Battleship Bismarck with camouflage

A high end card model of the german Battleship Bismarck with camouflage in the HMV expert series.

After two and a half years of construction on February 14th, 1939 the biggest German battle ship of the time was launched at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg. Only her sister ship Tirpitz would be slightly bigger. Bismarck was commissioned August 24th 1940.

Bismarck was a further development based on the Baden/Bayern class. Regarding hull design, armor and their 38 cm gun turrets, Bismarck and Tirpitz represented the top of the line in ship and weapons technology. After trial runs the ship was ready for duty in spring 1941. Bismarck left Hamburg March 9th, 1941 headed for Gotenhafen. Lead by Admiral Lütjens Bismarck together with heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and a group of submarines and auxiliary vessels left Gotenhafen. The order was to attack British supply channels and intercept commercial vessels with a minimum of engagement.

On May 23rd the convoy was seen by the British cruiser Suffolk and the chase began. The next morning the British battle ship Hood was hit by a fatal strike from Bismarck and sank within minutes. Only three crew members survived. The damaged Bismarck continued her course. Swordfish planes from aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal intercepted Bismarck on May 26th and they managed to hit the Bismarck’s steering gear. The very next morning after a battle lasting for hours with the battle ships HMS Rodney and HMS King George V as well as the cruisers HMS Norfolk and HMS Dorsetshire the German battleship Bismarck sank. Only 115 crew members survived.

In May 2002 James Cameron led an expedition to the wreck of Bismarck. The pictures seem to confirm the statements of the survivors that the Bismarck was sank by her crew.

Our model shows Bismarck on May 5th, 1941.