Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History

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

Moderator: Bill Jurens

pgollin
Senior Member
Posts: 382
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:01 pm

Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History

Post by pgollin »

.

Amazon.co.uk has advanced notification of a new book on the Bismarck ;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battleship-Bis ... s=bismarck

Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History

Hardcover

– 1 Dec 2018

by William H Garzke Jr (Author),
Robert O Dulin Jr (Author),
Bill Jurens (Author),
Assistant Professor of International Relations James Cameron (As (Contributor)

Hardcover: 476 pages
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (1 Dec. 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1591145694
ISBN-13: 978-1591145691

.
Bill Jurens
Moderator
Posts: 876
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 4:21 am
Location: USA

Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018

Post by Bill Jurens »

Just for reference, the announcement itself is correct, except for the Associate Professor of International Relations part. Nobody seems to know exactly where that came from... None of us are professors.

Bill Jurens
dunmunro
Senior Member
Posts: 4394
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 1:25 am
Location: Langley BC Canada

Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018

Post by dunmunro »

Bill Jurens wrote:Just for reference, the announcement itself is correct, except for the Associate Professor of International Relations part. Nobody seems to know exactly where that came from... None of us are professors.

Bill Jurens
Bill hi. I hope you'll be taking a very hard look at the evidence as to when Bismarck opened on 24 May/41.
User avatar
frontkampfer
Member
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 2:35 am
Location: Phillipsburg, NJ - USA

Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018

Post by frontkampfer »

Bill,

Eagerly awaiting the book. I know it will be great because you are involved!
"I will not have my ship shot out from under my ass!"
Bill Jurens
Moderator
Posts: 876
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 4:21 am
Location: USA

Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018

Post by Bill Jurens »

Thank you for the comments. My main area of expertise is technical rather than tactical, so I did not involve myself too deeply in the analysis of various actions, etc., particularly insofar as many details have now been lost or went unrecorded in the first place, leaving a rather convoluted 'Gordian knot' of often inconsistent, and perhaps inherently irreconcilable, anecdotal accounts to be untangled.

My own approach, as many correspondents will already know, is fairly conservative, largely based on documentary evidence. As the book represents a collaborative effort, some compromises had to be made. This means, of cours, that not all of the conclusions expressed are completely in congruence with my own interpretations, but the authors have, in most cases, been able to agree, at least in fundamentals. We have gone to some effort to discriminate unanimous conclusions from those which remain somewhat contentious.

I do hope the work does represent a useful and comprehensive reference on the subjects at hand.

Bill Jurens
dunmunro
Senior Member
Posts: 4394
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 1:25 am
Location: Langley BC Canada

Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018

Post by dunmunro »

Thanks, it will certainly be on my "must have" list.
User avatar
José M. Rico
Administrator
Posts: 1008
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:23 am
Location: Madrid, Spain
Contact:

Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018

Post by José M. Rico »

This is great news!
I heard about this book a couple of years ago, and I'm glad it is finally being published.
I really look forward to this volume! :ok:
pgollin
Senior Member
Posts: 382
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:01 pm

Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018

Post by pgollin »

.

I have had an e-mail from the UK publishers (Pen and Sword) stating that this book has now been released.

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Battles ... ck/p/16351


.
dunmunro
Senior Member
Posts: 4394
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 1:25 am
Location: Langley BC Canada

Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History

Post by dunmunro »

I look forward to reading it.
Byron Angel
Senior Member
Posts: 1651
Joined: Sun Mar 06, 2011 1:06 am

Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History

Post by Byron Angel »

dunmunro wrote: Tue Jun 11, 2019 6:41 pm I look forward to reading it.
Just ordered my copy. I look forward to reading it and discussing it! It might make for an interesting "change of pace".

B
Byron Angel
Senior Member
Posts: 1651
Joined: Sun Mar 06, 2011 1:06 am

Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History

Post by Byron Angel »

Hello gents,
Just got the book yesterday afternoon - 9.5 x 12in format; 600+ pages (incl index); SEVEN POUNDS IN WEIGHT. Lovely physical quality at first glance. Just diving in now.

Very much looking forward to having something new and interesting to discuss here.


B
pasoleati
Member
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:30 am
Location: Finland

Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History

Post by pasoleati »

What I'd going on? I have read today two reviewers saying that this book has disappointingly poor coverage of the engineering aspects of the ship like machinery and structural details. Is this really true that a 600-page book on a single ship fails to deliver? I did expect this to be the bible on the Bismarck with a greater depth of technical detail than in the Japanese Cruisers/Lacroix & Wells.
RobertsonN
Member
Posts: 199
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:47 am

Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History

Post by RobertsonN »

I would agree mostly with this assessment. The book is very strong on the operational story and the wreck. There are many excellent photos of the ship as it is now, mainly taken during the Cameron 2002 expedition. There is a fairly detailed reconstruction of the probable trajectory of the ship from the moment of sinking to the ship arriving at where it is now. This is necessary to distinguish battle damage from damage occurring after the ship sank. Here the book is research level. There are diagrams showing where shells and torpedoes struck.

The discussion of the latter stages of its life on the surface is exceptionally detailed and based on interviews with survivors, participants and also with extensive material drawn from some of the other books on the subject.

On pure engineering details of the ship the book is strong. But in the main the description of the ship and the assessment of it in the pantheon of battleships contains little in it that is not in the authors' previous book on Axis Battleships. There is no reference to German source material such as Gkdos100, the paper by Hoyer or the German comparison of Bismarck with Richelieu. There is no reference to other relevant material such as the USNTME report. There is considerable material drawn from Brennecke but little about the ship itself as opposed to its operational history. The authors writing style is such that there is considerable repetition and even contradiction.

Consequently, overall I am finding the book a disappointment. It is good but could have been better.

Neil Robertson
RobertsonN
Member
Posts: 199
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:47 am

Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History

Post by RobertsonN »

Another omission in this book is any reference to the post-Jutland German designs for ships of the line and 'fast large fighting ships'. These were mostly of about the same size as Bismarck. While the ships of the line featured the usual sloping armor deck, the fast large fighting ships omitted this in favor of a torpedo bulkhead thickened to 60/70 mm. The hull forms of these ships were narrower but fuller than in Bismarck, which resulted in lower propulsive efficiency. They are well described in Deutsche GrossKampfschiffe 1915 bis 1918 by Friedrich Forstmeier, Lehmanns, Munich (1970). These ships rather than Baden were probably the starting point for the Bismarck design,

Neil Robertson
pasoleati
Member
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:30 am
Location: Finland

Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History

Post by pasoleati »

Since Mr. Jurens is a member of this board, I wonder if he could interject here and explain the reasons for the above-mentioned shortcomings? I do find it odd that with authors of such engineering backgrounds the end result is not THE engineering bible on the ship.
Locked