On Valentine's Day, February 14, 1939, all of Germany followed the news from Hamburg with excitement. In the presence of Adolf Hitler, the most powerful warship of the time was launched, named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who united Germany with iron and blood. The symbolic bottle of champagne was smashed against the side of the battleship by the granddaughter of the "iron" chancellor, Dorothea von Levenfeld. This battleship embodies all the technological achievements of Germany, which, combined with high morale and high-quality crew training, made her the best warship of this class in the world.
The armor of the battleship's main belt was 320 mm, the upper belt - 145 mm, the bow and stern - 80 mm, the main caliber turret - from 180 to 360 mm, the conning tower - 350 mm. Its total displacement was 52,600 tons, four well-armored two-gun turrets were built on the decks, where eight 381-mm main battery guns were located. The total weight of the battleship's armor was 16,000 tons, but steam turbines with a capacity of 170,000 horsepower provided her with the highest speed of 30.9 knots at that time.
In May 1940, Bismarck successfully completed tests and firing practice. After that, in August 1940, the battleship was transferred to the command of Captain First Rank Ernst Lindemann, but testing and installation of equipment and weapons continued until the spring of 1941.
It became a matter of honor for the British to find and destroy the Bismarck. His search was conducted not only by ships, but also by aircraft from aircraft carriers. It was the torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier Victories that discovered the battleship moving south, behind which stretched the oil trail of fuel tanks pierced in the battle with the Hood.
Bismarck" in the battle in the Denmark Strait did not escape significant damage. The battleship received three hits by large-caliber shells, of which the first had fatal consequences for its future fate. The shell went through the bow fuel tanks and made a huge hole through which the ship took about a thousand tons of water and lost a lot of fuel.
With this in mind, Admiral Lutyens decided to split up with the cruiser "Prinz Eugen", sending her to the raid by an independent route. Bismarck had to move for repairs and refueling to the port of Saint-Nazaire in France. The admiral was confident in his abilities, the safety margin built into the battleship allowed him to remain a formidable force in the open spaces of the sea even in this position.
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