Bismarck

The Bismarck, German battleship of the Bismarck class, was commissioned in 1940 after being built between 1936 and 1939 by the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg. She takes her name from the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck and is the first ship of her class, used by Nazi Germany. Alongside her sister ship, the Tirpitz, she was the largest German warship.

After commissioning in August 1940, she took part in Operation Rheinübung in May 1941. Accompanied by the cruiser Prinz Eugen, she was to attack Allied convoys between North America and the United Kingdom. After destroying the British battlecruiser Hood in the Battle of Denmark Strait, Bismarck was damaged and headed to France for repairs. However, he was pursued by the Royal Navy. Attacked by British torpedo planes, she was then pinned down by British battleships and sank after being scuttled by her crew in May 1941.

The Bismarck wreck was located in 1989 by American oceanographer Robert Ballard, lying at 4,800 meters depth about 650 kilometers off the French coast.