BISMARCK BATTLE - FIRST DIORAMA SET

HMS King George V was a British battleship, the keel of which was laid in 1937, launched in February 1939, and commissioned in the British Royal Navy in December 1940. The total length of the ship was 227.2 m, width 31.4 m, and her displacement was 42,900 tons. The maximum speed of the battleship King George V was around 28 knots. The main armament at the time of the launch was 10 356 mm guns in two turrets with four guns and one twin turret. The secondary armament consists of 16 133 mm guns and 64 double 40 mm anti-aircraft guns. HMS King George V was the first of the five battleships of the type with the same name - i.e. King George V. Battleships of this type were the first, after 1918, in which British designers did not have to pay attention to disarmament routes, especially the London route from 1930 year. They were also built for planned clashes with Italian battleships in the Mediterranean, German battleships in the North Sea and - especially - Japanese battleships in the Far East. As a result, ships with strong artillery armament, especially medium artillery, and above all with powerful armor, were created. The battleship HMS King George V was built at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard in Newcastle. From March 1941, he served in the Home Fleet, and in May of that year - along with the twin Prince of Wales - he was sent to fight the German battleship Bismarck, contributing to its sinking. From December 1941 to early 1943, he served in the North Atlantic, covering convoys heading for Arkhangelsk and Murmansk in the USSR. In May 1943 he joined the British Mediterranean Fleet and in July he covered the invasion of Sicily. From October 1944, he served in the Pacific, fighting with the Japanese fleet in the waters of Southeast Asia. HMS King George V was also selected to attend the Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. In 1946 he was transferred to the reserve, and in 1957 he was definitely withdrawn from service.Bismarck was a German battleship, the keel of which was laid in 1936 and launched in February 1939. The battleship entered the rope service in the German Navy (German Kriegsmarine) in August 1940. The ship was 251 meters long, 36 meters wide, and had a full displacement of 53,000 tons. Bismarck's top speed was around 29-30 knots. The main armament was 8 380 mm guns in four twin turrets, and the secondary armament included: 12 150 mm guns or 16 105 mm guns. The Bismarck was the first ship of the type with the same name - the Bismarck. It was ordered to replace in line the old battleship Hannover, completely obsolete in the 1930s. At the time of launch, Bismarck was the largest German ship and the largest European battleship. It had good armor, and its main or secondary armament was inferior to its counterparts on British ships. He made his maiden voyage in September 1940, when he was ferry to Gdynia, which was to be his home port. Bismarck's combat trail during World War II was very short. Bismarck set out on its first combat voyage on May 19, 1941 - it was supposed to perform cruising operations in the Atlantic and attack primarily Allied convoys. In carrying out this plan, Bismarck, with the accompanying heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, was already crossing the Danish Strait a few days later. On May 24, a battle took place in this strait between the German team and British ships, as a result of which the battlecruiser HMS Hood was sunk and Bismarck itself was badly damaged. After this battle, significant Royal Navy forces - including the Polish destroyer ORP Piorun - were directed against Bismarck, which the German ship tracked down and sent to the bottom on May 27, 1941. It is worth noting that there is a probable hypothesis assuming that the battleship Bismarck was self-sunk by the crew in connection with the damage sustained in combat on May 27, which made it impossible to return to the base on its own.