"Bismarck" is a German battleship, the keel of which was laid in 1936 and launched in February 1939. In August 1940, the battleship entered the cable service of the German Navy (German: Kriegsmarine). The length of the ship was 251 meters, width - 36 meters. had a full displacement of 53,000 tons. The maximum speed of "Bismarck" was about 29-30 knots. The main armament consisted of 8 380-mm guns in four twin turrets, auxiliary - 12 150-mm guns or 16 105-mm guns. "Bismarck" was the first ship of the type with the same name - "Bismarck". It was ordered to replace the old battleship "Hannover", completely obsolete in the 1930s. At the time of launching, the Bismarck was the largest German ship and the largest European ship of the line. She had good armour, and her main or secondary armament was inferior to that of her counterparts on British ships. He made his first voyage in September 1940, when he crossed on a ferry to Gdynia, which was to become his home port. Bismarck's combat career during World War II was very short. On May 19, 1941, "Bismarck" went on its first combat campaign - it was supposed to carry out cruise operations in the Atlantic and attack primarily the convoys of the allies. Carrying out this plan, Bismarck, accompanied by the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen, crossed the Danish Strait a few days later. On May 24, a battle took place in this strait between a German team and British ships, as a result of which the battlecruiser HMS Hood was sunk and the Bismarck itself was badly damaged. After this battle, a significant force of the Royal Navy - including the Polish destroyer ORP Piorun - was directed against the Bismarck, which the German ship tracked down and sent to the bottom on 27 May 1941. It is worth noting that there is a probable hypothesis that the battleship "Bismarck" was self-scuttled by the crew in connection with the damage received in the battle on May 27, which made it impossible to independently return to the base.
