The resultant battle, the Battle of the Denmark Strait, saw the British vessels HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales engage the two vessels. The two vessels were detected multiple times off Scandinavia, prompting Britain to initiate naval blocking maneuvers. This operation, codenamed Rheinübung, was to attempt what the Allies feared, a breakthrough to the Atlantic and raid allied shipping efforts between Britain and North America (along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen). During this time, she only took part in a single offensive action that lasted just eight days in May 1941.

Churchill was determined that the two battleships not be let loose upon the Atlantic.īismarck's career, however, was woefully short, spanning just eight months under a single Captain, Ernst Lindeman. Whilst the physical power they held was tremendous, they also wreaked psychological havoc amongst the allies.

She and her sister ship, Tirpitz, were two of the largest battleships built by any European power, and certainly the largest built by Germany. The battleship was laid down in July 1936 and launched February 1939. Bismarck was the first, named for the Chancellor (Otto von Bismarck). Two Bismarck-class battleships were built for the Kriegsmarine.

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