KMS Bismarck

The Bismarck, as seen in-game.

"Ship unmanoeuvrable. We will fight to the last shell. Long live the Führer." - *Admiral Günther Lütjens's Last message from the German Battleship Bismarck*

## Background History

KMS Bismarck was the first of the *Bismarck-*class battleship, named after *Chancellor* *Otto von Bismarck.* Though its service was brief, it had a lasting impact on the war. Laid down in 1936 and launched in 1939, when she was completed, Bismarck was the most powerful battleship in the world until the launching of the *Yamato*. To this day, she is still the largest and heaviest warship built by any European power alongside *Tirpitz*.

*Bismarck's* mission was to break out into the Atlantic, where he was joined by the KMS *Prinz Eugen* and escorted by several destroyers and minesweepers. Its mission was to destroy supply ships, but it was stopped by the HMS *Prince of Wales* and the HMS *Hood*. Although it had destroyed the *Hood*, *Bismarck* was leaking oil and had to retreat to occupied France. A fleet was sent by the Royal Navy to sink the most powerful German warship. British aircraft Swordfish were sent by the HMS *Ark Royal*, and struck two hits - one minor and one striking the rudder. The rudder was damaged and stuck, making the *Bismarck* unable to break out of a circle.

On May 27th, 1941, the *Bismarck's* last stand had commenced. He was engaged by several destroyers and then by HMS *King George V* and HMS *Rodney*. The *Bismarck* overtime had sustained major damage, killing Lütjens, the *Bismarck's* captain, Ernst Lindemann and his crew and putting the main batteries out of action. *Dorsetshire* was ordered to close the range and fire torpedoes at the *Bismarck*. After being hit by 2800 British shells and 6 torpedoes, the beast made of steel was finally sunk, avenging the *Hood*. Of the *Bismarck*'s crew of 2,000 men, 115 survived. However, years later, it was discovered that the Germans scuttled their own battleship. The damage from the British was significant but not nearly enough to sink the vessel. *Visiting Bismarck, Explorers Revise Its Story*.

## Overview

KMS *Bismarck* is a German battleship featured in the game.

It is available at level 20 or by various containers.

*Bismarck* is the first real heavyweight that players will get their hands on at the hefty price tag of 6 million credits. While costly, when you buy German, you get German quality. With guns dealing a max of 39K she can upgrade up to 50K damage due to her main battery being considered 2 separate components, doubling the benefits of damage boosting flags. (e.g. American flag increases damage by ~5.5K but you are actually getting a total of ~11K damage increase). She also has powerful secondaries to boot with them dealing ~13K damage per broadside. Bismarck's guns also load faster than most high tier battleships with 2 of her turrets loading up in 10 seconds with American flags equipped, allowing her to slightly outdo most contemporaries in DPS. Her forte is medium range, anything within the 4km range is fair game and she will tear up any opposition that does not dispatch her quickly enough. Her HP pool of 244K HP makes taking her out all the more difficult.

### Playing in a Bismarck

When playing as a *Bismarck*, your main goal is to close the gap. At long range her gun accuracy leaves quite a bit to be desired. Once you close in within 4KM start unleashing barrages of 15 inch shells. It is highly recommended to only get into knifing distance against cruisers with no or weak torpedoes and weaker battleships as while you do have a high HP pool, going to a broadside in close range is not going to do it any favor to last longer.

Given that the ship is fully maxed out and has the right flag (American or pirate flag) and that you're a skilled *Bismarck* player, *Bismarck* can lay down an impressive amount of fire power in a short amount of time, even sinking the *Yamato* in a 1v1 fight. Still, it's low health compared to other large battleships still leaves it vulnerable to fleet attacks. It still cannot fight other battleships that are nearly dreadnoughts, such as the *H41, Super-Alsace*, and *Montana*. A skilled player will know that they must lead larger warships to their demise and create a distraction for other large allied warships to destroy the enemy fleet. Do not go directly for the HMS *Hood,* because the Hood's Torpedoes can instantly wipe out most of your HP.

### Playing with Bismarck

*Bismarck* is on the low end of the battleship spectrum, therefore it is not as popular and is uncommon. Most *Bismarck* players you'll meet are usually average and aren't fully upgraded. However, a skilled *Bismarck* player is crucial to the fight, as they are not expected to actually put up an impressive fight, which catches the enemy off guard. In the case of an exceptionally skilled *Bismarck* player, you'll want to protect them.

Due to its low speed it is more susceptible to an air attack as it's path becomes quite predictable, despite turn rate being quite good, especially on closed-in maps. Ships with good AA should stick with this ship or ahead of it to deter air attacks from carriers. Its low speed and high damage makes a high priority target for the enemy as well. Lay down suppressing fire and launch torpedoes to either kill targets quicker or distract them so the *Bismarck* may retreat and repair. Although not the most powerful battleship, it's surprisingly deadly in skilled hands.

### Playing against Bismarck

In battleships, keep your distance as your guns often have far better accuracy. If you are in a stronger BB or one with torps, by all means close the gap and finish off the *Bismarck* ASAP as while she is a mid-top tier BB, in skilled hands she can be just as deadly as any top tier BB. With cruisers the same is recommended. Low tier destroyers should spam HE as *Bismarck* has tough armor and AP does not really offer any damage advantage and HE can at least set it on fire. High tier DD such as *Mahan* or *Shimakaze* should close the gap to within 2KM and unleash torpedo barrages against *Bismarck*. She is on the more maneuverable end of battleships but it does take while to get her to full rudder (its harder for her to pull out of a turn while its relatively easy for her to get into one) so take advantage of that.

## Advantages and Disadvantages

### Advantages

* Clever main gun quirk that gives it a further damage bonus from flags.
* Decent guns with damage flags.
* Powerful secondary guns.
* Decent Speed.

### Disadvantages

* Only has eight main guns.
* Rather cumbersome.
* Costs to upgrade is doubled, due to 2 sets of main guns.
* Very coarse shell dispersion leading to many missed hits.

## Trivia

* In-game, Bismarck's full broadside is often called a "buckshot" due to high spread of rounds and overall poor accuracy.
* Players, historians, and ship fanatics alike refer to the ship as "he" due to Ernst Lindemann refering to the ship with the aforementioned pronoun.
* Many historians argue whether or not *Bismarck* was actually sunk by the British or was scuttled by her crew. The damage she was capable of sustaining was so substantial that many doubt that the torpedoes from *Dorsetshire* would have been able to deal the fatal damage required to sink her. While she had been rendered combat ineffective during the pummeling, she sustained over 2800 British shells with many of them being 16-inch and 14-inch slugs from the *Rodney* and *King George V*.
	+ This is further reinforced by the fact that Robert Ballard did not find any damage to her torpedo belt when he found the *Bismarck's* final resting place on June 8, 1989. Because of this, many historians now accept that Bismarck was scuttled rather than sunk.
	+ Some still point to the fact that *Bismarck's* stern had broken off right where most of the torpedoes had struck but that was debunked almost immediately when historical and structural experts pointed out that *Bismarck* sunk "stern first" which would have meant that it has to support the entire ships weight with the already damaged stern which almost guarantees that it will snap off from the rest of the ship anyway.
* This ship was also the first ship that the legendary cat, "*Unsinkable Sam*" embarked on. She later embarked on the HMS *Cossack* and *Ark Royal* after being rescued by royal navy sailors.

* *Bismarck's* amazing strength and popular last stand inspired a song created by *Sabaton(*Swedish heavy metal band), simply named *Bismarck*
* When noticing carefully at the ship's bow, one can find that the texture for the chains of the anchors were cut off but resume further toward the tip of the ship's bow. Its highly likely that this was due to the fact that the place where it cuts off had the Hakenkreuz (Swastika) symbol, but was replaced with the ship's deck texture instead, and that the developers failed to correct that error.