During a rainy day early in June 1940, Lieutenant Burkard von Müllenheim-Rechberg arrived at Hamburg to begin his duty on the battleship Bismarck. The German armed forces had achieved triumph after triumph and the German army was about to complete its greatest victory since the beginning of the war. France had lost her army and the British had already evacuated their expeditionary force from Dunkirk. Despite this, in a speech on national radio, Winston Churchill declared: ‘We shall never surrender.’ However, at the time, there was little to suggest that the Allies would emerge victorious in the war.
Müllenheim-Rechberg arrived one day ahead of the time appointed and decided to stay at a hotel. Thirty years old, and with a long family tradition of serving in the armed forces, he had served 11 years with the German Navy. His father had been killed in action during World War I, at the Argonne in France. His younger brother, a Luftwaffe officer, died in Poland on the second day of the war. Müllenheim-Rechberg was a gunner and had served on the Scharnhorst when she sank the Rawalpindi. He was to serve on the Bismarck as fourth artillery officer.
After his breakfast, Müllenheim-Rechberg went to the harbour, where he saw the battleship Bismarck for the first time. Not even the army of workers swarming the deck and the superstructures, or the tools, machinery, cables and welding equipment which concealed substantial parts of the ship, could diminish the impression of an enormously powerful ship. The silhouette strongly resembled that of the Scharnhorst, but everything was larger, longer and much wider. The main artillery was the most powerful ever carried by a German battleship and she was cluttered up with lighter guns and anti-aircraft weapons. From a distance, Müllenheim-Rechberg contemplated his new home for a few minutes, before going on board and asking for the captain’s cabin. He could not avoid feeling somewhat nervous when he met the man who commanded the battleship that was soon to be the most powerful in service.
‘Lieutenant Müllenheim-Rechberg reporting aboard for duty, as ordered.’
Captain Ernst Lindemann was 16 years older than Müllenheim-Rechberg, delicately built, but with strong willpower. He was an ambitious man, but he never let his ambitions affect those around him. The crews that served under Lindemann respected him as a selfless and skilled leader. Such impressions filled Müllenheim-Rechberg already during the first seconds, when Lindemann inspected the young officer without letting his bright blue eyes turn away. The commander of the Bismarck smiled and said: ‘Welcome on board.’
Lindemann quickly made Müllenheim-Rechberg acquainted with his duties on board the ship. ‘I regard it as my objective,’ the captain said, ‘to make this powerful and beautiful ship ready for action as soon as possible. I expect your complete participation.’
Müllenheim-Rechberg answered that he intended to do his duty to the best of his ability.
‘As you already know,’ continued Lindemann, who like Müllenheim-Rechberg was a gunner, ‘as you are trained to direct fire from heavy guns, your battle station will be in the aft fire control centre. But as it will not be sufficient to keep you fully occupied until the ship is commissioned, I have decided to make you my aide.’
Müllenheim-Rechberg was pleasantly surprised by the appointment. It would make his work much more interesting.
‘Oh, yes, there was one more thing,’ Lindemann added after completing his instructions. ‘In the future, I would prefer to hear people talk about Bismarck in the masculine form. A ship as powerful as this can only be a he, not a she.’
Language puritans may shudder at this breach of the traditional naval language, but undoubtedly the Bismarck was a very powerful ship. Yet, the battleship era was not old when World War II broke out. As late as the time of the American Civil War (1860–1865), wooden ships fought alongside early metal vessels. Subsequently, naval technology developed at an accelerated pace, but the British Dreadnought was the first really modern battleship. She carried a uniform armament and was commissioned in 1905. Most other heavy ships became obsolete, although the Royal Navy was not alone in the development of similar ships. During World War I, further advances in naval technology led to bigger and more powerful ships. Even more impressive designs existed when the war ended in 1918, but the ensuing peace and the Washington conference brought production of battleships to a standstill. It was not until the 1930s, when war began to seem possible, that governments began to increase spending on naval ship construction. As a consequence, many navies had two generations of battleships in World War II.
After World War I, the German situation differed markedly from the British. Germany had been deprived of all her heavy ships by the Treaty of Versailles, and had to rebuild the Navy from scratch after Hitler’s seizure of power. Therefore, unlike the Royal Navy, the Kriegsmarine mainly consisted of modern vessels when war broke out in 1939. Still, the German Navy had only relatively few ships, and still lacked carriers and battleships with powerful armament. Matters seemed to be improving though. Construction of the Bismarck and her sister ship the Tirpitz had proceeded well. These two ships, much anticipated by the German Navy, had been laid down in 1936.
According to international treaties, battleships were not allowed to exceed 35,000 tons. When the Bismarck and Tirpitz were designed, the limit was neglected from the very beginning, but the Germans were by no means alone in doing that. The Bismarck had a design displacement of 41,700 tons (over 50,000 fully loaded). The British battleships of the King George V class also exceeded 35,000 tons, but not by as much as the Bismarck and Tirpitz did. Battleships constructed in the United States, Italy and France at the time also also exceeded treaty commitments.
The two German battleships were bigger than their contemporary rivals in the Royal Navy and all the extra weight was devoted to armour protection. Altogether, armour made up 41% of the weight.8 In the King George V class, armour protection made up 32% of the weight.9 Of course the protection of a battleship also depends on the layout and the quality of the armour steel, but the percentages indicates how highly protection was prioritized when the Bismarck was designed.
Such immense ships involved an expenditure of vast amounts of money. Overall cost for the Bismarck was almost 200 million Reichsmark, an enormous sum in those days. To put it into perspective, the same amount of money could have bought the Germans almost 1,700 main battle tanks, or a similar number of fighter planes. Another impressive figure is the number of working hours needed to build the ship. It was estimated that the shipyard spent almost six million working hours on the project, and further time was of course spent at the subcontractors.10
Even a major power like Germany had relatively few companies that could undertake a project of these dimensions. The contract for the Bismarck was given to Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, while the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven was assigned the project to build the Tirpitz. On 1 July, 1936, the Bismarck was laid down, followed four months later by the Tirpitz. For almost three years, the two ships lay on their slipways, while they gradually assumed the shape designed. The Germans wanted to build more battleships, ships even larger than the Bismarck class. However, as long as the Bismarck and Tirpitz were on the slipway, these projects had to wait.
On 14 February, 1939 many of the leading figures in the Nazi machinery of power arrived at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, among them Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Martin Bormann. The commander-inchief of the German Navy, Grand Admiral Raeder, attended as well. The time had come to launch and christen the battleship. The latter honour was given to Dorothea von Loewenfeld, grandchild of the ‘Iron Chancellor,’ Otto von Bismarck. Before a crowd numbering several thousand, Hitler delivered a speech where he urged the crew of the battleship to show the same resolve and spirit as Chancellor Bismarck had exhibited.11
Immediately afterwards, the Bismarck began to slide down majestically into the Elbe River, but much work remained to be done on her before she could be taken over by the Kriegsmarine. In fact, another year and a half remained before the Navy could begin testing the brand new ship.
Besides the cost, the long construction time indicates the enormity of the project. Almost five years passed from the day work on the Bismarck was begun, until the Kriegsmarine had a combat-ready ship with a fully trained crew. In addition, the construction of the ship had been preceded by years of discussions, studies, drafts, sketches and plans before the final design was approved.
A battleship was like a small community. The crew on board the ship numbered about 2,000 men and they needed enough room to endure weeks or months at sea. They had to take care of their hygiene, so facilities such as numerous showers had to be included on the ship. Also, they needed some amusement. On the Bismarck there was a pub where beer could be served. The battleship had its own bakery and a laundry. Dirty clothes amounting to several hundred kilograms could be cleaned in a single day. Doctors were needed too, and there were operating theatres where surgery could be performed. Similarly a dentist served on the ship, fully equipped to attend the dental problems suffered by the seamen. A tailor’s workshop repaired and modified clothes, a necessity on a journey extending over several months. Specialists like tailors, bakers and launderers had further duties during battle, such as assisting the medical orderlies.
To all of this was of course added everything that had to do with the firepower and survivability of the ship. Bismarck had eight 38cm guns in four twin turrets. Each gun barrel was almost 20m long and weighed over 100 tons, while a complete turret, with all its armour, weighed over 1,000 tons. The turrets revolved on a bearing ring, but they were not actually fixed. Rather they had just been lifted into place on the barbettes. Once in place their considerable weight would keep them there.
In future actions, it was vital to enter combat from an advantageous position, which required good intelligence. Radar had been fitted to some British and German warships (although, oddly, both sides seem to have doubted that their opponents had radar) but was yet not in widespread use. Radar technology was at an early stage of its development, which meant that its performance could vary greatly from ship to ship. Many of the early systems were fragile and it was necessary to have skilled technicians on board, who could quickly repair any damage.
Another important source of information was hydrophones, which were used to listen for noise, for example from propellers. Skilled operators were needed to extract as much valuable information as possible from the hydrophones.
Many other positions required specialised skills. The machinery fitted to the Bismarck was of an advanced type, constructed to generate 138,000 horsepower, but during trials it exceeded the intended output. Figures ranging from 150,000 to 163,000 horsepower can be found in different sources.12 Whatever the final number, it was sufficient to propel the Bismarck at speeds exceeding 30 knots, surpassing the designer’s calculations. Machinery of this kind required considerable expertise on behalf of the men who operated it. As the machines were specifically designed for the Bismarck and Tirpitz, familiarity with them was needed. At sea the engineers and technicians were responsible for the ship’s ability to move at high speed, which was vital to its ability to survive. The knowledge needed to locate any defects or damage that might occur at sea, and repair or confine them, was indispensable.
A battleship also had various teams responsible for damage control. Most important was to fight, prevent and extinguish fires and to keep the hull reasonably watertight. Despite the metal construction, fire was a major hazard. There were many flammable substances on a ship, for example electrical components, fabric, wood, paper and various fluids. Furthermore, the Bismarck carried about 1,000 tons of ammunition and about 8,000 tons of fuel oil at full load. Consequently, there was serious danger of fire, especially as the ships were intended for battle. Ammunition for the heavy guns was stowed in armoured compartments and hoisted to the guns mechanically, as the rounds were far too heavy to be manhandled. The ships had many anti-aircraft guns, and due to their very high rate of fire, some ammunition had to be kept near the respective guns. Even hits from lighter weapons could cause fires near the anti-aircraft guns.
Despite her 18,000 tons of armour, plus the armour on the gun turrets, the Bismarck could not be entirely protected.13 First and foremost, the armour was concentrated around the most vital components, such as machinery and ammunition compartments. Thus in common with other vessels in all navies, large areas of the ship lacked armour protection.
It was assumed that combat might well result in water entering the hull. To a significant degree it was the task of the damage control teams to handle such situations. As soon as leaks occurred, the damage control parties attempted to seal them, work that might be difficult as well as dangerous. To cope with inflow of water, large sections of the ship could purposely be filled with water to restore trim. If water entered the starboard side, pumps could fill compartments on the port side with water. In the same manner, water could be pumped into the aft, if a leak had occurred in the bow. The pumping systems were elaborate and were sufficient to keep minor leaks in check.
If the sea was reasonably calm, the bow could be filled with water to such an extent that the propellers came up above the waterline, allowing repairs to propellers or rudders. A ship as large as the Bismarck could take in thousands of tons of water, without being seriously affected, partly because she was divided into 22 watertight sections, which were further subdivided. It seemed that nothing relating to her survivability had been left to chance.
Enemy shells were not the only threat to the battleships. Torpedoes from surface vessels, submarines or aircraft were another serious threat. During the interwar period, aerial bombs had been emphasized as a major threat against heavy warships. The infamous American Air Force officer Billy Mitchell had arranged a trial where bombs from aircraft sank one of the German battleships handed over to the victors after World War I. During World War II however, it would become apparent that it was difficult to hit ships with heavy bombs while they moved at sea. Dive bombers were more accurate, but they could not carry the heavy bombs needed to cause serious damage to modern battleships.14 Torpedoes were a different matter, though. They could be launched by smaller aircraft, including those operating from carriers. As the torpedo detonated beneath the waterline, it could cause serious damage. The large underwater surface of a battleship precluded all ideas to use armour for torpedo protection. Rather, the underwater protection system was designed to bring the torpedo to detonate as far as possible from the vital parts of the ship. Also, the careful subdivision into watertight compartments was an important element in a ship’s ability to absorb torpedo hits. A wide beam created opportunities for an effective underwater protection and the Bismarck had an unusually wide beam of 36 metres, which was four metres wider than the largest British battleships.15
The Bismarck had other advantages over her British counterparts. Her protection was better, and her speed slightly superior to the British battleships, although the actual speed a ship was able to attain could vary with the amount of fuel on board. Another important advantage was her superior radius of action, especially at speeds exceeding 25 knots, when she could cover twice the distance before having to re-fuel, a most important characteristic during operations in the Atlantic.
The main artillery of the Bismarck was eight 38cm guns mounted in two twin turrets fore and two aft, as had been employed many times before, by British battleships as well as German ones. Most British capital ships launched before 1920 and still in service at the outbreak of World War II carried exactly this armament, for example, the battlecruiser Hood. The Bismarck’s guns were more modern though, with greater range, a higher rate of fire and her shells could penetrate thicker armour.
Evidently the Bismarck had several advantages compared to the ships she was likely to confront and expectations of her performance were high. However, success in naval battles did not depend on the performance of the ships alone. The crews had to be well trained and the commanders had to possess the necessary experience. Most of the seamen serving on the Bismarck were about 21 years old, all of them had volunteered. First they were given basic military training and education for the specific positions to which they had been assigned, which was conducted while Blohm & Voss completed the Bismarck. Some of the crew also assisted at the shipyard, in particular those who were responsible for various technical systems. For example, many of those who were eventually to serve in the machinery assisted when turbines, high-pressure steam pipes and fire extinguishing systems were fitted to the battleship. Similarly some of the gunners attended the mounting of guns. Also, some crewmen were sent away to subcontractors, to gain knowledge about generators and other electrical components.16
By the summer of 1940, the Bismarck was almost complete. On 24 August she was officially taken over by the Kriegsmarine. It was a cloudy day. Cold easterly winds swept over Hamburg and created small waves with white crests on the River Elbe. The crew of the Bismarck had assembled on deck, from the forecastle to the quarterdeck, while Lindemann addressed his men. Müllenheim-Rechberg was present, as was Commander Hans Oels, the second-in-command, the Lieutenant Commanders Adalbert Schneider and Helmut Albrecht, 1st and 2nd artillery officers respectively, Lieutenant Commander Wolf Neumann, the navigation officer, and Lieutenant Commander Walter Lehmann, the Chief Engineer.
When Müllenheim-Rechberg began his service on board the Bismarck almost two months earlier, it had seemed likely that the war would end soon and the guns of the battleship would not have to be fired in anger. But German hopes for a peace with Great Britain gradually faded as the summer months passed. Early in July, the Royal Navy attacked and sank part of the French Navy at Oran, a clear demonstration of British resolve. Shortly afterwards, the Luftwaffe, commanded by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, intensified attacks on England, but the Royal Air Force offered harder resistance than expected. When Lindemann addressed his officers and seamen, there was no doubt that he expected his ships to be committed to combat.
‘Soldiers on the Bismarck,’ he began. ‘The awaited day when our beautiful, great ship is commissioned has arrived.’ He expressed his thanks to the Blohm & Voss shipyard for its extensive effort to deliver the ship and added that he expected every man to do his utmost to make the Bismarck an instrument of war. The German nation was in a momentous period requiring a military solution.
‘Politics is not created by speeches, shooting displays or songs,’ he said and quoted the man whose name the battleship carried. ‘It is only created by blood and iron.’ The German Navy colours were hoisted. The Bismarck was now officially a warship.17