![]() ![]() The Bismarck was launched with great fanfare on on March 14, 1939, with Otto von Bismarck's granddaughter in attendance and Adolf Hitler himself giving the christening speech. ![]() A ship as fast and powerful as the Bismarck raiding convoys could do horrendous damage and make a bad supply situation for Great Britain even worse. The German Kriegsmarine was never going to have the numbers to confront Great Britain's vast surface fleet, but the German strategy of attacking merchant shipping using U-boats, fast attack cruisers and light battleships had been bearing fruit. Her top speed of over 30 knots made her one of the fastest battleships afloat. She had a fearsome armament of 8 15-inch guns alongside 56 smaller cannons, and her main armor belt was over a foot of rolled steel. ![]() At the time of its launch, the German battleship Bismarck, the namesake of the 19th century German chancellor responsible for German unification, was easily the most powerful warship in World War II Europe, displacing over 50,000 tons when fully loaded and crewed by over 2,200 men. ![]()
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