Description

The Bismarck weighed in at 42,343 tons and was just about the largest and most up-to-date battleship in the world, second only to the British battle cruiser the Hood. In May 1941, together with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen at the pack ice frontier of Greenland, the Bismarck sank the Hood with a direct hit by the 5th salvo from her 380mm guns.  The battle left the Bismarck damaged in the bow and she made for a French harbor. In the subsequent pursuit by British ships and aircraft, a torpedo hit the rudder and the superior numbers of the Home Fleet closed in firing.  She was disabled and sunk in the Atlantic about 800km off the French coast. Of the 2092 men on board, 115 survived. With a length of 251 meters the top of the mast stood 52 meters above the surface of the sea and she was protected by a total of 17,450 tons of steel armor plating. The newly designed heavy artillery fired 800 kg projectiles up to a range of 34.2 km and was capable of penetrating 350mm armor at 21km.