Main Turrets?

Anything concerning the wreck. Expeditions, submersibles, photos, etc.
Vic Dale
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Re: Main Turrets?

Post by Vic Dale »

When Bismarck rolled over she cannot have gone completely over, or the turrets would have fallen out immediately and would be closely grouped on the ocean bed. The fact that these super heavy structures (1000 tons each) are scatttered, indicates that the ship carried them down for some way and they dropped away at different intervals. (see resurfacing thread).

I would tend to think the ship remained inverted as she went down and with so much air still inside her the descent would be slow. As the depth increased the intense pressure would have crushed the air inside the hull reducing bouyancy so that the accelerating descent righted her. I expect there is an engineer somewhere who could tell us at what depth the air would have been fully compressed, or compressed to the point where it lent no bouyancy to the hull.

The final descent would have been at good speed and the impact very great, which I believe is confirmed by the way the bottom shell plating has been blown outwards by the force of water in the hull. Much of the superstructure will have toppled at this point and would not likely have fallen off on simple inversion. Other wrecks where the hull has remained inverted have the superstructure still in place, but crushed into the sea bed.

I think a good gauge of the force of that impact can be seen where the heavy hinges on the armoured port side door to the forward gunnery control have fracture allowing the massively thick door to settle on the bridge deck. That would require some force.

Vic Dale
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Legend
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Re: Main Turrets?

Post by Legend »

Now that I think about it that is a very good point. Does anyone have a map (not with the wreck's location of course) but one that gives the general arrangement and ranges of all the pieces... The hull, the turrets, the admiral's bridge... We know they were spread out, but HOW SPREAD OUT? Is it a matter of a few hundred feet, meaning currents and other small drifting anamolies would be the most likely cause, or are they farther apart, a few thousand feet, meaning they must have drifted with the wreck on the way down...

The fracture of the door you are talking about could have been from almost anything... you have to remember the superstructure was pretty blown out by the time she disappeared from sight. That armored door could have very well been hit numerous times by shells, thus causing fractures. But yes, the impact with the seafloor could have been a factor. (A factor enough to blow out sections of the hull)
AND THE SEA SHALL GRANT EACH MAN NEW HOPE, AS SLEEP BRINGS DREAMS.
Bgile
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Re: Main Turrets?

Post by Bgile »

If there was air trapped in watertight compartments, the only way to crush the air was to crush the compartment. IMO that would have begun at about 100 feet and by the time the ship was several hundred feet down there would have been no more watertight compartments at all, and the ship would be completely filled with water.

I wasn't aware of the sides being "blown out" by impact with the bottom. That must be new information. I know there was damage done to the bottom by the ship's slide down the underwater mount, which carried her quite some distance from the original impact point.
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Legend
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Re: Main Turrets?

Post by Legend »

Have you seen the footage of the Cameron Expedition with the Mirs? When they were sliding around her, they sood discovered that long sections of the outer hull was missing, they could see where the fuel must have been stored, all the way back to the torpedo bulkhead, but that's where the damage evidently stopped, there wasn't so much as a scratch to the bulkhead that was visible, more proof of scuttling vs sinking.

They later found the missing sections of the waterline hull near the impact zone. I didn't know there was damage to the bottom, though I don't doubt it with an impact like she had... How did they prove the damage?
AND THE SEA SHALL GRANT EACH MAN NEW HOPE, AS SLEEP BRINGS DREAMS.
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