SOUNDINGS

No. 10 · Battleship

Bismarck

Lost 27 May 1941 · North Atlantic · about 4,700–4,800 m

Germany's most famous battleship was hunted down and sunk in the Atlantic in May 1941, three days after she sank HMS Hood; only 114 of her crew survived.

Flag
Germany (Kriegsmarine)
Built
Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, 1936–1940
Length
251 m
Aboard
about 2,200
Lives lost
more than 2,000
Survived
114
Position
48°10.0′ N, 16°12.0′ W
Lies at
about 4,700–4,800 m, volcanic slope and mud
FRANCEBrestBay of BiscayIRELAND20°W15°W10°W5°W45°N50°N0200 nautical milesBismarckabout 4,700–4,800 mN
North Atlantic, about 650 km west of Brest.
Battleship Bismarck (Bundesarchiv Bild 193-04-1-26)
Battleship Bismarck (Bundesarchiv Bild 193-04-1-26). Unknown photographer / Bundesarchiv, 1940 · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

On her first operation Bismarck sank the British battlecruiser Hood with almost all her crew. Three days later the Royal Navy caught her. This is the deepest wreck in the atlas.

Cause. A torpedo jammed her rudder; British battleships wrecked her guns, cruisers torpedoed her and her own crew set scuttling charges. How much each contributed is still debated.

Plate · elevation, starboard side

The ship

AB

Load waterline

A Turrets Anton and Bruno, the tower mast and the bridge
B Turrets Caesar and Dora, aft

Elevation, starboard side

The last hours

Ship drawn to scale; the water below is not.

  1. 24 May 1941

    Denmark Strait

    Bismarck and the cruiser Prinz Eugen sank HMS Hood. Bismarck was hit too, began leaking fuel, and turned for France.

  2. 26 May, evening

    The rudder jams

    Swordfish torpedo bombers from the carrier Ark Royal attacked; one torpedo struck the stern and jammed her rudders. She could no longer steer away.

  3. 26–27 May, night

    Destroyers circle

    British and Polish destroyers shadowed and attacked her through the night as she steamed in circles.

  4. 27 May, 08:47

    The final battle

    The battleships Rodney and King George V opened fire; Bismarck replied a few minutes later.

  5. About 09:30

    Guns silent

    With all her main turrets out of action, her executive officer ordered the ship scuttled and abandoned.

  6. About 10:20–10:40

    She capsizes

    The cruiser Dorsetshire fired torpedoes and the scuttling charges went off. She rolled over and sank by about 10:40.

  7. About 11:40

    The rescue cut short

    Dorsetshire and the destroyer Maori were pulling men from the water when a U-boat was reported, and they left. Of about 2,200 aboard, 114 survived.

500 m · 273 fm
1,000 m · 547 fm
1,500 m · 820 fm
2,000 m · 1,094 fm
2,500 m · 1,367 fm
3,000 m · 1,640 fm
3,500 m · 1,914 fm
4,000 m · 2,187 fm
4,500 m · 2,461 fm

Below about 200 m almost all sunlight is gone. This is where the twilight zone begins.

Below 1,000 m no sunlight reaches at all: the midnight zone. The only light is made by living things.

The abyss. The water here is a degree or two above freezing all year round.

At 4,700–4,800 m the pressure is about 480 times what it is at the surface.

1Empty barbettes: the turrets fell out2Tower mast and funnel gone3Stern broken away, never found
  1. Empty barbettes: the turrets fell out
  2. Tower mast and funnel gone
  3. Stern broken away, never found

Elevation, starboard side, as found.M volcanic slope and mud · about 4,700–4,800 m

As found

Where she lies

Her hull rests upright, having slid about 2 km downhill after hitting the bottom. All four main turrets fell out as she capsized and lie nearby; her stern broke away and has not been found. Later surveys saw few holes in her main armour belt, which feeds the old argument over gunfire against scuttling.

Found

Found on 8 June 1989 by Robert Ballard's expedition, with deep-towed sonar and cameras, on the slope of an extinct seamount.

Today

A war grave. The position is kept confidential by its discoverers; the mark here is approximate.

Sources