How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Discussions about the history of the ship, technical details, etc.

Moderator: Bill Jurens

martyn1
Junior Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 23, 2011 6:34 pm

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by martyn1 »

I first became interested in the Bismarck when my Grandfather showed me his medals these include the Distinguished Service Medal he received for the Bismarck action he being LSBA on the Battleship HMS Prince of Wales and watched the whole action before being the first person on the shattered bridge of the Prince of Wales after it was hit by a shell ....not supriseingly I was captivated.

Martyn.
User avatar
mike kemble
Supporter
Posts: 54
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:17 pm
Location: Sutton Coldfield England

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by mike kemble »

I rather think that, whilst the Bismarck was a marvellous piece of marine engineering, interest was rekindled thanks to Ballard and his historical undersea explorations. Other than that Bismarck was just 'another piece of WW2 memorabilia'. I built a Bismarck model many years ago as a young lad and was captivated by its design and 'beauty'. And my interest, whilst dimmed, was never diminished. She was without doubt a beautiful ship but was, as with all other capital ships, at the end of her days before she began. As with Prince of Wales and Repulse and the Yamato, her nemesis was - AIRCRAFT.
User avatar
RF
Senior Member
Posts: 7759
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:15 pm
Location: Wolverhampton, ENGLAND

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by RF »

mike kemble wrote:I rather think that, whilst the Bismarck was a marvellous piece of marine engineering...... As with Prince of Wales and Repulse and the Yamato, her nemesis was - AIRCRAFT.
in Bismarck's case an inability to steer with propellers alone, for which there would have been a clean escape, was the true nemesis. Plus lack of supporting forces. In fact the lack of supporting forces is the common factor in the loss of all these ships, rather than just enemy air attack per se.
''Give me a Ping and one Ping only'' - Sean Connery.
User avatar
Karl Heidenreich
Senior Member
Posts: 4808
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:19 pm
Location: San José, Costa Rica

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by Karl Heidenreich »

Numerical inferiority.
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.
Sir Winston Churchill
User avatar
RF
Senior Member
Posts: 7759
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:15 pm
Location: Wolverhampton, ENGLAND

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by RF »

Numerical inferiority indeed - but Bismarck faced numerical inferiority exactly seventy years ago today and spectaculary came up trumps......
''Give me a Ping and one Ping only'' - Sean Connery.
Ultimate Shield
Junior Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 3:13 am

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by Ultimate Shield »

I first read about bismarck in a issue of National Geographic magazine when I was a kid. Since then I have tried to learn as much information on it as I am able to find, but the info trail never seems to stop. :lol:
User avatar
Karl Heidenreich
Senior Member
Posts: 4808
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:19 pm
Location: San José, Costa Rica

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by Karl Heidenreich »

Not for Bismarck at least.
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.
Sir Winston Churchill
User avatar
BB56
Junior Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2011 6:07 am
Location: Kent, Washington, United States

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by BB56 »

When I was four I remember playing with my dad's model ships and having him tell me the stories about each of them. The one model that he wouldn't let me play with though was Bismarck, unless he was playing with me. He told me the story, read me Ballard's book, and then I read William Shirer's book "The Sinking of the Bismarck". Since then, it has been one of my all-time favorite subjects and I have created several projects throughout school about Bismarck. I am now preparing to build my own model of Bismarck (1/350 Tamiya) and working on a 20-page essay regarding Bismarck.
steffen19k
Member
Posts: 77
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 5:31 pm

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by steffen19k »

My interest in the Bismarck stems from Tanks, or Landships.

I would have to say that reviewing battleships, and abstracting that into tank design has had a significant effect on the way I view any armor, fire control, or gun system.

I know you're probably wondering how comparing a battleship to a tank has any effect on anything, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Here is everything I know about war: Someone wins, Someone loses, and nothing is ever the same again. Here is everything I know about life: The only certainties are death and taxes.
The enemy of freedom are those who proclaim only they can uphold it.
001001
Junior Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:33 am

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by 001001 »

my daughter was born on the 27 may and i collect militaria !
User avatar
RF
Senior Member
Posts: 7759
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:15 pm
Location: Wolverhampton, ENGLAND

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by RF »

steffen19k wrote:I know you're probably wondering how comparing a battleship to a tank has any effect on anything, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
An interesting concept. But I would make the observation that not even the Heer could dream up a tank with four turrets instead of one.....
''Give me a Ping and one Ping only'' - Sean Connery.
Jagdboot
Junior Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:28 pm

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by Jagdboot »

I think I discovered my infatuation for Bismarck after watching the movie "Sink the Bismarck". Perhaps it sounds slightly too obvious, but everyone starts somewhere.

Jagdboot
User avatar
RF
Senior Member
Posts: 7759
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:15 pm
Location: Wolverhampton, ENGLAND

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by RF »

Indeed they do.
''Give me a Ping and one Ping only'' - Sean Connery.
James Finlay

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by James Finlay »

My interest started when I was about 12 (way back in 1960 or so) when my parents gave me a book written by a German Journalist named Will Berthold called 'The Sinking of the Bismarck' (it was English translated) and since then the subject has always 'grabbed' me. In the book a picture of the Hood blowing up is clearly in fact that of the Barham, but if I can allow for Jornalistic licence the description of the last 2 hours of what it was like on the Bismarck were horrific...as war is.
User avatar
Wordy
Member
Posts: 50
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2013 9:43 am
Location: Rotherham, England

Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by Wordy »

To be honest I’d always hated the Bismarck and her crew. I served in the Royal Navy and knew his story from my own reading pretty well, to me he was the ship that sent HMS Hood and 1,400+ men to their deaths.

Of course as I got older I stopped thinking in black and white and realised that as evil as the Nazi regime was the servicemen in the Kreigsmarine were by enlarge the same as the Royal Navy servicemen and didn’t deserve hatred and given the choice wouldn’t chose to fight in WW2.

Earlier this year I decided I’d give scale modelling another go and joined modelwarships.com, I was browsing the gallery and there were some pretty impressive models on there and I noticed the Bismarck is a pretty popular subject for modellers. Some of the kits made me think that actually the Bismarck is a rather good looking ship so I decided to do a little reading up on the ship and found this site. As far as I was concerned he was sunk by a near 20 year old HMS Rodney so wasn’t that impressive, but I as I’ve read on this site he actually was that impressive and deserves to be thought of as one of the most powerful battleships ever built.
In the Highest Tradition of the Royal Navy - Captain John Leach MVO DSO
Post Reply