| Kriegsmarine battleship Bismarck sliding down the launching ways at the Blohm und Voss shipyard. Bismarck was Germany’s 1st “real” post-World War I battleship, with guns and protection of similar scale to those of the best foreign combat ships. Built to a relatively conservative design, she featured a main battery of 8 380 millimeter (15-inch) guns in 4 twin turrets, 2 forward and 2 aft. Her secondary battery of 12 150 millimeter (5.9-inch) guns, mounted 6 on each side in twin turrets, was optimized for use against enemy surface ships, especially destroyers. Her anti-aircraft battery, including 16 105 millimeter (4.1-inch) guns in 8 twin mounts and several 37 millimeter and 20 millimeter machine guns, reflected the prevailing pre-World War II underestimation of the threat from the air, a failing common to all the World’s navies. The 2 ships of this class, Bismarck and her “sister” Tirpitz, were quite fast, at just over 30 knots maximum speed. Their steam turbine powerplants, producing some 150,000 horsepower, consumed a great deal of fuel oil, limiting their oceanic “reach”” to a degree that was especially critical to a nation with Germany’s geography. Future German battleship designs, which World War II aborted, featured diesel engines, intended to produce far greater endurance on the high seas. Bismarck was very heavily protected against the gunfire of other battleships. With a standard displacement of well over 41,000 tons (about 50,000 tons fully loaded), she was also quite a bit larger than her European and American contemporaries. As shown by the photographs below, originally collected by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Intelligence, this ship’s construction greatly interested foreign navies. Built at the Blohm und Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Bismarck’s keel was laid at the beginning of July 1936. She was launched with considerable ceremony, including the attendance of Adolf Hitler, on 14 February 1939. Her outfitting, which included the addition of a new “clipper” bow (which the Germans called an “Atlantic” bow), lasted nearly 2 years. She was commissioned in August 1940, ran trials during the following months, and was not fully ready for service until late in 1940. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1736.jpg |
| Image Size | 457.16 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2187 x 1501 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Kriegsmarine |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | February 14, 1939 |
| Location | |
| City | Hamburg |
| State or Province | Hamburg |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | NH 75644 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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