Bismarck and Prinz Eugen

The 18th May 1941 departed from the military port of Gotehafen a combat group formed by two splendid and modern warships, the battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, to start the Operation Rheinubung, a raid against the British supply lines in the Atlantic. Then probably nobody thought that for the Bismarck this one would be her last mission. A week later, of the superb battleship would remain only a pile of scrap and few dozens of shipwrecked mariners. But at the moment, the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen were the pride of the new Germany, powerful and confident. Excessively confident of itself and its powerful armament. Despite of the encrypted order prohibiting the navigation to any military or civil ship in wide sectors of the Baltic, another encrypted message arrived to the British Admiralty, immediately setting into alarm the entire Home Fleet. In that moment it would start a dramatic prosecution that would end with the sinking of the Bismarck little less than 400 miles west of Brest. When the Bismarck, hit by the Swordfish torpedo bombers, resulted with her rudder blocked, she was forced to turn around without being able to maneuver. Practically immobilized, the superb battleship was totally dismantled by the British artillery fire.

Bismarck

The forced interruption that Germany suffered regarding naval projects at the end of the First World War affected all the German ships used during the Second World War. The naval architects could not benefit from the lessons learned during 1914-18. Neither were they capable to give continuity to their experience in designs, essential for the creation of new projects, nor to extract conclusions from the destruction of ships built by other countries as the Allies had done in the early 1920s. Because of this the German experts in naval construction started to work in the late 1920s with a considerable disadvantage in respect of the other nations. Consequently, the Bismarck and Tirpitz were poorly protected ships with problems in their communication systems and deficiencies in the disposition of their secondary and anti-aircraft armaments. And this despite of these ships having a displacement that exceeded the limitations imposed by any former treaties, of which Hitler no longer worried.

The technical studies about battleships started in 1933 and, the 18th June 1935, the Anglo-German Naval Treaty granted to Germany enough supplementary tonnage for battleships as to built three units of 35560 tonnes of standard displacement. The contracts for the construction of two of them were signed in the early 1936. Facing this emergency situation, the German naval architects used as base for the new battleships the Baden class from the First World War. But it was necessary to increase the size to satisfy the current requirements: increase of speed of six knots, large increment of anti-aircraft artillery and installation of anti-torpedo armored protection. This latter was favored by a draught as short as possible to face the agitated waters on the German coasts. As in the Japanese Yamato class, the result was to increase the width of the hull to incorporate an excellent anti-torpedo system. On the other hand, a notable difference in respect of the Tirpitz was the lack of torpedo launchers in the Bismarck.

Albeit the result of these efforts was an undoubtedly powerful battleship, the Bismarck class was not as much as it should have been. The difficulties in the investigation of the protection caused that the communication systems were left practically unprotected at the bottom of the belt armor, while the contemporary battleships of other nations had them installed between the upper part of the belt and the armor of the main deck. This deficiency contributed to the quick and easy destruction of the Bismarck. The maneuvering was excellent thanks to a special type of rudder but this would be precisely the Achilles heel of the Bismarck. The same deficiency in the protection of the rudders that impossibilited the escape of the Bismarck had come to light in the German ships already in the Battle of Jutland, twenty-five years before. The lack of investigation in secondary armament of double purpose caused that the Bismarck had separated anti-ship and anti-aircraft artillery, rendering her unnecesarily large.

The lack of investigation caused as well that the German armor did not surpass the American or British counterparts. Her conning tower, in theory protected against projectiles fired from battleships, was destroyed by a 203-millimeter projectile at the beginning of the last confrontation. Besides, too many German projectiles did not explode. Only one, which hit the Prince of Wales, actually exploded. Still, the design had positive traits. Fire control was excellent in general, specially regarding anti-aircraft artillery. She had been fitted as well with radar for navigation, localization and artillery. Besides, a notable operational range rendered the Bismarck as a fearsome long-range weapon. She was actually extremely difficult to sink, but this trait can lose importance given how easy was to put her out of action. She did not sink until the crew exploded the hull with specially disposed charges and the Dorsetshire launched torpedoes against her. On the other hand, the Tirpitz was very similar to the Bismarck, from which she differentiated mainly for having larger operational range and different cranes and mainmast. She resulted severely damaged by British midget submarines the 22nd September 1943 and never was adequately repaired. She survived to several attacks to finally being sunk near Tromso by the 5.6-ton bombs that fell over her.


The Bismarck as she was just before her last mission. She has installed the fire control system and artillery radar. The camouflage pattern was painted in the early 1941 and it was replaced in May of the same year by a totally grey scheme.





Prinz Eugen

Until 1935 the Versailles Treaty had limited the German warship construction, but that same year the Anglo-German Naval Treaty allowed Germany to build up to a 35 percent of the total tonnage of the British Navy, hence allowing to build up to five cruisers. Consequently were laid down the keels for the cruisers of the Admiral Hipper class. But since Germany was more interested in building powerful ships than in respecting the conditions of an international treaty, these ships considerably exceeded the limit of 10160 tonnes set. The initial projects had started already in 1934 parallely with the plans for the Bismarck class. They were specifically destined to counteract the French heavy cruisers and prevent the supplies by sea from North Africa to France.

In respect of the first ships, Admiral Hipper and Blucher, the Prinz Eugen had a slightly longer hull and she was completed with four anti-aircraft fire directors, crowned funnel and clipper bow. All the ships of the class had a bulging hull fitted with bow sonar and they were fitted as well with powerful torpedo armament. They were projected when the majority of countries had stopped the construction of cruisers armed with 203-millimeter cannons. In many regards they were superior to the earlier projects. Undoubtedly they were better than the first French cruisers from the Washington Treaty but they would have faced difficulties against the French Algerie class, smaller but better armored, and they were definitely inferior to the American Baltimore class, which carried heavier armament and thicker armor, as well as more aircraft. A poor characteristic of the project was the relatively short operational range, which along the unrealiable machinery supposed a great disadvantage in the utilization against the mercantile convoys, despite the extensive system of petrol deposits that the Germans built in the Atlantic. Apart from this, they were very well adapted to operate on their own with their powerful main battery and a very well controlled anti-aircraft armament.

After the signing of the Russo-German Pact in 1939 it was proposed to Russia to exchange the three last ships of the class (which were still incomplete) for raw materials. However only the Lutzow, which was the one farther from completion, was transferred. The Prinz Eugen was completed as she had been projected and it was proposed to reconvert the Seydlitz into an aircraft carrier. Germany had already launched the Graf Zeppelin of 23570 tonnes of standard displacement and laid the keel of her twin, but it had not been appreciated the vital importance of an integral air force in the sea, so the construction continued in an intermittent way. When the loss of the Bismarck made clear the importance of a maritime air force, were retaken the works in the Graf Zeppelin and the Seydlitz started her transformation. However, the Allies already had a too large superiority in the sea and none of them was completed. The Admiral Hipper took part in operations in Norway and in the Atlantic and she remained in the Baltic from 1944. In the last days of the war in Europe she was damaged during an air attack and subsequently sunk by her own crew, whereas the Blucher had been sunk in the fjord of Oslo by the Norwegian coastal artillery in so early date as April 1940. Neither the Lutzow nor the Seydlitz (whose hull was rescued by the Russians) were completed and both were later scrapped.


The Prinz Eugen as she was in 1941-1942 with stripped camouflage scheme, an Arado 196 aircraft and the extra anti-aircraft cannons installed in February 1942. Like the Bismarck, the Prinz Eugen had a swastika painted in the forecastle for the purpose of aerial reconnaissance.

Categories: Ships - World War Two - 20th Century - [General] - [General]

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Article submitted: 2015-10-21