Bismarck - class battleship The " Bismarck " class was a pair of battleship s built for the German Kriegsmarine shortly before the outbreak of World War II . The ships were the largest warships built for the German Navy . was laid down in July 1936 and completed in September 1940 , while her sister s keel was laid in October 1936 and work finished in February 1941 . The two ships were broadly similar to the World War I - era , in that they mounted a similar main battery and were protected by a similar armour arrangement . Both ships had short service careers . " Bismarck " conducted only one operation , Operation Rheinübung , a sortie into the North Atlantic to raid supply convoys sent from North America to Great Britain . During the operation , she destroyed the British battlecruiser and damaged the new battleship in the Battle of the Denmark Strait . " Bismarck " was defeated and sunk in a final engagement after a three - day chase by the Royal Navy . Disagreements over the cause of the sinking persist with chiefly British sources claiming responsibility for the sinking of the ship . Evidence reviewed by Robert Ballard and James Cameron indicates that her loss was most likely due to scuttling as originally claimed by her surviving crew - members . " Tirpitz " s career was less dramatic ; she was sent to Norwegian waters in 1942 , where she acted as a fleet in being , threatening the convoys from Britain to the Soviet Union . She was repeatedly attacked by Royal Navy midget submarines and Royal Air Force bombers . Ultimately , Lancaster bombers hit the ship with three Tallboy bomb s , which caused extensive internal damage and capsized the battleship . " Tirpitz " was broken up for scrap between 1948 and 1957 . A large portion of the bow remains where it sank in 1944 . Design . A series of conceptual designs were begun in 1932 to determine the ideal characteristics of a battleship built to the limit of the Washington Naval Treaty . These early studies determined that the ship should be armed with eight guns , have a top speed of , and have strong armour protection . The design work for what became the " Bismarck " class was begun in 1933 and continued until 1936 . In June 1935 , Germany signed the Anglo - German Naval Agreement , which allowed Germany to build battleships at a ratio of 35 percent to the total tonnage of the Royal Navy . At the time , France , which had begun a program of naval expansion , was viewed as the most likely threat , not Great Britain . As a result , " Bismarck " and " Tirpitz " were intended to counter the new French battleships being built at the time . A series of questions needed to be answered during the design process , including the calibre of the main battery , the propulsion system , and armour protection . The deciding factor for the adoption of guns for " Bismarck " and " Tirpitz " was the decision of the French Navy to arm its four ships then under construction with 38 cm pieces . It was decided that four twin turrets would provide the best solution to distribution of the main battery , as it would provide equal firepower forward and aft , as well as simplify fire control . The naval constructors examined diesel geared drive , steam drive , and turbo - electric drive engines ; the last system was the preferred choice , as it had been extremely successful in the two American s and the French passenger ship . The design staff were also required to provide sufficient range to the new battleships ; they would have to make long voyages from German ports to reach the Atlantic , and Germany had no overseas bases where the ships could refuel . Due to the numerical inferiority of the German fleet and the assumption that naval battles would take place at relatively close range in the North Sea , the design placed great emphasis on stability and armour protection . Very thick vertical belt armour was adopted , along with heavy upper - citadel armour plating and extensive splinter protection in the bow and stern of the ships . The displacement of " Bismarck " and " Tirpitz " were limited by the capabilities of existing infrastructure in Kiel and Wilhelmshaven , and the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal . On 11 February 1937 , the Construction Office informed Generaldmiral Erich Raeder that the ships could not displace more than due to the constraints of the harbour and canal depths . The office also expressed a preference for building a third vessel and remaining within the 35 , 000 - ton treaty limit . Admiral Werner Fuchs , the head of the General Command Office of the Oberkommando der Marine , advised Raeder and Adolf Hitler that modifications would be necessary to reduce the displacement to ensure the new ships met the legal requirements of the London Naval Treaty . Japan refused to sign the new treaty , and so on 1 April 1937 an escalator clause permitting treaty signatories to build ships up to a limit of went into effect . The final design displacement of was well within this limit , so Fuchs ' s modifications were discarded . General characteristics . The " Bismarck " - class battleships were long overall and long at the waterline . The ships had a beam of , and a designed draft of ; the draft at standard displacement was , and at a full load . The ships had a designed displacement of 45 , 950 metric tons ; their standard displacement was 41 , 700 metric tons , and when fully laden , the ships displaced 50 , 300 metric tons . The ships had a double bottom for 83 percent of the length of the hull , and twenty - two watertight compartments . The ships were 90 percent welded construction . The stern was weakly constructed ; this had significant consequences on " Bismarck " s only combat mission . The ships were very stable , primarily because of their wide beam . The ships suffered from only slight pitching and rolling , even in the heavy seas of the North Atlantic . " Bismarck " and " Tirpitz " were responsive to commands from the helm ; they were capable of manoeuvring with rudder deflections as small as 5° . With the rudder completely over , the ships heeled only 3° , but lost up to 65 % of their speed . The ships handled poorly at low speeds or when travelling in reverse . As a result , tugs were necessary in confined areas to avoid collisions or grounding . The ships had a standard crew of 103 officers and 1 , 962 enlisted sailors . The ships carried smaller boats , including three picket boats , four barges , one launch , two pinnaces , two cutters , two yawls , and two dinghies . Propulsion . The " Bismarck " - class ships both had three sets of geared turbine engines ; " Bismarck " was equipped with Blohm & Voss turbines , while " Tirpitz " used Brown , Boveri , and Co . engines . Each set of turbines drove a 3 - bladed screw that was in diameter . Robert Ballard , the discoverer of " Bismarck " , noted that the adoption of the three - shaft arrangement caused serious problems for " Bismarck " . The centre shaft weakened the keel , especially where it emerges from the hull . Ballard stated that a four - shaft arrangement would have allowed a greater ability to steer the ship using only propeller revolutions than the three - screw system . At a full load , the high and medium - pressure turbines ran at 2 , 825 rpm , while the low - pressure turbines ran at 2 , 390 rpm . The ships ' turbines were powered by twelve Wagner ultra high - pressure oil - burning boilers . The two ships had different fuel stores ; " Bismarck " was designed to carry 3 , 200 tons of fuel oil , but could store up to 6 , 400 tons of fuel in a normal configuration ; with extra fuel bunkers , the fuel carried could be increased up to 7 , 400 tons . " Tirpitz " was designed to carry 3 , 000 tons of fuel , and with additional bunkers , was able to store up to 7 , 780 tons . The powerplant had a full power specific fuel consumption of 0 . 325 kg of fuel per hour ; at 19 knots , " Bismarck " could steam for , and " Tirpitz " had a maximum range of . The turbines were initially intended to use electric transmission , and would have produced apiece . The geared turbines were lighter , and as a result had a slight performance advantage . The geared turbines also had a significantly more robust construction . The ships mounted eight 500 kW diesel generators arranged in four pairs , five 690 kW turbo - generators , and one 460 kW , the last of which was connected to a 400 k VA AC generator . Another 550 kVA diesel generator provided additional AC power . The electrical plant provided a total 7 , 910 kW at 220 volts . Armament . Main battery . " Bismarck " s and " Tirpitz " s main battery consisted of eight SK C / 34 guns in four twin turrets , " Anton " and " Bruno " in a superfiring pair forward of the superstructure and " Caesar " and " Dora " aft . The turrets allowed elevation to 30° , which gave the guns a maximum range of . The guns fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 820 metres per second ( 2 , 690 ft / s ) . The main battery was supplied with between 940 – 960 shells total , for approximately 115 – 120 shells per gun . As with other German large - calibre naval rifles , these guns were designed by Krupp and featured sliding wedge breech blocks , which required brass cartridge cases for the propellant charges . Under optimal conditions , the rate of fire was one shot every 18 seconds , or three per minute . The gun turrets were electrically trained and the guns were hydraulically elevated . Gun elevation was controlled remotely . The turrets required each gun to return to 2 . 5° elevation for loading . " Tirpitz " was eventually provided with time - fuzed shells to combat the repeated Allied bombing attacks . The " Bismarck " s ' use of four twin turrets ( the 4 × 2 configuration ) was a design practice that hearkened back to the First World War . Almost all other post - 1921 capital ships had triple or even quadruple turrets , which allowed for additional heavy caliber guns , while reducing the number of turrets . Fewer turrets reducing the length of the battleship ' s armored citadel ( particularly magazine length and the armor needed to protect it ) and shortened the vessel itself . Although triple turrets were considered for the " Bismarck " s , there were concerns that the extra barrel would lower the overall rate of fire in each turret , along with fears that a single well - aimed hit could disable a larger proportion of the ship ' s firepower . It was also felt that four twin turrets allowed for a better field of fire and a more effective sequence of salvoes . Although other contemporary vessels like the American " North Carolina " - class battleships carried 40 . 6 - cm main guns , the " Bismarck " s used 38 - cm naval guns as the Germans had experience with them ; a 40 . 6 - cm weapon would have had to have been designed from scratch . " Bismarck " was also authorized prior to the breakdown of the London Naval Treaty and the invocation of the 45 , 000 - ton , 406 - mm main gun escalator clause ( which the United States did invoke with the " North Carolinas " ) ; building 40 . 6 cm battleships would doubtless have seemed provocative , especially to the United Kingdom . As it was , the 38 cm main battery of the " Bismarck " class compared well to their contemporaries , out - ranging almost all of the 38 cm and 40 . 6 cm guns of contemporary navies ( with the exception of the Italian 38 . 1 cm gun , which suffered exceptional bore erosion as a consequence ) . The German gun was superior to the World War I era BL 15 inch / 42 naval gun ( 381 mm ) of the Royal Navy in both range and penetration . Secondary battery . The ships ' secondary battery consisted of twelve SK C / 28 guns mounted in six twin turrets . The 15 cm gun turrets were based on the single - gun turrets used aboard the " Scharnhorst " class . They could elevate to 40° and depress to −10° ; they had a rate of fire of around six shots per minute . The 15 cm guns fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of 875 m / s ( 2 , 871 ft / s ) . At maximum elevation , the guns could hit targets out to . As with the main battery guns , " Tirpitz " s 15 cm guns were later supplied with time - fused shells . The decision to mount low - angle 15 cm guns has been criticised by naval historians , including Antony Preston , who stated that they " imposed a severe weight penalty " , while American and British battleships were being armed with dual - purpose guns . Naval historians William Garzke and Robert Dulin note that " the use of dual - purpose armament would have possibly increased the number of anti - aircraft guns , but might have weakened the defence against destroyer attack , which German naval experts deemed more important . " Anti - aircraft battery . As built , " Bismarck " and " Tirpitz " were equipped with an anti - aircraft battery of sixteen C / 32 65 - calibre guns in eight twin mounts , sixteen C / 30 guns in eight dual mounts , twelve guns in individual mounts . The 10 . 5 cm guns were the same weapons as used aboard the " Scharnhorst " class , and were mounted on the first superstructure deck . After " Bismarck " was sunk in 1941 , two amidships guns on " Tirpitz " were moved forward so as to provide them with better fields of fire . The sixteen guns were guided by four fire - control directors , two just aft of the conning tower , a third positioned aft of the main mast , and the fourth directly behind turret Caesar . " Tirpitz " s directors were covered by protective domes , though " Bismarck " s were not . The ships ' 37 mm 83 - calibre guns were twin mounted and placed in the superstructure . The mounts were hand - operated and automatically stabilised for roll and pitch . These guns were supplied with a total of 32 , 000 rounds of ammunition . " Bismarck " and " Tirpitz " were initially armed with twelve 20 mm guns in single mounts , though these were augmented over time . " Bismarck " received a pair of quadruple gun mountings , for a total of twenty 20 mm guns . Over the course of her career , " Tirpitz " s 20 mm battery was increased to 78 guns in single and quadruple mountings . Armour . The " Bismarck " - class ships had an armoured belt that ranged in thickness from ; the thickest section of armour covered the central portion , where the gun turrets , ammunition magazines , and machinery spaces were located . This portion of the belt was capped on either end by 220 mm thick transverse bulkheads . The ships had an upper deck that was thick , and an armoured deck that was between 100 – 120 mm ( 3 . 9 – 4 . 7 in ) thick amidships , and tapered down to at the bow and at the stern . The deck was mounted low in the hull , however , which reduced the volume of internal space protected by the armoured citadel . This contrasted with contemporary British and American designs that featured a single thick armoured deck mounted high in the ship . The forward conning tower had a thick roof and thick sides , while the range finder had an armoured roof thick and thick sides . The aft conning tower had much lighter armour : the roof was thick and the sides were , while the aft range finder had a thick roof and sides . The main battery turrets were reasonably well - protected : the turret roofs were thick , the sides were thick , and the faces were thick with thick shields . These armour thicknesses were less than those of contemporary British ( ) and French ( ) designs . Conversely , the secondary battery was better - protected than most rivals . The 15 cm ( 5 . 9 in ) gun turrets had thick roofs , sides , and fronts . The 10 . 5 cm ( 4 . 1 in ) guns had shields . Construction . " Bismarck " was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard on 1 July 1936 . The ship was assigned construction number 509 , and the contract name " Ersatz Hannover " , as a replacement for the old battleship . The ship was launched on 14 February 1939 , with Adolf Hitler in attendance . The granddaughter of the ship ' s namesake , Otto von Bismarck , christened the ship . As with other German capital ships , " Bismarck " was originally built with a straight bow . Experiences with other ships revealed the necessity of a clipper bow , which was installed on " Bismarck " during the fitting - out process . The ship was commissioned into the fleet on 24 August 1940 , with Kapitän zur See Ernst Lindemann in command . Three weeks later , the ship left Hamburg for trials in the Baltic Sea , before returning in December for final fitting - out work . Further trials and tests were conducted in the Baltic in March and April ; " Bismarck " was placed on active status the following month . " Tirpitz " s keel was laid at the Kriegsmarine dockyard in Wilhelmshaven on 20 October 1936 , under construction number 128 . She had been ordered under the contract name " Ersatz Schleswig - Holstein " to replace the obsolete battleship . " Tirpitz " was named for Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz , the architect of the High Seas Fleet before World War I . His daughter , Frau von Hassel , christened the ship on 1 April 1939 . Fitting out work lasted until February 1941 ; " Tirpitz " was commissioned into the fleet on 25 February . A series of trials were then conducted , first in the North Sea and then in the Baltic . Service history . " Bismarck " . After " Bismarck " joined the fleet , plans were drawn up for a sortie into the North Atlantic . The operation initially called for a force composed of " Bismarck " , " Tirpitz " , and the two s . " Tirpitz " was not yet ready for service by May 1941 , and was being overhauled . The force was reduced to " Bismarck " , , and the heavy cruiser . " Gneisenau " was damaged by a British bombing raid on Brest , so it was decided that only " Bismarck " and " Prinz Eugen " would conduct the operation . Admiral Günther Lütjens was placed in command of the pair of ships . Early on the morning of 19 May , " Bismarck " left Gotenhafen , bound for the North Atlantic . While on the trip through the Danish Belt , " Bismarck " and " Prinz Eugen " encountered the Swedish cruiser ; the sighting was passed through the Swedish Navy to the British naval attaché in Stockholm . The British Royal Air Force conducted aerial reconnaissance of the Norwegian fjord in which " Bismarck " and " Prinz Eugen " had stopped , to confirm the sighting . While in Norway , Admiral Lütjens failed to replenish the approximately of fuel " Bismarck " had spent on the first leg of the voyage . By 23 May , " Bismarck " and " Prinz Eugen " had reached the Denmark Strait . That evening , the British cruisers and briefly engaged " Bismarck " before dropping back to shadow the German ships . At 06 : 00 the following morning , observers aboard " Bismarck " spotted the masts of the battlecruiser and the new battleship . The British ships steamed directly towards " Bismarck " and " Prinz Eugen " , before attempting a turn to bring the two forces on a roughly parallel course . During the turn , at least one of " Bismarck " s 38 cm shells penetrated one of the aft ammunition magazines aboard " Hood " , which caused a catastrophic explosion and destroyed the ship . There were only three survivors from " Hood " s crew of 1 , 421 . The German ships then concentrated their fire on " Prince of Wales " , which was forced to withdraw . " Bismarck " did not emerge unscathed ; a direct hit on her bow from " Prince of Wales " caused " Bismarck " to take in some of water . The ship was also leaking oil , which made it easier for the British to track her . After retreating , " Prince of Wales " joined " Norfolk " and " Suffolk " ; the ships briefly engaged " Bismarck " at around 18 : 00 . Neither side scored a hit . By this time , 19 warships were involved in the chase . This included six battleships and battlecruisers and two aircraft carriers , along with a number of cruisers and destroyers . After the second engagement with " Prince of Wales " , Lütjens detached " Prinz Eugen " to continue the operation while " Bismarck " sailed for port . Shortly before midnight on 24 May , a group of Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from 825 Naval Air Squadron on attacked " Bismarck " . One torpedo struck the ship amidships , though without doing any serious damage . The shock from the explosion , coupled with " Bismarck " s manoeuvring at high speed , damaged the temporary repairs that had stopped the flooding from the earlier battle damage . Her speed was reduced to to slow the flooding while repair teams fixed the reopened wounds . Early on 25 May , " Bismarck " doubled back past her pursuers in a wide circle . The manoeuvre successfully shook off the British ships , which turned west in an attempt to find the ship . Despite the manoeuvre , Admiral Lütjens was unaware that he had evaded the British , and so sent a series of radio transmissions , which were intercepted by the British and used to gain a rough fix on his position . Due to the damage his ship had sustained , Lütjens decided to make occupied France rather than continue his mission . On the morning of 26 May , a Coastal Command PBY Catalina flying boat spotted " Bismarck " to the north - west of Brest ; she was steaming at a speed that would put her under the protective umbrella of German aircraft and U - boat s within 24 hours . The only British forces close enough to slow her down were the aircraft carrier and her escort , the battlecruiser . At approximately 20 : 30 , a flight of fifteen " Ark Royal " s 820 Naval Air Squadron s Swordfish torpedo bombers launched an attack on " Bismarck " . Three torpedoes were believed to have struck the ship ; the first two torpedoes failed to do serious damage to the ship , but the third hit jammed " Bismarck " s rudders hard to starboard . The damage could not be repaired , and the battleship began turning in a large circle , back towards her pursuers . An hour after the Swordfish attack , Lütjens transmitted the following signal to Naval Group Command West : " Ship unable to manoeuvre . We will fight to the last shell . Long live the Führer . " At 08 : 47 the following morning , the battleship opened fire , followed directly by . " Bismarck " replied three minutes later , though at 09 : 02 a 16 inch shell from " Rodney " destroyed the forward turrets . Half an hour later , " Bismarck " s rear turrets were silenced as well . At around 10 : 15 , both British battleships had ceased fire , their target a burning wreck . The British were running dangerously low on fuel , but " Bismarck " had not yet been sunk . The cruiser fired several torpedoes into the crippled ship , which then took on a severe list to port . At approximately the same time as " Dorsetshire " s attack , engine room crew detonated scuttling charges in the engine rooms . There is still significant debate as to the direct cause of " Bismarck " s sinking . Only 110 men were rescued by the British before reports of U - boats forced them from the scene . A further five men were rescued by German vessels . " Tirpitz " . " Tirpitz " s first action following her commissioning into the Kriegsmarine on 25 February 1941 was to act as a deterrent to a possible Soviet attempt to break out their Baltic Fleet following the German invasion of the Soviet Union . The ship was joined by the heavy cruiser and the light cruisers , , and . The force patrolled off the Åland Islands for a few days before returning to Kiel . On 14 January 1942 , " Tirpitz " left German waters for Norway , arriving on the 17th . On 6 March , " Tirpitz " , escorted by three destroyers , launched a raid on the British convoys to the Soviet Union . The Germans attempted to intercept convoys PQ - 12 and QP - 8 , but the inclement weather prevented them from finding the convoys . The British , however , managed to locate " Tirpitz " . The aircraft carrier " Victorious " launched a strike composed of twelve Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers . The aircraft were repulsed without having scored any hits on the German ships . " Tirpitz " and the destroyers were back in port by 12 March . The close call prompted Hitler to mandate that " Tirpitz " was not to attack another convoy unless its escorting aircraft carrier were sunk or disabled . Over the next two months , the RAF launched a series of unsuccessful bombing raids against " Tirpitz " while she was moored in the Faettenfjord . The first , by 34 Handley Page Halifax bombers , took place on 31 March . Two followed a month later , on 28 and 29 April . The first attack was conducted by 43 Halifax and Avro Lancaster bombers , the second by 34 Halifax and Lancaster . A combination of heavy German anti - aircraft fire and poor weather caused all three missions to fail . Over the summer and into late 1942 , " Tirpitz " underwent a refit in the Faettenfjord , which lacked dockyard facilities of any type . As a result , the work was done incrementally ; a large caisson was built to allow the rudders to be replaced . Naval historians William Garzke and Robert Dulin stated that " the repairs to this ship were one of the most difficult naval engineering feats of World War II . " In January 1943 , " Tirpitz " emerged from the lengthy overhaul , after which she was transferred to Altafjord . Here , she participated in extensive training operations with " Scharnhorst " and the heavy cruiser , which lasted until the middle of the year . In early September , " Tirpitz " , " Scharnhorst " , and ten destroyers bombarded the island of Spitzbergen , which served as a British refuelling station . The two battleships destroyed their targets and returned safely to Altenfjord ; this was the first time " Tirpitz " fired her main guns in anger . On 22 – 23 September , six British midget submarines attacked " Tirpitz " while at anchor . Two of the submarines successfully planted explosive charges against the battleship ' s hull , which did serious damage . " Tirpitz " had been successfully neutralised . Over the next six months , a workforce of some 1 , 000 men effected the needed repairs , which were finally finished by March 1944 . The British resumed the series of air attacks almost immediately after repairs were completed . On 3 April , the Royal Navy launched Operation Tungsten , during which 40 fighters and 40 Barracuda bombers from six carriers attacked the ship . They scored 15 direct hits and two near misses , which caused heavy damage , killed 122 men , and wounded 316 more . The Royal Navy attempted to repeat the attack three weeks later on the 24th , but had to call the operation off due to inclement weather . Operation Brawn , another carrier - launched attack , followed on 15 May , but again weather interfered . Another carrier strike was attempted on 28 May , but it too was cancelled due to poor weather conditions . Operation Mascot , which was to be conducted by " Victorious " , " Furious " , and on 17 July , was frustrated by the heavy smokescreen over the batleship . The Royal Navy launched the Operation Goodwood series in late August . Goodwood I took place on 22 August , with 38 bombers and 43 fighters from five carriers . The attackers failed to score any hits , however . Goodwood III followed two days later , with 48 bombers and 29 fighters from , " Furious " , and " Indefatigable " . The bombers made two hits on the ship , which did only minor damage . The last Royal Navy operation , Goodwood IV , followed on 29 August . Thirty - four bombers and 25 fighters , launched from " Formidable " and " Indefatigable " , attacked the ship , though fog prevented them from scoring any hits . The task of sinking " Tirpitz " now fell to the RAF , which performed three airstrikes armed with new Tallboy bomb s . The first attack , Operation Paravane , came on 15 September , when a force of 27 Lancasters dropped a single Tallboy each ; the bombers succeeded in hitting " Tirpitz " directly in the bow with one of the bombs . The bomb completely penetrated the ship and exploded directly under her keel . This caused of water to flood the ship ; " Tirpitz " had again been disabled . A month later , on 15 October , " Tirpitz " was moved to Haaköy Island off Tromsø to be used as a floating artillery battery . Two weeks later , on 29 October , the British launched Operation Obviate , which consisted of 32 Lancaster bombers . Only a near miss was achieved , though it caused " Tirpitz " to take in more water . The last attack , Operation Catechism , took place on 12 November . Thirty - two Lancasters attacked the ship and scored a pair of direct hits and a near miss . The bombs detonated one of " Tirpitz " s ammunition magazines and caused the ship to capsize . Casualties were high : 1 , 204 men were killed in the attack . Another 806 men managed to escape the sinking ship , and a further 82 were eventually rescued from the capsized hulk . The wreck was gradually broken up for scrap between 1948 and 1957 . Notes . Footnotes Citations