Bismarck wreck

비스마르크호 난파선

The German battleship Bismarck sank on 27 May 1941 after a battle with the British fleet. Her hull rests upright on the slope of an undersea volcano about 4,700 m down; the four main turrets fell out as she capsized and lie nearby (found 1989).

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At a glance

Kind: Shipwrecks

Bismarck was a giant German battleship from World War II, named after the 19th-century chancellor Otto von Bismarck. It was laid down in Hamburg in July 1936, launched in February 1939 and ready for service in August 1940. With its sister ship Tirpitz, it was one of the largest battleships ever built by Germany.

Its career lasted only eight months. In May 1941 it set out to attack Allied shipping in the Atlantic, but the Royal Navy chased it down. Bismarck sank on 27 May 1941. Its wreck lies about 4,790 metres deep, and it was found in June 1989 by Robert Ballard, the explorer who also found the Titanic.

The chase

During the Battle of the Denmark Strait, Bismarck and the cruiser Prinz Eugen destroyed the famous British battlecruiser HMS Hood. But Bismarck was damaged and had to turn back.

Two days later, torpedo planes from the carrier HMS Ark Royal hit its steering gear, so it could no longer sail properly. The next morning, British battleships and cruisers attacked it.

The end and the discovery

The German crew scuttled the ship, which means they sank it themselves, to stop the British from boarding it. Most experts agree it would have sunk anyway from the damage.

Ballard located the wreck in 1989 and other expeditions have surveyed it since. It is about 251 metres long, and it lies in deep, dark water, so it is seen only through robots.