Naval History Forums

How many separate stations did Bismarck have from which the entire main battery could be directed?
Where exactly in the ship were the FC calculations performed?

I may be long but I believe that there was only three positions that all the main turrets could be directed from. These being on the top of the main forward bridge, on the top of the tower and just aft of the main mast.

There were in addiition port and starboard night action directors on each side of the combat bridge gallery around the conning tower and on either side of the after fire control station. The day action positions each had multiple directors within the fire control station, the forward and foretop positions each having three, and the after station two. The directors were capable of controling the main or 15cm batteries.

thomas

Fire control calculations were made in the forward or after Rechenstellen or calculating stations. There were seperate stations for main and secondary low angle batteries, as well as high angle calculating stations for the heavy FlaK battery. There was 100% redundancy as the foreward station was duplicated in the after one. Both were situated below the Panzerdeck, the after one in compartment VII or VIII and the forward group in compartment XV, if memory serves me correctly.

Could the turrets themselves act as directors for each other? What FC gear was in the turrets?
Is there a representational schematic anywhere showing the FC system layout?

Tiornu wrote:Could the turrets themselves act as directors for each other? What FC gear was in the turrets?
Is there a representational schematic anywhere showing the FC system layout?

Take a look at the AVKS report, paragraph 105. There were rangefinders in the turrets, but they were of limited use, particularly in the turrets close to the waterline and because of smoke.