beats me. Tactical situation Raeder was an admiral of the old guard. For him battles were fought above the sealevel, not bellow. In the 1930's he had Hitlers ear and Hitler liked big ships (after the war scetches with his initials were found, which showed ships with 60 cm guns). Would the German navy have accepeted her status as cruiser navy and neglected building big ships in favour for subs, the war might have gone otherwise. Last edited by gmuno; 10-20-09 at 08:54 AM.