page_title: Ernst Lindemann
section_title: Commander of the battleship Bismarck
hierarchical_section_title: Ernst Lindemann / Naval career / Commander of the battleship Bismarck
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg English: As Lietnant zur See aboard the light cruiser Konigsberg in 1934. He served as range-finder officer in the Konigsberg and in her sister ship Karlsruhe, thus behinning a career in gunnery.
context_page_description: Otto Ernst Lindemann was a German Kapitän zur See. He was the only commander of the battleship Bismarck during its eight months of service in World War II.
  Lindemann joined the German Imperial Navy in 1913, and after his basic military training, served on a number of warships during World War I as a wireless telegraphy officer. On board SMS Bayern, he participated in Operation Albion in 1917. After World War I, he served in various staff and naval gunnery training positions. One year after the outbreak of World War II, he was appointed commander of the battleship Bismarck, at the time the largest warship in commission anywhere in the world and the pride of the Kriegsmarine.
  In May 1941, Lindemann commanded Bismarck during Operation Rheinübung. Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen formed a task force under the command of Admiral Günther Lütjens on board Bismarck. Orders were to break out of their base in German occupied Poland and attack British merchant shipping lanes in the Atlantic Ocean. The task force's first major engagement was the Battle of the Denmark Strait which resulted in the sinking of HMS Hood.
context_section_description: Ernst Lindemann was frustrated by the fact that—as commander of the Naval Gunnery School—he would never come into direct contact with the enemy. When he received the news that he had been selected to be the first commander of the battleship Bismarck, he was honoured by the trust that had been bestowed on him but doubted that he would be able to get Bismarck ready for action before the war was over. His doubts suggest that he was confident the war would end in a favourable outcome for Germany by mid-1940. Prior to commanding Bismarck, Lindemann had never held any shipboard command, a situation rare if not unique in the Kriegsmarine. Nevertheless, Lindemann had served exclusively on ships with a gun calibre of at least 28 cm (11 in), and he was Germany's leading gunnery expert. In 1940, he ranked second out of Crew 1913 and was considered an outstanding leader.
  Lindemann arrived at the Blohm & Voss shipbuilding works in Hamburg at the beginning of August 1940. Bismarck's keel had been laid on 1 July 1936 and she was launched on 14 February 1939. Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg joined Bismarck as fourth gunnery officer in June 1940, and he would become the highest-ranking officer to survive Bismarck's last battle on 27 May 1941. Much of what is currently known about Bismarck's final days is attributed to his account as a witness. Lindemann made Von Müllenheim-Rechberg his personal adjutant and instructed him to refer to the ship as "he" rather than "she"; Lindemann considered the ship too powerful to be referred to as a female. He commissioned the battleship on 24 August 1940. He showed a great deal of attachment to the ship and was respected by his crew.
  Bismarck left the Kiel Fjord on the morning of 28 September 1940 heading east. After an uneventful voyage through rough seas, Bismarck reached Gotenhafen (now Gdynia) the next day. Here Bismarck conducted a number of sea trials in the relative safety of the Bay of Danzig (now Gdańsk Bay). By 30 November 1940, Lindemann had set a number of tests for the crew, which they passed easily. During high speed trials, Bismarck reached a top speed of 30.8 kn (57.0 km/h; 35.4 mph), exceeding the design speed. However, one weakness quickly became apparent: without using the rudders but only the screws, Bismarck was almost impossible to steer.
  In November 1940, Von Müllenheim-Rechberg was sent to the Naval Gunnery School at Wik to complete his heavy gun training courses, which ended his position as Lindemann's personal adjutant. Lindemann's new adjutant was the signals officer Second Lieutenant Wolfgang Reiner. Bismarck's heavy guns were first test-fired in the second half of November, and Bismarck was shown to be a very stable gun platform. After the 1940 Christmas celebration on board, Lindemann and the majority of the officers, non-commissioned officers and sailors went on home leave. First gunnery officer Lieutenant Commander Adalbert Schneider relieved Lindemann as Bismarck's commander during his absence. Lindemann spent his leave with his wife and daughter and returned on 1 January 1941.
  On 28 April 1941, the ship and crew were ready, and stores were on board for a three-month mission. Lindemann notified Naval High Command (Oberkommando der Marine), Naval Groups North and West (Marinegruppen Nord und West) and Fleet Command that Bismarck was ready for action. The Chief of Fleet—Admiral Günther Lütjens—and his fleet staff held drills for the first time on board Bismarck on 13 May, testing the communication chain between Fleet Command and Bismarck's officers.
  Adolf Hitler—accompanied by Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel, his former naval adjutant Commander Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer, and his Luftwaffe adjutant Oberst Nicolaus von Below, among others—visited Bismarck on 5 May 1941. Missing was Grand Admiral Erich Raeder. Hitler was taken on a tour of the ship by Admiral Lütjens and inspected the various battle stations. Hitler and Lütjens also met in private and discussed the risks of a mission in the North Atlantic. After this meeting, Hitler and the officers of Bismarck h
caption: Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg
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