The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis 1 The ...

The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis
INTRODUCTION
This report is the distillation of decades of research into the design, characteristics, and
operation of Germany’s most famous battleship, augmented by interviews and correspondence
with Bismarck survivors and the dramatic results of a survey of the Bismarck wreck completed
by James Cameron in May 2002. This has permitted the authors to accomplish this thorough
marine forensics analysis of Bismarck.
Bismarck was the first battleship delivered to the German Navy in over 24 years.
Restrained by the Versailles Treaty from building such ships, the Anglo-German Naval Treaty of
June 1935 allowed the Germans to build to battleships with a standard displacement of 35,000
tons 1 . The Bismarck and Tirpitz were much larger than this limiting displacement because the
German Navy was unwilling to use triple or quadruple turrets for their main armament 2 .
Although Bismarck and Tirpitz have a similar arrangement to the Baden/Bayern design of World
War I, the details of their armor, armament, and propulsion plants were very different. The actual
displacement of these ships was kept secret.
The keel for “Battleship F” was laid on 1 July 1936 at the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in
Hamburg. The battleship was launched on 14 February 1939. Bismarck was commissioned on
24 August 1940. Table 1 highlights the characteristics of this powerful, well-protected ship.
Table 1
Characteristics of Bismarck
Full Load Displacement 49,406 tonnes
Maximum Displacement 50,405 tonnes
Waterline Length 241.55 meters
Waterline Beam 36.00 meters
Draft (design) 9.30 meters
Armament Eight 380mm in Twin Turrets
Twelve 150mm in Twin Turrets
Sixteen 105mm in Twin Mounts
Sixteen 37mm Semi-Automatic Guns in Twin Mounts
Twelve 20mm Single Machine Guns
Four Arado-196 Floatplanes
Shaft Horsepower 138,000 mhp
Speed 30.12 Knots
Endurance 9,500 miles at 19 Knots
Fuel 8,294 tonnes
Protection 320mm – Main Side Belt
95mm – Deck (Magazines)
80mm – Deck (Machinery)
1 The Washington Naval Treaty, signed in 1922, defined standard displacement as “… the displacement
of the vessel complete, fully manned, equipped, and ready for sea, including ammunition, provisions,
fresh water for her crew, and miscellaneous stores and implements of every description to be carried in
war, but not including fuel or reserve feed water.” Standard displacement was measured in long tons,
2,240 pounds. Metric tons (tonnes) are defined as 1,000 kilograms (2,204 pounds).
2 By the mid-1930s, naval design staffs struggled with the displacement limitations imposed by a series
of naval disarmament treaties. For all practical purposes, all treaty displacement limitations expired on 31
December 1936. Most battleships that were completed during the World War II era exceeded Treaty
constraints.
2