Bismarck battleship: the collapse of the giant

The battleship "Bismarck" was produced in 1939 in Hamburg. Reservation of the main belt of the ship was 320 mm. In 1940, the vessel was tested. It became the strongest and most powerful in the Reich. Some experts believe that among battleships at that time the most formidable was the Bismarck battleship. Photos captured a large and powerful ship (even by today's standards). At the end of spring 1941, the battleship went on its first trip to the North Atlantic. The aim was to sink merchant ships in order to partially block the sea trade routes between Britain and the United States.

Soon, a British reconnaissance aircraft discovered a Bismarck battleship in a roadstead in a Norwegian port. The British Admiralty equipped a squadron of combat ships against the German battleship. The next day, the British battle cruisers Prince of Wales and Hood met the battleship Bismarck, along with another powerful German ship - the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen and the escort of escort between Greenland and Iceland. "Hood" gave several volleys on the "Prince Eugen", and "Prince of Wales" fired on the "Bismarck", but the British lacked accuracy. The answer of the German courts did not take long. The result was a sunk cruiser "Hood" and heavily damaged "Prince of Wales", who miraculously managed to leave. The battleship Bismarck also suffered significant damage. The ship's speed dropped to 28 knots, a lot of fuel was lost, which subsequently played him a bad service.

The British authorities reacted to the loss of their ship very painfully. This was regarded as the defeat of the whole Empire. And Churchill generally went into a rage and sent two aircraft carriers and four battle cruisers with escort ships to drown the Bismarck. Battleship should not have left, because then Germany would begin to blow the whole world about the weakness of Britain. Soon it was discovered and attacked by torpedo planes. The damage was small. However, the British Union learned the enemy's course - the battleship Bismarck was going to Brest. However, he managed to tear himself away and hide from the English connection. But soon one of the planes discovered a fuel-oil trail, which left the battleship because of damage and leakage. The aircraft carrier Ark-Royal carried out a successful torpedo attack, by means of which it was possible to jam the helm of the German ship in one position, which deprived him of the ability to maneuver.

On the morning of May 27, British ships overtook and attacked the Bismarck battleship. Within a short time the ship received so many hits that the crew was given the order to leave it. The swift destruction of the most powerful German battleship shocked Hitler. His plan of war against British maritime trade completely failed. The flooding of Bismarck announced a qualitative revolution in the navy. Since then, the battleships have never been to sea by such formidable force as they were before. Of unsurpassed predators, ships of this class have become victims of submarines and aircraft. Leading positions on the sea became increasingly occupied by aircraft carriers.