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

The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis
The superstructure decks of the forward command tower aft of the heavily armored
forward conning tower are missing from the main hull. (The missing decks range from the Lower
Bridge Deck to the foretop, including the Admiral’s Bridge and the decks from the fore tower
mast.) The failure is believed to be the result of shell damage to the lower bridge deck and the
inability of the welded connection to resist the impact force of the capsizing and subsequent
rotation of the hull before and after the plunge. Seaman Statz recalled that a number of shells
struck the forward command tower above and below his position on the Upper Bridge Deck.
Welded connections could have been weakened by such shell damage.
This portion of the superstructure was found upside down a few meters west of the slide
scar, 350 meters north of the main hull. It appears to be complete and is at the lower terminus of
its own small slide scar, evidence of the main hull striking it during its slide downhill. The port
side windows of the Admiral’s bridge are without glass but otherwise intact. Some of the access
ladders were torn away or severely damaged during the final battle. Baron von Müllenheim-
Rechberg confirmed this, noting that several men were running around the forward command
tower looking for a route of escape during the time before capsizing 35 . It is believed that this
structure, like the main battery turrets, made a direct plunge to the bottom. The forward windows
appear to have been damaged by shell hits or fragments, as well as from the impact of this
structure with the seabed. The windows are heavily overgrown with rusticles 36 , suggesting fire
damage. The foretop main battery director cupola and rangefinders are missing. This was
probably shot away by one of Norfolk’s early 203-mm shell from King George V at its base
brought it down near the end of the engagement.
The funnel is missing. It was not found in the debris field, but could have been buried by the
avalanche that preceded the main hull in its slide down the seamount, or it may have
disintegrated in its plunge to the seabed. According to the senior surviving officer, Baron von
Mǖllenheim-Rechberg, the funnel was heavily holed by shell fire. The structure around the
attachment of the funnel to the main hull exhibits heavy shell damage. The funnel probably was
detached from the ship during the capsizing and subsequent rotations of the hull during its
plunge to the bottom.
All three aircraft hangars still exist, but the two forward ones were heavily damaged by
shellfire. The doors are missing from all three. Since the aft hangar doors were missing, it was
possible to examine that hangar’s interior. A large piece of one of the aft hangar doors was found
inside the forward starboard hangar, lying within a very large shell burst hole three meters in
diameter. This hole might have created by a shell hit from Rodney, whose fragments may have
penetrated to one of the starboard boiler rooms, as reported by one survivor. One Arado seaplane
was found in the center of the aft hangar. Only the front half remains, including the left wing and
float, the radial engine, and propeller. Parts of a second Arado were found in the port forward
hangar that was heavily damaged by shell hits. There was a spare propeller found still mounted
on the forward bulkhead.
35
Baron Burkard von Müllenheim-Rechberg. Page 256, Battleship Bismarck, A Survivor’s Story.
Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1980.
36
Rusticles are bacterial growths that will eventually recycle metal into the environment. They are
discussed later in this paper.
37