Bismarck-Class
Germany's Largest and Most Famous Battleships - Built 1936-1941. 8× 38cm (15-inch) guns, 50,300-52,600 tons, 30.8 knots. Bismarck: First and only sortie (Operation Rheinübung, May 1941), sank HMS Hood in 10 minutes (24 May 1941, 1,415 killed, 3 survivors = 0.2%). Fuel hit forced abort, Swordfish torpedo jammed rudder (26 May), sunk 27 May by HMS King George V/Rodney after 2,800+ shell hits (2,100 killed, 115 survivors = 5.2%). Scuttled by crew. Tirpitz: "Lonely Queen of the North" (Norway 1942-1944), never engaged enemy capital ships. "Fleet in being" tied down 4-6 British battleships. X-craft midget subs damaged Sep 1943 (6 months repair). Tallboy bombs capsized 12 Nov 1944 (Operation Catechism, 940-1,204 killed, first precision bombing of capital ship). Heaviest European battleship (52,600 tons with modifications).
Specifications
- Displacement (std)
- 41700 t
- Displacement (full)
- 50300-52600 t
- Length
- 792.7 ft
- Beam
- 118.1 ft
- Crew
- 1673-1968
- Ships built
- 2
- Commissioned
- 1940-1941
- Decommissioned
- 1941-1944 (sunk/capsized)
Performance
- Top speed
- 30 kn
- Range
- 8870 nm at 19 knots
Armament
- Main guns
- 8× 38cm (15-inch) SK C/34
- Secondary guns
- 12× 15cm (5.9-inch) SK C/28
- Torpedoes
- 2× sets of 4× 53.3cm (Tirpitz only, fall 1941)
Armor & Systems
- Belt
- 320mm Krupp cemented
- Deck
- 100-120mm
- Fire control
- Dual directors, FuMO 23 Seetakt radar (25km range)
In-Game
- Tier
- T6
- Game power
- 179.32
- Research cost
- 142,021
- Credit cost
- 125,524
Notable
- Largest German battleships ever built (50,300-52,600 tons)
- Bismarck sank HMS Hood in 10 minutes (24 May 1941, 1,415 killed, 3 survivors)
- Tirpitz: Heaviest European battleship (52,600 tons with modifications)
- Tirpitz destroyed by 12,000-lb Tallboy bombs (first precision bombing of capital ship)
- Bismarck: Most famous German warship (9 months operational, traumatized Royal Navy)
- Tirpitz: "Fleet in being" (tied down 4-6 British capital ships for 3 years without engaging)