The Bismark....but not the one you expect

[sharlin648]

History

 

The Furst Bismarck was the first Armoured Cruiser laid down for the slowly growing German Navy just before the close of the 1800's.  The previous ships had been protected cruisers and the Furst Bismarck, named after the statesman Otto Von Bismark was a significant step forwards in design and capability.

 

Design

 

An evolution of the previous designs the Bismarck was a cruiser version of the brand new Kaiser Friedrich III Battleships, mirroring them in armament, design and looks but being a cruiser, traded protection for a modest increase in speed and range.  The Bismarck was a big ship, weighing in at nearly 11,500 tonnes fully loaded.  Designed to protect Germany's overseas colonies the Bismarck was designed with long range in mind and was armed to deal with any opponent of her caliber, other Armoured Cruisers and commerce raiders.

 

http://www.cityofart...marck_hgraf.jpg

The Furst Bismarck in profile, a large and impressive looking ship for sure.

 

Her vitals are as follows:

 

Displacement:10,690t normal

  11,461t full load

Length: 127 m (417 ft)

Beam:   20.4 m (67 ft)

Draft: 7.8 m (26 ft)

 

Armament

 

The Furst Bismarck was a well armed ship, and due to the nature of her guns and the time was probably equal to a battleship is many regards.  Armed with 4 x 9.4 inch guns in dual turrets fore and aft as well as 12 x 5.9 inch guns spread evenly between port and starboard she compared favourably with the Kaiser's Friedrich class who's main difference was having 18 x 5.9 inch guns.  Her tertiary armament consisted of 10 x 88mm guns as well as carrying  six submerged torpedo tubes, two port, two starboard one in her bow the other firing over her stern.

A dual 9.4 mount. Some of these guns saw service in the Atlantic Wall and one battery damaged the USS Texas during Operation Overlord.

 

 

Armour

 

Here the Bismarck also resembles a battleship, her designers used the very new Krupp's steel, a type of hardened steel that was more effective and resiliant than previous types of armour.  Internationally adopted the Krupps hardening process meant that armour could be lighter and thinner whilst still providing more protection.  Still the Furst Bismarck was not skimping on protection where it mattered. Her waterline was protected by a rather short belt a maximum of 7.9 inches thick.  Her main gun turrets faces were also 7.9 inches thick whilst her armoured deck was between 1.5 and 2 inches thick.  Her bridge was shielded by another 7.9 inches of armour whilst her secondary guns were protected by 4 inches of armour.  But as impressive as this was, large portions of the Furst Bismarck's hull were without armour and in a battle this could have made her vulnerable to high explosive shells wrecking the unarmoured sections of the ship and starting fires.

 

http://www.cityofart...smarck_plan.gif

The armour scheme of the Furst Bismarck.  Note the large areas not protected by armour (the white areas of the hull).

 

Engineering

 

The Furst Bismarck was capable of 18.7 knots and is reported to have hit 19 knots when she forced her engines, this was a full knot faster than the battleship she was based on but slower than other nations cruisers, especially the speedy French vessels who were viewed as being the main threat.  Her engines produced 13,500 HP and delivered that power into three propellers.

 

Service and fate

 

When she was commissioned the Bismarck immediately sailed for the distant Asian port of Tsingtao to form the core of the German East Asian Squadron where she patrolled the region, showing the flag and making a fine show of herself.  Her crew helped suppress the Chinese Boxer Rebellion in 1900 before returning to their ship and their patrols along around the Pacific.  She won gunnery medals in 1903 and 1903 but was starting to get long in the tooth and was replaced by the brand new Armoured Cruiser Scharnhorst in 1909, returning home for a lengthy refit that finished in 1914.  She saw no action in the First World War and the Bismarck became an engineers training ship before finally being scrapped in 1920.

 

The Furst Bismarck in the colours of the Far East Squadron, white hulls with buff upperworks.

.

[JeeWeeJ]

Ok, i can't take it no more! I have to do some correcting here: it's Bismar​c​k, with ck, not Bismark, that's the name of various towns across the globe and a kind of German pastry...not the German chancellor and various ships. A lot of people seem to make this mistake, and it hurts my Bismarck loving eyes.. :Smile_sad:

 

Otherwise, awesome post! (+1!) I love these old ships. Also love the look of her cleaver bow, looks more menacing somehow.

[sharlin648]

Fixed :) Glad ye approve!

[Jager_Panther1]

JeeWeeJ, on 29 December 2012 - 04:24 PM, said:

Ok, i can't take it no more! I have to do some correcting here: it's Bismar​c​k, with ck, not Bismark, that's the name of various towns across the globe and a kind of German pastry...not the German chancellor and various ships. A lot of people seem to make this mistake, and it hurts my Bismarck loving eyes.. :Smile_sad:

Otherwise, awesome post! (+1!) I love these old ships. Also love the look of her cleaver bow, looks more menacing somehow.

grammar nazi  :Smile_trollface:

[Big15513]

JeeWeeJ, on 29 December 2012 - 04:24 PM, said:

Ok, i can't take it no more! I have to do some correcting here: it's Bismar​c​k, with ck, not Bismark, that's the name of various towns across the globe and a kind of German pastry...not the German chancellor and various ships. A lot of people seem to make this mistake, and it hurts my Bismarck loving eyes.. :Smile_sad:

Otherwise, awesome post! (+1!) I love these old ships. Also love the look of her cleaver bow, looks more menacing somehow.

I agree! :Smile_bajan2:

[BigWaveSurfer]

don't mind this old Armoured Cruiser. shame the British built BC's to deal with them.

nice to see an old ship out of my 'Jane's fighting ships of world war I' book and Jane's even spells it right  :Smile_teethhappy:

http://www.cityofart...smarck_plan.gif

this is the same drawing as in my Jane's book

[Wunderwaffen1945]

I'll say it again....AWESOME

[IotaOmicron]

Jager_Panther1, on 29 December 2012 - 06:22 PM, said:

grammar nazi  :Smile_trollface:

omg u said N@Z1!!!!!  :Smile_izmena: ban ban

jk lol i agree +1

P.S. props to JeeWeeJ...i didnt know that about the Bismarck...never noticed

[sgtpepper500]

interesting read( =1). The evolution of armored ships fascinates me.

[Gigaton]

sgtpepper500, on 30 December 2012 - 03:52 AM, said:

interesting read( =1). The evolution of armored ships fascinates me.

In that case, you should pick up a copy (they come cheap these days) of Brown's Warrior to Dreadnought if you haven't done so already.

[ReiAyanami]

Furst Bismarck is a true beauty. Hehe you also found my shipbucket drawing of her!   :Smile_hiding:

[Haguro]

The following info. from German Warships 1815-1945 by Erich Groner.,

Ships Handling characteristics:

Very good sea boat, with slight lee helm: suffered from slight pitch, but serious roll, through the motion was even; very responsive to the helm.  Suffered from severe vibration at high speed (problem, it seems, experienced by most ships equipped with triple expansion engines).

http://img10.hosting...st_Bismarck.jpg

It is also interesting to note that during WWI the traverse of the main guns was reduced considerably to avoid damage to the superstructure. :Smile_ohmy:

http://www.german-na...rstbismarck.gif

[Capcon]

Thanks for this one. I used an old postcard image of this ship as wallpaper on a mini-laptop for quite a while. +1

 

Note how narrow the armor belt is on this ship. It barely covers a single deck height. At deep load it must have been completely submerged.

 

Nice high and dry bow though. And with scroll work too.