How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

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

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José M. Rico
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by José M. Rico »

Wordy wrote: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.
Welcome aboard Wordy!
... and thanks for your post.
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Alberto Virtuani
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by Alberto Virtuani »

Hello to everybody!
I become interested in Bismarck when as a child I was gifted the Italian version of the Baron (Burkard Baron von Mllenheim-Rechberg) book "Battleship Bismarck". When I read the book, I was fashinated by this battleship short but heroic history and by the technical information I got in the book.

I must admit that this book started my interest not only for Bismarck but also for Naval History, for gunnery and for the Navy itself: in the Italian Navy I was in the "Army Navali" (Naval Weapons) service from April 1987 till August 1988 during my military duty.

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

Post by ShiningPate »

I became interested in the Bismarck when I discovered my mother was on board the Georgic. She was a sister in the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve. The purser on the Georgic was James Robertson-Justice, the actor, most famous for his role as Sir Lancelot Spratt in the 'Doctor' series of films. He gave my mother a telegram relating to the Bismarck incident and I hope it will be of interest to the members on this forum. Unfortunately I've had to lower the resolution for uploading. Here's hoping.
Bismarck_telegram_800.jpg
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RF
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by RF »

Interesting document.

During Rheinubung I understand that convoys were rerouted out of Bismarck's path; this telegram indicates Bismarck was close to a convoy by within 60 miles which was a bit close. This fact, if true, isn't mentioned by any of the written accounts of Bismarck, not even by Kennedy or Ballard.
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by sineatimorar »

My interest started some 35 years ago. Military service was pretty big interest for me as both my parents were army brats and I considered it a bit of a family tradition. From the age of 5 we lived on my grandpa's farm, by 6 years old I was proficient and accurate marksman, ( my father's idea of teaching us boys how to protect the family).

My biggest problem was I lacked the ability to read well, by 12 I had not found any reason or anything interesting enough bother with it. That all changed when I went secondary school and what a library it had! I found history, specially military history, fascinating. I basically learnt to read, reading the magazine series of War of the Worlds , WW2. I came across the Bismarck story and something made me question the book's account and conclusions.
My grandpa said to me " Do not belive everything you read!" It was the first-time I came across the saying " To the victor goes history". How disappointed I was to find out the history I was reading was not 'the truth and nothing but the truth !'

The answer to that problem was not solved until I was in my early 40's when I got a chance to have many conversations with returned servicemen. First hand accounts showed clearly that somethings in war better left unsaid and if you did write about it better to a positive slant on it; not to protect the survivors, but the sensibilities of the loved ones of the dead. The war in Pacific went into special places of depravity and inhuman treatment of dead. Somethings are just too horrible to be formally put on paper.

Having the luck to meet a talkative German veteran and the long conversations I was able to have him was a huge eye openner for myself. To talk someone who was just a basic soldier, from the ' other side' who did not 'sugar coat' his record of service. He participated in many horrible events in Black Sea area of the Russian campaign and at home near Munich, that his will to live and his desire to end his nightmares of memories was a living torment that he went thru to the day he died some 50 years after his nightmare started.

In his opinion sometimes the dead get it lucky. Their suffering in this existence is over. The living's goes on.
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by Stefan7litre »

For me, it was Aviation History, the "Stringbag" (Swordfish) aircraft, then I became interested in Marine War History and engineering technology (like rocket propulsion and guidance control systems) that came out of war time. Always had the "western school history" taught to me as a child. I learned that facts were often left out or inaccurate. Then, I became more interested in the men (human factor) who fought on both sides of the war. I feel that the men are the most important thing that should be remember and respected and that their life stories should be preserved as well.
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by leo1974 »

My first interest came with Mr. Cameron's finding the Bismark. I read some articles and watched the National Geographic Show on finding the Bismark. I have always had an interest in the power projected by the large battleships (Hood, Bismark, Yamato and the Missouri). I also have a respect for the Germans for their pride and accomplishments in technology and machine building. When you read the stories about the sinking of any of the naval ships, but especially the large crews of the two battleships that were lost you can't feeling sorrow for the loss of human life and admiration for their efforts at serving their countries and giving the ultimate sacrifices.

I found the Bismark model a little over a year ago and decided then that I would like to make my first effort as I come up on retirement to build each of the four major battleships and learn the history of each. Seems like the least we can do to honor them by remembering the sacrifices they made. I hope to have a display case in my home with the four ships within the next 6 to 8 years.
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RNfanDan
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by RNfanDan »

Cameron didn't find a "Bismark", except possibly a cream-filled pastry by that name in his research ship's pantry.

He did manage to locate the Bismarck, a famous German battleship wreck.

:?
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leo1974
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by leo1974 »

Sorry, spell check failed me, my mistake!! :oops:
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by Steve Crandell »

I realize that I have a history here and didn't declare myself when I rejoined the forum.

I used to post here as Bgile and am now posting under my real name.
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RF
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by RF »

Welcome back.
''Give me a Ping and one Ping only'' - Sean Connery.
MikeT

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

Post by MikeT »

I first heard the name Bismarck when I was about six years old in England. I remember my parents talking about the sinking of the Hood, and then the revenge on the Bismarck. At the time these where just names of ships and would come up every now and then as I grew older. I do not think I knew the true history of events.
I think my interest was reawakened when the Movie Sink the Bismarck came out. About that time Tamiya introduced their 1/350 Bismarck and being a plastic modeler I had to have one. Due to other concerns I had to put the half finished kit away. In 2002 my Brother in Law gave me the book Hood And Bismarck by David Mearns and Rob White, so then I was able to learn a lot of the history. So out came the Tamiya kit again .I was just planning to build a 1/350 Hood when Trumpeter introduced their 1/200 Bismarck which I now have under construction. I have often wondered how much damage Bismarck might have inflicted if events would have allowed her? him? to continue operations.
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by Dave Saxton »

MikeT wrote:... I have often wondered how much damage Bismarck might have inflicted if events would have allowed her? him? to continue operations.
It could have been considerable. The bluff of putting old battleships with convoys worked against Scharnhorst and Gneisenau but against Bismarck it would be a different set of dynamics. Bismarck could have made short work of any of those old battleships.
Entering a night sea battle is an awesome business.The enveloping darkness, hiding the enemy's.. seems a living thing, malignant and oppressive.Swishing water at the bow and stern mark an inexorable advance toward an unknown destiny.
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RF
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by RF »

Dave Saxton wrote: ... against Bismarck it would be a different set of dynamics. Bismarck could have made short work of any of those old battleships.
On paper. The ''one old battleship'' would not be in isolation as there would be destroyers and possibly a cruiser also with the convoy escort which would seek to launch torpedo attacks on Bismarck while the battleship was engaged. If Bismarck is alone this poses risks of battle damage from different sources. It wouldn't be quite like Scheer versus Jervis Bay. If Prinz Eugen is in company then that ship is vulnerable more so than Bismarck to battle damage.

The original Rheinubung plan was a for a four ship German task force, including the twins. Those four attacking a convoy together could easily annihilate both the merchant ships and entire escort, their combined firepower would be overwhelming.
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Re: How did you come to be interested in Bismarck?

Post by Cag »

Hi All,
I first heard of the Bismarck as a child, I had an interest in model making and was in the process of constructing the Tamiya Bismarck which my Uncle took great interest in, it was later that my Mother informed me that my Uncle had been on board HMS Prince of Wales and had been at the Battle of the Denmark Strait! I did try to talk to him about it but he had bad memories of the loss of Hood and of course of his own ships sinking in which he was wounded (Pom pom crew S1) but held no grudge against any nation, but was a little touchy of comment on Churchill who I think he blamed, amongst others, for the loss of so many of his shipmates. I managed to complete the Bismarck and managed later to build her sister ship Tirpitz and thought both their stories/looks compelling. As a newbie I'm working my way through all previous threads, and am amazed at the vast knowledge on all subjects, but very happy that the memories of all those involved in such actions are still remembered.
Best wishes to all contributors,
Cag.
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