BISMARCK AND TIRPITZ TWINSET

Tirpitz was a German battleship, the keel of which was laid in 1936 and launched in April 1939. The battleship entered the rope service in the German Navy (German Kriegsmarine) in February 1941. The ship was 254 meters long, 36 meters wide, and had a full displacement of 53,500 tons. Tirpitz's top speed was around 30-31 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 Tirpitz was the second Bismarck-class ship. It was ordered to replace in line the old battleship Schleswig-Holstein, completely obsolete in the 1930s - the same one whose volleys on Westerplatte started World War II in Europe. At the time of launching, Tirpitz was the largest German ship. It had good armor, and its main or secondary armament was in no way inferior to its counterparts on British ships. Shortly after entering service - in June and July 1941 - he insured the activities of the German troops as part of Operation Barbarossa, but no more serious actions against the Soviet fleet took place at that time. Following these actions, Tirpitz was forwarded to the base in Trondheim, Norway at the turn of 1941 and 1942, from where he began to operate against Allied convoys sailing with Lend-and-lease to Murmansk via the North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea. In July 1942, the mere departure from the port of the battleship Tirpitz led to the dispersion of the PQ-17 convoy, which was then decimated by German planes and U-boats. Undoubtedly, Tirpitz's presence in the northern waters was a great nuisance for the Royal Navy, and it involved 5-7 British battleships! It is no coincidence that the German ship was nicknamed "Lonely Lord of the North". Accordingly, in 1943-1944 the British undertook several actions with miniature submarines, which led to damage to the ship. However, Tirpitz was not sunk until November 12, 1944, as a result of a raid by heavy Lancaster-class bombers.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.