World of Warships - Know Your Ship #10 - Bismarck Class Battleship

[@LukesYuGiOhChannel]

Bismarck has always been my favourite ship.

[@ichasegaming]

Eternal Dragon Of ChaOZ She's a beauty alright

[@Mw3oWn]

iChaseGaming Although we hate the Nazi's they sure could build weapons!

[@tannerr8775]

Eternal Dragon Of ChaOZ Hope they add it to WOWS but it may be to OP....

[@sik3xploit]

Callum Payton Giant ships and tanks and monster railroad cannons... Nazi philosophy on weapons was to just make it bigger and scarier.

[@NicksDomain101]

tanner ross The Bismark isn't even that great. The Japanese created more modern and larger battleships. Especially the Yamato, which was 70,000 tonnes compared to the almost 50k bismark

[@Bellthorian]

I can only imagine the survivors guilt the three Hood sailors had to face for the rest of their lives. There is no getting over something like that,

[@KubusSc7]

One of the most beautiful and mightiest battleships ever build...I salute you, Bismarck, you did your job well, but was heavily outnumbered and without any support...you did your part, mighty warrior...may you rest in peace Nice vid

[@ichasegaming]

KubusSc7 Thank you :) she was indeed a beautiful ship. Sadly both her and Hood were lost. If only they were both still afloat as museums.

[@KubusSc7]

iChaseGaming That would be awesome to visit such a ship. But I doubt we could visit it near germany, because germany isn't allowed to have such huge ships after WW2, not even as museum ships. Are you going to do a video about the Tirpitz, her sister ship, too?

[@ichasegaming]

KubusSc7 I will probably get back to the Tirpitz some day in the future :) Stay tuned

[@abhinavkaushik3677]

quantity over quality, that's what happened during the whole war

[@suicidal_camo_eisberg765]

KubusSc7 Actually, Germany is allowed to have a army like they want, and not being allowed to have a museum ship is a rediculus idea. The reason Germany doesn't have battleships anymore is that there is no need for them as seen in the video. The time of these behemoths sunk with the Bismark .

[@emmanuelcastro8520]

"35,000 tons was the legal limit according to the treaty. However, the Bismark was secretly an astonishing 50,000 tons." Who the hell would follow a treaty during war anyways?

[@ichasegaming]

Eman C. The treaties were generally followed before the war started

[@michaelbuckler]

The Bismarck was 50,000 tons at full load. Her standard displacement was closer to 42,000 tons. very much the same as Hood,

[@CenturionENT]

True I wouldn't of

[@darkblood626]

The 'treaty of versailles' was the treaty signed that ended WW1. It imposed a lot of restrictions Germany in terms of their military, as well as debit that caused hyperinflation. Allot of German soldiers resented the treaty and believed high military officers of Jewish ancestry betrayed their people when they sighed it- which lead to alot of the antisemitism that the Nazi's played on to gain power.

[@michaelbuckler]

***** Bismarck was launched 14th Feb.1939. Commissioned 24th. Aug. 1940.Work still being done until Mar.1941.

[@lGenial]

If you consider the fact that Bismark was utterly outnumbered, outgunned, was taking damage from the air and the sea alike, this ship had a honorable death. Yamato was the biggest battleship and yet got sunk by 400 planes, not ships, Iowa got a long carrer but still never got cornered alone against a full fleet. He wasnt the best on paper when you start comparing numbers but for me and based on the facts, the Bismarck was the greatest Battleship ever made, even tho it didnt last long, what a way to go!

[@demoskunk]

+Genia Nepotchatykh Bismarck was crippled by one torpedo. Yamato took 20 before going down. Most of the 14 and 16 inch British shells wouldn't have penetrated Yamato's vitals. They were in a different class. Bismarck was a tough, super-sized but outdated WW1 design that was built to sink cargo ships. Not the greatest Battleship by a long shot.

[@malo1996]

+demoskunk just compare what the brits needed to sunk the tirpitz and you will see that bismarck-class was stronger then yamato.

[@sander6438]

+Genia Nepotchatykh you forgot the yamato's sistership Musashi

[@sander6438]

+demoskunk the yamato took 15 bombs hits the bombs was 1000 pound and 15 torpedo hits

[@ChessLover-yn6ob]

demoskunk YAMATO ONLY TOOK 7 TORPS AND 23 BOMBS YA FACKING IDIOT WHILE TIRPITZ TOOK A TALL BOY AND STILL SURVIVE

[@aznravechild6i9]

Whenever this ship gets released, I'm going to sail it to the middle of the map, lock my rudders to port, and shoot in every direction while screaming, "I WILL NOT HAVE MY SHIP SHOT OUT FROM UNDER MY ASS!"

[@lingcod91]

Glad to see your series. Well done. When the Bismarck became fully operational, she was indeed the most powerful battleship afloat. But a short lived career. Truely amazing ship, and nearly lived up to her prediction of being unsinkable.

[@5000cz]

I'm not pro nazi, but i was kinda rooting for the Bismark. Is that bad?

[@ichasegaming]

5000cz Not at all, most of the sailors on the Bismarck were just that, sailors. So cheering for an underdog is okay, as long as you know in your heart you're not supporting Nazism :P

[@CaptCorgi]

Same lol bismark was a boss, a nazi boss but a boss

[@5000cz]

I can't wait to play the Bismark and Yamato. Both however are axis powers :( Even though the Yamato is cooler, Bismark went down like a boss taking on 6 or 7 battleships at once while the Yamato didn't do anything and just got slaughtered

[@CallioNyx]

It's natural to sympathize with the underdog, and at sea, the Kriegsmarine definitely was that. They were outnumbered what... 8:1, 10:1? By the Royal Navy alone, and the RN had a lot more experience too. The ideology... not so easy to sympathize with.

[@NUCCubus]

Every Soldier and Sailor was german, but not everyone was a nazi. Youre cheering for the germans and not the nazis.

[@Acid4Blood]

The Bismarck such an awesome force of destruction.

[@ichasegaming]

Acid4Blood Indeed it was :)

[@silverarrow2013]

6The6Devil6 yeah Tirpitz is awesome as well

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

Bismarck was a beast! Hood was just too old to stand a chance.. Keine chance.

[@ichasegaming]

JAGTHEGEMINI True, but at the end both went down with heavy loss of life :( what a waste...

[@johannsebastianbach9003]

People builds a ship that can last a year of building Gets sunk in 3 minutes That feeling 😆😆😆😆

[@bude8234]

From a WWII buff, my compliments on an excellent series you have made!!

[@etieseler]

First off I love your "know your ship" videos. There is almost nothing more interesting and amazing than these old large ships. Can't wait to play this game too. That said, what in the hell did the British think would happen? You send your "pride of the navy" which is over 20 years old after the largest and most powerful ship in the Kriegsmarine, open fire on it first and not get return fire, but keep on taking shots at it until they finally fight back. The far superior ship is most likely going to win this battle, and here it does. Then get so upset about it so they send a lynch mob out for revenge, like they really believed the Hood was unsinkable and it was such a violation of the laws of nature that she sunk? That is normally the outcome of naval warfare, when two ships are firing at each other you should fully well know that one of them will probably sink! Getting so angry over your loss that you demand revenge at all costs is very dishonorable at best. The sinking any of these ships is a real tragedy, it means the deaths of hundreds to thousands of young men who are just doing their job and the loss of a magnificent piece of engineering, it's very sad. However such things happen in war. Demanding revenge at all costs, where you are requesting the murder almost 2000 people, for an event that anyone with common sense could have seen the outcome ahead of time is...well...very Churchill like. That's just my humble opinion.

[@ichasegaming]

Eduard Tieseler Thank you and yeah...I do tend to agree...kind of wish that these ships would have survived the war and turned into museums...can you imagine if there were large museum ships all around the world? I'd totally go to each country just to visit the ships :)

[@karx11erx]

There was no lynch mob. The Royal Naval was hell bent to take out the biggest threat present to their naval superiority. However, I tend to believe that sinking an already incapacitated Bismarck with 2000 seamen still aboard was murder and not covered by international law.

[@randomusernamemygod]

Word of advice. Do not get involved in any capacity involving war. You might break a nail Eduard and we do not want that do we.

[@ichasegaming]

@Dietfrid Mali First of all I would say it's probably because in war your job is to sink the enemy. Second the Bismarck continued flying it's colours until it sank. Third, I think a lot of survivors could not be rescued for whatever reason.

[@pioltjose23]

I heard Bismarck could have stayed afloat for 1 or possibly 2 days hadn't the Brit's not used the torpedo's and that bismarck could have captured as a war prize.

[@richardfogarty4117]

They couldn't be rescued because they couldn't stop to rescue them,in case there were subs around

[@hendrik4314]

the bismarck sunk because the crew scuttled it. the bismarck had special compartiments in its armor. that made it kind of immune to torpedoes.

[@felixmustermann790]

hendrik4314 THATS RIIIIIGHT

[@helixfalks]

hendrik4314 It had an armoured belt if that is what you mean, but a torpedo launched from a plane crippled it's rudder causing it to sail in a massive circle, The German crew stated that they scuttled the ship but at that point the royal navy and put so many shells into her it was hard to tell. James Cameron did a docu that supports the German statement. However it was in no way immune to torpedoes.

[@-MarcelDavis-]

The translation is plain wrong at some points. At 36:13 Heinrich Kuhnt said something like: "We recieved the order to destroy and abandon the ship". I couldn't fully understand what he said because of the narrator but he definitely didn't say "As Bismarcks guns stopped shells were hitting everywhere...." ;)

[@ichasegaming]

DerBaum64 =] Thank you for the translation (all hail the internet! because in the past, these errors would have just slipped right by)

[@Maddog3060]

Stupid TV producers adding in BS that wasn't said... Thanks for the information. I hate it when translations are embellished beyond what the speaker actually said.

[@omnicognatee]

why did 2 people down vote this? i love these know your ship episodes :)

[@HerrMann441]

So much for "The pride of the Royal Navy"

[@demoskunk]

Bismarck was built as a commerce raider. Tough and beautiful as she was, her design was basically an up-sized WW1 battleship hull. She got a lucky shot against Hood who shouldn't have been sent after a battleship anyway. Rodney, Richelieu, and North Carolina all outclassed Bismarck.

[@michaelbuckler]

+demoskunk Bismarck was built to compete with the French 'Strasbourg' type battleships, and primarily for use in the Baltic, and North Sea. Bismarck was faster than NC and Richelieu, and much faster than Rodney. It is a myth that she was developed from WW1 battleships ; If she was developed from anything it was the Scharnhorst

[@davepastern]

+demoskunk That's a wee bit of BS there. The Bismarck had a larger range than the hood or rodney, could fire more rounds in the same period of time, and was more accurate with aiming due to radar assistance with aiming. The North Carolina had the benefit of being a long way from Germany, and pretty much immune to any air/sea attacks due the distances involved. The US had far better trade too, and resources, which helped immensely. The Bismarck was a particularly good design - her beam allowed her to be very stable in the water and she had good protection from shells from the side. Her weakness was a distinct lack of poor AA protection. And a lack of support ships. If the Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen were all sailing together in a flotella, with a aircraft carrier in support, things would have been a lot different. A LOT different. The English were very lucky to get the Bismark, and it took their entire fleet in order to do so...

[@matthewellis1656]

It was built to a different specification to be up North, and was superior to anything else in the water at that time in speed and armor, despite the desire to call the Bismarck a trumped up WWI design. It is even more rare for a Biplane to Hit a ship in the rudder anytime than for a bulls-eye hit with a 15" shell. For Other reference, see Prince of Wales

[@michaelbuckler]

The Bismarck was designed to compete with the projected French 'Jean Bart' class, and to be active mostly in the Baltic and the North Sea.

[@dubsy1026]

mrtheoden that's a lot of BS there. Range plays little factor in a sea battle, it's about effective range. The Bismarck's radar was actually very poor compared to the British Type 274, the British had a significant advantage in that area actually. Bismarck's radar was not capable of true blind firing, unlike the British. The stability of the ship is irrelevant to this. The horizontal protection of the Bismarck was... ok. It was a belt thinner than Rodney, and about on par with Hood. The turtleback helped, but it didn't protect the turret or fire control. That was why the Rodney was able to knock out 2 turrets with a single shell. Her weaknesses were several. 1.Very poor deck armour, about on par with Hood 2. Lack of fire control or main armament protection 3. Poor AA, as you mentioned The thing you propose next is pure fantasy, and is basically saying 'if the German fleet had more ships at once and was complement, then...'. and no, the British definitely did not need their entire fleet. At that point they had 15 battleships, and several aircraft carriers. Only 1 CV was involved, and only 2 battleships at any one time, for a total of 4 occupied.

[@Klomster88]

IIRC the reason bismarcks AA worked so poor against the swordfish planes, was that the swordfish planes were so crap. The AA was expecting something faster, and as such many of the shots went A LOT in front of the planes. And i think "air power trumps everything" geist they got in this documentary is a bit overstated. They managed with 8 planes, against a foe that couldn't properly aim at them, get in 2 hits, one which was a fluke luck shot which got the rudder. If that wouldn't have happened the following battle would have been more of an actual battle, instead of shooting fish in a barrel. I was trying to find what the hull of the swordfishes were made of, but couldn't find it on the fairey swordfish wikipedia article, but i found an interesting part which mentioned, "The problems with the aircraft were starkly demonstrated in February 1942 when, during the Channel Dash, an attack on German battleships by six Swordfish led by Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde resulted in the loss of all aircraft with no damage to the ships." Reading up on the channel dash battle, it seems the brits were in disarray though. But to get to some sort of point i guess. A battleship should never be out on their own, they should always have a few pals with them. And a battleship with sufficient AA can outfight several attacking aircraft. And according to what i have heard. The bismarck was quickly mashed together with inferior old guns, too few guns, and an inexperienced crew. All this on a stupid mission which it undertook with to few supporting vessels. Prinz Eugen being a really badass ship (just check on its history, DANG!), it should've had a pair of destroyers as well. The Bismarck was supposed to have armament more akin to its sister, the Tirpitz. Whom the allies were even more scared shit of than the Bismarck.

[@agwhitaker]

The whole problem was Bismarck's anti-aircraft fire control calculators. Like hunting ducks, you have to aim ahead of the target to hit it. The fire control calculators took target range, altitude, speed, bearing, and direction inputs and converted them to elevation and azimuth data for the guns. Problem was, the Swordfish biplane torpedo bomber was slow, top speed was below the minimum speed setting of Bismarck's fire control equipment. Best the Germans could do was point,shoot, and hope. The Swordfish was slow and antiquated, but still in use at the end of WWII. They carried radar, a considerable payload, and could still take off and land on a carrier in the worst possible sea and weather conditions.

[@tim8431]

Andrew G. Whitaker Yes the Swordfish definitely had it uses as an a convoy escort and such. No better plane for the job imo.

[@michaelbuckler]

A torpedo bomber has to fly slowly.If the torpedo hits the sea at high speed it might wreck an expensive weapon.

[@Assassinus2]

During the Channel Dash, the Luftwaffe was out, including some of the new Fw 190 fighters. They managed to punch through the RAF fighter screens, but even they had problems with the Swordfish - I recall reading that they had to drop gear and flaps to be able to hit the Swordfish. And battleships versus any reasonable number of aircraft is generally a losing proposition - the Japanese learned this to their cost. (Uncoordinated attacks by penny-packets of aircraft don't count.)

[@Assassinus2]

michaelbuckler Though you can apparently design torpedoes to take a fairly high-speed impact. The American Mk. 13 aerial torpedo, at least during the early war, was extremely horrible in this respect (it couldn't be dropped above 110 kts), which compares poorly to the Japanese Type 91 torpedo, which, in the same time period, could be dropped at 200 kts. Later aerial torpedoes were designed so they could be dropped from faster-flying aircraft.

[@Halinspark]

I think all the people who adamantly argue stats should remember that the 2 most well known and possibly largest ships in WW2, Yamato and Bismarck, are best known for being exploded.

[@chopchop7938]

Neither one of those ships exploded. Bismarck was hit by many hundreds of British shells and was still floating. Bismarck was SUNK likely by a combination of British torpedoes and the Germans scuttling it. Bismarck did not exploded. Yamato was SUNK by American torpedoes and dive bombers. Yamato did not explode. The British had many ships that did explode. Hood exploded and several British warships exploded during the battle of Jutland.

[@robloxdude19]

I do find it quite funny, in a tragic kind of way, that Bismarck was the pride of the Kriegsmarine and was sunk only 3 days after killing Hood after being crippled from a couple of Biplanes built from 1934, something so small and obsolete crippled one of THE most advanced and feared Battleships in History just 2 days after killing Hood.

[@VRichardsn]

Certainly a feared ship... but not an advanced one. It design was in many cases just an update of an Imperial WW I design.

[@VRichardsn]

***** They simply didn´t have all that; as an excercise of thought, lets assume the Kriegmarine succeeds in putting all those resources togheter: what would have happened then? Most likely, the Royal Navy, grateful at the opportunity the Germans were giving them by sending their ships out of the relative safety of port, would assemble a far bigger fleet (because they could) and probably destroy them in a naval battle to be remembered for years to come.

[@codyreed8514]

Bismarck did burn well the german did deserve it though

Richardsen Very well said sir!

[@VRichardsn]

Tristan Lane Thank you very much, kind sir.

[@davidhoffman5789]

Good video. I never knew the Fairey Swordfish were equipped with a radar system. I had read about the wave height issue and how they had to time the drop to the wave crest visually.

[@kevinsu2908]

They should've taken better care of the hood. She wasn't made for heavy naval battle

[@ichasegaming]

kevin su Her job as fleet flagship meant too much time running around on diplomatic missions. I think she would have put up a much better fight had she got her planned refit.

[@RobertdMacGregor]

Actually the tactics used by Admiral Holland were found to be correct. It was just a matter of bad timing that resulted in her destruction, if the order for her course change had come a few seconds before or after then her thicker armour would of taken the shot and would of most likely survived the hit.

[@ichasegaming]

Robert MacGregor It's difficult to say exactly what could have happened, but Hood just seemed to have really poor luck that day.

[@AlyxAu]

This hit home, My family lost 2 members, both midshipmen aboard the hood, on their first commision

[@ichasegaming]

AlyxAu :( my condolences

[@Avakadoman1995]

That's strange. According to this video, it was a British fighter that spotted the Bismarck, but on the HSwMS Gotland wiki, that ship is credited with the spotting.

[@ichasegaming]

Avakadoman1995 The British fighter took a picture of the Bismarck in the Norwegian Fjord, the first photographic confirmation that the Bismarck was moving. However, the Bismarck was already spotted by spotters on the coastlines and such and the Gotland did indeed spot her as she was breaking out of the Baltic, but this probably still required confirmation.

[@kahlessreborn]

So did you just copy a History Channel Documentary?

[@1138thz]

While the Bismarck is hands down the most graceful and photogenic Battleship ever launched (IMHO) it was something of a dated design. Its armor plan was very similar to that of the 1915 battleship SMS Bayern. Its Horizontal armor was comparatively weak at just 2.3-3.9 in. The USS Arizona was vulnerable to both High angle shell fire and aerial AP bombs and its deck armor was 5 in thick. Bismarck's fire control instruments and flat shooting main armament were maximized for short to medium range engagements. Bismarck's radar set the FuMO 23 set had a 82cm ( 32.3 inches) wavelength and a puny signal output of 8kW. The FuMO 23 was capable of search, but not range determination, due to "the lack of display units and a plotter, and a broader radiated beam." By comparison the British TYpe 274 radar (KG V class ships) had a wave length of 10cm (3.94") and a power output of 400 kW. The Type 274 set was capable of true "Blind Fire" as it could track the course speed and range of a target continuously. The USA's MK13 fire control radar set was even better as it had a wave length of 3cm (1.18") and a power output of 50kW and was also capable of true Blind Fire. It could track the course, speed, and range of a target continuously and could also track and plot the fall of its outgoing projectiles and adjust its solution accordingly. Additionally the US Fast Battleships (North Carolina class, South Dakota class and the Iowa class) could fire with no loss of accuracy while making radical maneuvers because of their more advanced fire control systems. Note: Short wavelength and high power output equals higher the resolution Nathan Okun, " American FC systems employed by far the most advanced stable vertical elements in the world. In practical terms, this meant that American vessels could keep a solution on a target even when performing radical maneuvers. In 1945 test, an American battleship (the North Carolina) was able to maintain a constant solution even when performing back to back high-speed 450-degree turns, followed by back-to-back 100-degree turns. This was a much better performance than other contemporary systems, and gave U.S. battleships a major tactical advantage, in that they could both shoot and maneuver, whereas their opponents could only do one or the other."

[@greenfingernaildirt356]

1138thz her armot layout was designed for close quarter combat. The Turtleback was maybe the best armor layout. Dude

[@1138thz]

Actually it was among the worst BoBo

[@Itzak15]

I cant even imagine being on such a huge ship like the HMS hood and be scared. But then a even bigger ship arises and blows it up

[@peterson7082]

Hood was larger than Bismarck

[@dubsy1026]

@@peterson7082 not true, the Bismarck weighed 4000 tons more

[@peterson7082]

Dubsy 102 Dimensionally

[@Quizzicality]

Absolutely fascinating man. I kinda wish you'd do more about the in-game ships, but I'm sure the NDA makes that difficult. When they said only 3 of HMS Hood's crew survived, my jaw dropped. I especially liked the respect that both nation's sailors had for each other. They realized they were responsible for killing hundreds and hundreds of people not much different from themselves, and it horrified them.

[@ichasegaming]

Quizzicality :) I time I will do tons more, but for now NDA. I completely agree, shows you how sad war really is :(

[@randomusernamemygod]

The sea is a very cold lonely grave. Sailors have always had a mutual respect for one another regardless of friend or foe since even the 1700's. Nobody want's to die at sea.

[@Denton1952]

Isn't it neat--- That these two ships lost almost as much people as we have lost in our last 13 years of fighting in the Middle East?

[@infernalone666]

26:44 and in US history classes, you're taught the we tried to stay neutral until pearl harbor happened. this, however, really tells a different story (actually, US history courses tell you very little about anything that happened in this war. only pearl harbor, d-day, the defeat of germany, the nuking and, of course, the holocaust. but stuff like hood and bismarck are never talked about, and pearl harbor is credited as the incident that proved air superiority over naval when the sinking of bismarck happened months earlier) but then, this is WWII. everybody behaved badly in their own ways

[@travishall3446]

14:06. bravest man any of us would ever be lucky enough to know. 14:43. most compassionate man any of us would be lucky enough to know.

[@TheROADRUNNER36]

Dogfights was a great show.

[@pioltjose23]

agreed

[@VRichardsn]

Debatable.

[@Snag97]

As much as a fan that I am for the Kreigsmarine, I've done enough studing of WWII history to know that Bismarck was really a throwback of a WWI design. Her gun layout of eight 15" guns in four twin turrets was behind the times as other navies were focusing on triple & quadrulpe turrets. At the time Bismarck sailed the italians had the Littorio class battleships with nine 15 inch guns dispersed in three triple turrets & the U.S. was on the verge of commissioning the North Carolina which had a similar gun layout but sported 16" guns, comparable armor & slightly less speed (29 knot rating). I'm not even going to talk about the Japanese Yamato, which was already in service at the time. Bismarck also had a major design flaw that is not well known or mentioned in most documentaries. Her communication lines were placed above her armored deck plating...making them vulnerable to damage. This may seem unimportant at first but if your communication lines are lost in battle it can become a major deteriment to your overall fight ability. This design flaw has been downplayed considerably in favor of the Bismarcks historical fame. Still a powerful warship but against other modern battleships of the day she was at best on par.

[@pioltjose23]

The armor wasn't properly distributed

[@treeslayerr]

also ship battles often come down to luck. The ship was a bit old but still beautiful. I wish it wouldnt be somewhere at the ground of the ocean.

[@pioltjose23]

TreeSlayer imagine bismarck or the tirpitz as museums

[@treeslayerr]

pioltjose23 yea thats what i thought about, how could would that be

[@jpaullightfoot3082]

The us was on the verge of commissioning North Carolina? The us was on the verge of commissioning two classes after North Carolina called South Dakota.

[@jamilanderson601]

I can't wait to see the bismarck and lowa or montana go head to head.

[@demoskunk]

+Jamil Anderson It'll be a short battle.

[@codysmith2587]

weird but the Bismarck was always my favorite naval Battle Ship class vessel but the Bismarck was actually famous for three things sinking the hood being named after a previous German ruler or warrior who bared the name Bismarck and also it was the largest German battle ship class vessel built after the Tirpitz which was sink by the Royal Air Force

[@dubsy1026]

It was built before the Tirpitz. And it was also famous for being sunk.

[@Admiralhall2000]

Aircraft finished big battleships as effective weapons during ww2! To use them you need air supremacy! Now if the Germans had got air supremacy by having a few aircraft carriers the outcome might have been a bit different! But all in all the US and Soviet economic power ended Germany.

[@MrEdmund62]

cant wait for the game to open up!

[@codyedward3603]

Love the battle, but sad to think of HMS Hood, only 3 people survived and the others died in a horrible death

[@Jake_Kern]

Came here for some wargaming Info, and I actually got a real education about the ship 👌👍👍 good video chase.

[@warshipnavalhero9596]

Bismarck my 5th favorite warship.

[@lingcod91]

Have you any plans to make a study of Japan's or Germany's dreams of building their super battleships, like Kei or the monsterious Bismarck upgrades???? That would be very interesting.

[@apieceofdirt4681]

The Bismarck sailors mentioning the ship moving sideways in the water when the big guns were fired is hilarious. Battleships do NOT move sideways in the water when they fire full broadsides. If they do it’s not a noticeable difference. The overpressure is intense though.

[@dubsy1026]

Yes, especially since the Bismarck weighed 10 thousand tons more than ships with far heavier broadsides. Something like Rodney would have been far more likely to do that

[@keffie909]

Really interesting, thanks for the upload

[@ichasegaming]

keffie909 Anytime :)

[@davepastern]

I'm curious to see how the battle would have gone if the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Admiral Hipper, Prinz Eugen, Tirpitz and Bismarck had been together in a fleet, accompanied with uboats. Germany's weakness in WWII was their bad lack of judgement in not having aircraft carriers. There was meant to be 3rd and 4th Bismarck class battleships launched too, but they, like the plan H ship designs, were scrapped. I guess Hitler decided that air and land were more important avenues of invasion/defence.

[@ironvader502]

Actually, many weaknesses of the german army existet because of Hitler. He stopped the production of tje only german aircraft carrier (Count Zeppelin), he stopped the production of the Stg44, a really good assault rifle, for a time because he didn't liked its design, he was responsible for chanfing germanys most advanced fighter into a bomber, making it way" less effective and stretching out the production so long it didn't had a real impact on the war, and the lsit goes on...

[@Jasontvnd9]

Joseph Klas The aircraft carrier was a good idea to stop.... it would not have been able to operate for long... like most German capital ships back then it would have been hunted down and eliminated.

[@Philliben1991]

Joseph Klas The Germany Navy could never compete with the Royal Navy. Not only was it massively outnumbered but more importantly it didn't have ocean facing ports. The RN could always get its ships into the open seas, whereas the Kriegsmarine couldn't, they could only do so via the English Channel or North Sea. As a result large ships like Bismarck and Tirpitz were effectively doomed from the start. Aircraft carriers would have made no difference for Germany except as huge and expensive losses. As for the Stg44 and Me262, the war was lost while both were still in development and neither could have been produced in enough numbers to make any difference whatsoever.

[@Philliben1991]

Joseph Klas Didn't matter if it was operational in 1941. Germany did not have the industrial base or resources to mass produce high tech machines like the Me-262. It could only produce, maintain and fuel relatively small numbers. The only way Germany could have stood a chance in WWII once it had failed to defeat the Soviet Union is if had implemented a mass industrialization of it's conquered territories, something the Soviet Union did after Barbarossa, east of Moscow and the Urals. However Germany didn't and chose to produce small numbers of highly advanced units within Germany. That strategy was completely the wrong one. The Soviet Union could produce 10 tanks T-34s for every Tiger tank. The Tiger was better than the T-34 but not at those odds. The Western allies pursued a similar strategy and simply outproduced Germany. Long term Germany could not have competed on one front but on two fronts against the West and the Soviet Union it had no chance. Germany produced some of the best weaponry of the war - from small arms to tanks to battleships and aircraft but it was a poor strategic choice to invest so much into leading edge weapons. Even today 100 guys with bows and arrows will beat 10 guys with 21st century assault rifles, 9 times out of 10. On an individual basis the Tiger tank was better than the Sherman but in terms of winning a war it was much, much worse. That's something, thankfully, Germany then, and even a lot of people today, couldn't/can't grasp. Ultimately, the Bismarck, like so much material produced by Germany, was huge waste of resources, money and man power.

[@dubsy1026]

U boats could not keep up with the fleet, and Germany could not sustain such a fleet operation anyway.

[@TDavis-ml6kl]

The 8" hit by Prince Eugen sinks Hood, 3" deck armor wasn't enough. Delay then Boom!

[@dubsy1026]

The 4 inch ammo was not under the deck armour

[@mrbenrogers258]

Yea of course it's a very big IF. The same as a lot of things like that which didn't happen. For instance the Lion class BB's which were British but never got past the blueprint stage, or the H44 class BB's from Germany, IF they had been built they would have dwarfed even the Yamato class BB's. Then there was the Iowa class from the US which a few built and they also had the Montana class which were not built. I still enjoy playing battlestations midway and Pacific and can't wait for world of warships!

[@ichasegaming]

Chips Mcgraw :D Well I can only say that everything that I've seen so far in the live streams shows a very detailed game that wargaming is spending a lot of time working on. Can't wait either ^_^

[@sg0310]

nah man warthunder will be better imagine player controled aircraft ,naval ships , and possible tanks all in the same battle

[@NicksDomain101]

That stormtrooper accuracy tho

[@BigUnitBeef]

So tired of the wait....when can we play this thing!

[@ichasegaming]

Keith Moffat Well it's being alpha tested right now, so getting closer :)

[@bruceallan9919]

The story part is from Dogfights

[@Buledde]

If the captain of the Bismarck had followed Admiral Lüttjens Order not to engange, the Bismarck probably would have make a run and would have been able to fullfill its mission for hunting merchant ships. Lüttjens just knew, that they were too far away from any friendly yard to repair and that they were still in range of the RAF... Even though sinking the Hood caused a tremendous public echo and forced the hunt for the Bismarck even more then originally intended...

[@hiphip4808]

After Bismark hit Hood he was scrwed from the beginning.

[@twistedroot8951]

It took all those ships to try and sink the Bismark, yet he was still afloat, they had to come in again with torpedoes to get the job done

[@aksythedatadude]

Is the first part, talking about getting the ship out of port, from an episode of Dogfights on H2.

[@xxlegoteenxx]

It is I saw the episode

[@hf3923]

The definition of Zerg Rush in WWII

[@jimmygentile3354]

Now thats what i call a warship

[@CoIdHeat]

Please make an H-Class episode next! Pretty please

[@BestWorldofWarshipsReplays]

Bismark is very cool

[@bruceallan9919]

NOW ITS BACK TO DOGFIGHTS

[@carroboi2981]

I refuse to call KMS Bismark a man. Bismark and Prinz Eugen must be my favorite ships, despite the presence of the bigger and better ships of their respective rolls. Both are truely beautiful works of engineering, sad that only one of them survived, sadder still she got scuttled by the biggest bomb a ship could ever take.

[@biathe4017]

Odd question What if the Hood did get her remodel? Would the battle last a little bit longer?

[@MeThorvald]

I've never been a fan of ships (I am more of tank-fan), but I think that many great ships 'suffered' a terrible fate. Two of the most known ships were sunk by aircraft (or with their great help). But when I did read about Nagato, I thought that she didn't deserve that fate (like many other ships taking part in nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll). US 'scientists' destroyed so much of naval history, that saying 'It's sad' is like saying "China is small country".

[@carroboi2981]

Dartharion Prinz Eugen, Bismarks loyal companion, was also sunk at those tests. I think every nautical fan would have loved to see those ships stowed away in Pearl or some other port as museums like Missouri and her sisters.

[@dubsy1026]

@@carroboi2981 not that loyal, she ran away before Bismarck was sunk

[@carroboi2981]

@@dubsy1026 She didn't run away, I believe she turned about to try and (rightly) confuse the British. Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were built to look similar at a distance, and the whole idea was to make the British chase the Eugen rather than the Bismarck. The diversion didn't work though. Edit: In fact, if you need evidence of this, when HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales engaged Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, British crews confused Eugen for Bismarck.

[@dubsy1026]

@@carroboi2981 I don't know the intentions, but if you look at how the detachment occurred, the Bismarck turned to fire several salvoes at POW. That does not seem like trying to make them think Bismarck was Eugen. On the Hood and POW issue, that had more to do with the ships switching positions since they were last (correctly) observed by cruisers. Finally, on how they were built, I find it somewhat implausible that they were built to resemble the Bismarcks. Why not the Scharnhorsts? And why weren't things like Konigsberg class built to resemble either of their capital ship classes? It seems far more likely to me that German ship construction tended towards similar conclusions for ships in that size range, with the Scharnhorsts excepted (because they had to take 15 inch turrets later, so an 11 inch triple was the only solution). Either way, it was more of a flippant remark than a serious point.

[@richardjoganah1871]

Enjoy the video ,I want to build the model of the Bismarck and Tirpitz model 😊

[@lemonblitz8573]

Bismarck and Tirpitz was my personal favorite battleships, if they were built same time with Japan's yamato and came together, which is impossible because Japan is miles away, so if Bismarck + Tirpitz + yamato, well it would be a different history.

[@xeisari]

That minecraft water clip at 5:18 :DDD

[@zappy2073]

"Heinrich Kuhnt" dat name doe

[@ichasegaming]

Me262 Spatz Well...stranger things have happened with foreign language names :P

[@ScreenLag]

Why didn't you just link to the original instead of copying half of it and republishing it? Quality work right here

[@ichasegaming]

ScreenLag I've referenced all work in the video description and also because I didn't need entire videos, only clips. Nevertheless, I will eventually remake all these older episodes

[@Kamagel007]

Come on, entire Majesty navy vs Bismark and it took so much to sink it.. Couldn't imagine what the odds would be if there were few more ships accompanying Bismark in high seas...

[@scottwhitley3392]

Cracken once the Rodney and KGV came into contact with bismark she had no chance, Prince of Wales was still in sea trials and work up and hood was a battlecruiser

[@dubsy1026]

That was far from the entire royal navy. The British at that point had 11 battleships with nothing to do with the battle, with 4 participating.

[@randomguy-tg7ok]

(Sinking of the Hood) - THAT is why the Myogi is *BEEP*

[@SuperBartles]

Captain Lindemann said "I will not have my ship shot out from under my ass!". As many eminent historical sources attest, lol

[@zappy2073]

24:55 Bismarck jukes the Brits. That's what would happen if Siv HD played World of Warships.

[@Maddog3060]

I love how the Germans still insist they sunk her before the British did. XD Still, at least the Kriegsmarine were mostly cool guys who didn't care for that Nazi shit. Honorable for the most part. Damn shame the Brits left the Bismark's crew to wallow in the water for so long because they were afraid of U-boats. (At least, that's what they claim... Still not too sure about that. Brits were pretty damn vindictive in that war.) I also love how, after reading the comments here, the asshole TV producers added in a bunch of shit that wasn't actually said by the Germans. Honestly, history doesn't need embellishment! Stop putting words in the mouths of the men! They deserve to have their stories told THEIR way.

[@ichasegaming]

Maddog3060 I totally agree, that's why I'm so happy I can put these things on the internet and have real Germans point out the problem. We get a much more balanced view of history that way.

[@EmperorSkel]

The Germans claim that they blew the charges and sunk him themselves, the British claim they torpedo'ed her just right to cause her to sink right then and there at the speed she did. How will we be able to prove this? Well, we wont! Unless someone invents a time machine. My money is on the scuttling charges though, both the British and Germans said she sunk fast, and one torpedo to the side would not do that kind of damage.

[@shawn97006]

Bismarck sinks whether she torpedoed or scuttled or not. Fatal damage was already inflicted and progressive flooding well in progress.

[@Maddog3060]

***** Yeah, you lost me at "James Cameron".

[@shawn97006]

***** Well lets see...#2 boiler room was flooded and had to be abandoned. Port shaft alley was flooded. Compartments III and IV suffered progressive flooding thru cracks and holes and damage to cable systems.All before the final battle. D turrets magazine caught fire after the barbette was penetrated. The ship had a bow trim and a list before the final battle. All this info is from German sources. The Cameron expedition DID NOT survey the wreck. That came during a later expedition. They made amateur guesses. Axis Battleships by Garzke and Dulin has an excellent blow by blow of what happened to the Bismark and why. Get it in the library as it is expensive. Published by the Naval Institute.

[@nguyenthuongthuong]

WTF Bismark is "he"? NO NO NO NO NO I STRONGLY OPPOSE THIS

[@ousou78]

Let me guess, you were imagining blond girl without skirt nor pants?

[@frankvc5899]

ousou78 hahaha good one I love Kancolle too but im more a historical nerd first It was Lindeman who ordered to call the Bismarck “he” For the memory of the iron chancellor ofc

[@johnilarde8440]

Dono Nguyễn Because it was named after a guy? Like, HMS King George V? While the ships that are not named by a guy but by state is called a She?

[@shahzebkhattak325]

"IT IS MA’AM!!!"

[@felixmustermann790]

Bismarck is the Maus as a fucking battleship

[@peterson7082]

Felix Mustermann Fortunately the Bismarck had a more exciting career

[@felixmustermann790]

Nathan Peterson not rly xD

[@peterson7082]

Felix Mustermann I said more exciting, not fun

[@felixmustermann790]

Nathan Peterson i would be lovelier in a maus than in a ship ;)

[@RobertdMacGregor]

Felix Mustermann Just too name 3 class's, Iowa, Yamamoto, Nelson class battleships anyone???

[@brojajacra]

omg, the narrator says the ship is known as he yet you clearly hear the Germans calling her DIE Bismarck and not DER Bismarck. Bismarck is she not he

[@CasperKersten]

4:36 did they really fire all the guns on a main battery at once? I always thought they fired them one after another so the battery itself wouldn't get ripped apart by the tremendous recoil those guns would otherwise cause.

[@ichasegaming]

Casper Kersten During the engagement with the Bismarck, the Rodney did indeed fire full broadsides :)

[@CasperKersten]

That's an interesting detail. I've learned something today. I'm curious about how they will do that in WoWS. All at once or one after another.

[@ichasegaming]

Casper Kersten Can't tell u due to NDA, devs probably did their research on this one ;)

[@Gammahooch13]

iChaseGaming Do you think you will an episode on the design of the German H-44? I am just asking because I heard the H-44 might be the Last in the German Battleship Tier. If you want to know what it looks like I can send you a link for a 3D model of designed. It was designed by someone who World of Warships have asked to use his models.

[@ichasegaming]

SGTGammahooch So far what we know about the tech tree, the top tier German BB is the H41. The H44 is unlikely to be in game. As for making an episode, that might be very very difficult. Although maybe one day I'll do an episode on all the paper ships :)

[@AdmiralKevinKiwi]

I find it almost hard to believe that the ship Bismarck actually lay on anchor at almost the same fjord I live in so this ship is technically quite so well known for me n_n

[@ichasegaming]

KEVIN FREDRIK VINDENES That's amazing o__o what a place to live

[@AdmiralKevinKiwi]

iChaseGaming ya its nice here :) they also had a Bukare on an island named Ramsøy, which they used as a shooting exercise om my grandfather who had a dry house shed just across the fjord.....he said it was not much left of it when they were finished the shooting drill x3

[@joshkendall8143]

those poor lads only 3 survived from HMS Hood out of like 2000 something crew

[@ichasegaming]

Josh Kendall The Hood had 3 survivors out of 1,418 crew. The Bismarck had 114 survivors out of over 2,220 crew. Tragedy on both sides

[@joshkendall8143]

aye

[@nguyen275]

Kantai Collection anyone?

[@ichasegaming]

nguyen275 I personally prefer Arpeggio...:P

[@carroboi2981]

nguyen275 :3

[@Arelia39]

How bout Azur Lane...

[@frankvc5899]

Layla Azure wasn’t even famous or even made them xD

[@julienlanes8462]

i also like the Bismarck

[@peterdoll2498]

This warship is the most terrifying and impressive ship of the ww2 in one for me! i looked all doku's about the Bismarck! i can't Wait play it! :) (sry for my english i am german :P)

[@ichasegaming]

Peter doll Guten tag? I hope I said that right :D I wish the Bismarck wasn't sunk, in fact I wish many of these battleships were saved so we can see them today, but sadly so many of them were destroyed or scrapped.

[@peterdoll2498]

Yes it is right!! :D but it is better that the Bismarck sunk! this impressive ship maybe changed the ww2 in a other Direktion! im am from germany but i don't want to exist under a "hakenkreuz " flag!!;)

[@ichasegaming]

Peter doll That is very true, would have been nice if the Bismarck didn't sink and Nazi Germany lost :P Then we can have the best of both worlds! :D But alas...only a fantasy

[@peterdoll2498]

the bismarck and tirpitz together ……nothing at this time stop them! it is a sunk legend!! :P that point and the fight against the mighty hood make the bismarck so popular!! :)

[@HOrseshoeM]

Yeah, just like I sooo wanted to play Tiger tank in WoT knowing that it was the best tank of the early WW2... For some unknown reason, WG decided to put it too high in the tech tree, making Tigers armor useless and overall mediocre tank for its tier at best.. Same (or very similar) fate struck the Panther too.. And that's why I don't have high expectations for Bismarck and Tirpitz battleships in WoWS..

[@austrone8586]

look at the Prince of Wales and King George the V are those rocket pods on the four gun turrets

[@michaelbuckler]

Early in the war, ie on completion they most probably had 2 pounder 40 mm, pom poms..

[@BHuang92]

Experimental Anti-air rockets. They were removed after HMS Hood sank since it was ineffective and highly explosive.

[@stbg1719]

The documentary States "Hood a Battlecruiser built for speed is not" and that "the armour on her deck is no more than 3 inches thick", this is wrong as in actual fact Hood's deck armour was a total of 7 inches thick along with her 12 inch belt and 12 inch turret armour, in fact in places Hood's armour was better than that of Bismark's. We she was designed as a BC but after all the modifications made to her and armour that was added by commissioning she was really one of the first ture fast Battleships only keeping the Battlecruiser designation as she had a speed of over 30 knots.

[@peterson7082]

+StBg 17 After the refits the speed dropped, notably but not by much. Down to below 28kn. The deck armor covered the forward portions of the ship, but not the rear.

[@dubsy1026]

@@peterson7082 there were no refits dropping her speed. She was finished as a fast battleship in 1920 at 32 knots. She would have had slight drops from AA guns, but really not much. Her speed was 30 knots in 1940, because of the lack of refits to repair her machinery.

[@peterson7082]

Dubsy 102 Her most recent refits increased her weight without modernizing or simply refitting the machinery.

[@dubsy1026]

@@peterson7082 all Hood had really received at this point was a fairly small AA battery and some better fire control. She hadn't gained armour, or anything especially weighty. Hence why I said there were no refits dropping her speed. It was a bit of an overstatement, as I clarified later, but the point remains that the weight of these would not alone cause the 2 knot drop. That was down to worn out engines from being heavily used before the war and during its first two years.

[@lGenial]

Also on a side note, honorable mention to the Warspite. Its shady because during WW2 its classification was uncertain between battleship or heavy cruiser ( well depends on the sources from google). This is the only thing tipping the balance in favor to the Bismark. Otherwise Warspite!

[@michaelbuckler]

Genia Nepotchatykh This is astonishing.The Warspite was always a battleship. I can't imagine where you have been looking. The Warspite's career was almost forty years, whereas the Bismarck's, if you include working-up was about a year.

[@lGenial]

michaelbuckler Hmm, you know that if i had to give thé laurels tout either thé Bismarck or the warspite, thé latest would win. Warspite had thé most honorable carreer while thé Bismarck had thé most honorable death.

[@Jasontvnd9]

Genia Nepotchatykh Cruisers don't come armed with 15 inch guns or weigh 33,000 tons.... she was most definately a battleship and you're the first person to have ever said otherwise.

[@bengrogan9710]

Genia Nepotchatykh There has never been any idea that HMS Warspite was a "Heavy cruiser" I think you have your names mixed up HMS Hood, The ship the Bismark sunk, was a ship that there was some debate as to whether she was a "Battlecruiser" or a "Fast battleship" Fast battleship was the original term and "Battlecruiser" being the latter term.

[@dubsy1026]

@@bengrogan9710 No, fast battleships are what made battlecruisers obsolete. HMS Invincible was a battlecruiser. USS Iowa is a fast battleship.

[@randyjohnson805]

A Japanese pilot would have dropped his torpedo and crashed into bridge. Out of 9 planes the Japanese would have one miss and 9 crashes into bismark

[@jecemarsthebvgelvezon7694]

couldn't the bismarck call for an aerial support from the lutwaffe? that always bothers me....just why?

[@dubsy1026]

Because they would have had to fly directly past Britian with no fighter cover, and probably further than any Luftwaffe aircraft minus flying boats and the Condor had range anyway.

[@sanjaykrishna2953]

What bout da tirpitz

[@TDavis-ml6kl]

The ship the British couldn't sink. Thankfully to save lives she sank herself.

[@Jasontvnd9]

T. Davis I''m fairly sure she was sinking when they scuttled her... theres alot of evidence to suggest she was flooding at an alarming rate.

[@Jasontvnd9]

Romano Coombs so they can say they scuittled her and she didnt sink?

[@Lone_Wolf_Radio]

so where's that fact that the Bismarck's crew at that day where (not including the admiral and the captain) rookies?

[@jesseruby6533]

No, not at all.

[@deathreaperlove1]

What? No! The Kriegsmarine aboard the Bismarck were the best of the best, taken from some of the best ships on the sea. I don't know what the hell you are talking about.

[@Lone_Wolf_Radio]

sorry I meant to put AA gun crew I hadn't noticed that until now.. :s

[@johannsebastianbach9003]

Venetto,Bismwrck,yamato If these three brother saw each other no ship can stop brother feom sinking ships

[@dubsy1026]

An aircraft carrier could do a pretty good job of it

[@y0Milan]

Hood was certainly not the biggest british ship at the time.... she was not even a battleship

[@ichasegaming]

Gen - cod sniper and OBJ Hood was indeed the largest British warship at the time. She displaced ~46,000 tons. Making her heavier than the Nelson class battleships and the King George class battleships

[@y0Milan]

iChaseGaming oh excuse me. but none the less she was not the finest or deadliest warship in service - she had no armor. it just goes to show how much we needed to knock out the bismark when we send a battlecruiser, the only thing fast enough to catch her and guns big enough to sink her, after her. futile effort really.

[@niklaswegmann4163]

Gen - cod sniper and OBJ she had very thick armor at the hull - comparable to the bismarck the deck was just bad

[@y0Milan]

Niklas Wegmann Its an old almost Pre-Jutland style, deck armour is imperative for battleships especially those with large guns like these two.

[@dubsy1026]

The ship had a belt with at short ranges was as effective as the Iowa. The deck armour was weak, but it is hypocritical to criticise it for that when the Bismarck was notorious for its poor deck protection. And yes, she was a battleship. Same armament and armour as a Queen Elizabeth class, just faster. A true fast battleship.

[@schmolzz]

they have to nerf the bismark or use post war ships for the other countrys :p such op also ,for the brits ,loosing naval control would have lead to certain defeat.

[@mariokampa3264]

I cannot confirm that the "Bismarck" is referred to by "he", i.e. having a masculine gender. As with all ships, the "Bismarck" has a feminine gender, i.e. "die Bismarck". This at least holds true for German language. Sometime it is referred to as "das Schlachtschiff BIsmarck" (neuter) which however stems from the first and therefore dominating term "das Schlachtschiff" which in turn is of neuter gender.

[@benquinney2]

Unsinkable according to some

[@codyreed8514]

I know for sure that that the Germans scuttled it

[@NOVAVEXIS]

Dam i go for the Yamato or and the bismarck :D

[@GoonMcGoonerson]

did hood really fire her guns before she sunk??

[@arongatt]

The graff spee was also one of the greatest ever build .

[@peterson7082]

Aron Gatt Graf Spee, though fighting valiantly had a relatively short and uneventful service life

[@arongatt]

yeah she ventured towards an unfaithful voyage

[@michaelbuckler]

Aron Gatt It is hard to see why you might think this.The Graf Spee's fighting career was only about four months, and it didn't sink very many Allied merchant ships. When cornered three smaller British cruisers rendered it inoperable, despite sustaining heavy damage. G. S. was slow, overgunned, and poorly protected. See Antony Preston. "The World's Worst Warships" The German's wasted their money.

[@michaelbuckler]

Aron Gatt What does that mean in English?

[@arongatt]

michaelbuckler graf spee was an ADMIRAL ship was named after him

[@TheBluePhoenix79]

24:00 how did he die from an aircraft catapult?

[@xxlegoteenxx]

I believe the catapult was launched with him inside it and kinda flung him out, disintegrating him.

[@Penryn87]

The lost of Hood is ENTIRELY the fault of the British Admiralty. They sent an outdated World War 1 era battle-cruiser to take on the most advanced battleship in the world. Complete with the most advance fire control system of the time. In addition, the Prince of Wales had gun problems because she was technically complete just under 2 months before the battle. This was all compounded by the fact that within 3 to 4 salvo's, the german guns were nearly always on target. The only saving grace for the day was the fact that prince of wales (out of many many salvos) managed to score two critical hits on weak points in the bismark armor causing her to lose fuel oil and take on water forcing an attempt to return to port.

[@FelorScenes]

wait, biggest battleship in the world? at '41 the Yamato existed, which was bigger 20m longer and 2 m wider (and had 46 cm guns, which were 8 cm bigger). Well, it wasn't in service yet, so technically they are right, I guess.

[@ichasegaming]

Korstog and also the true dimensions of the Yamato weren't known until after the war, maybe that's where they were coming from?