British Battleship Vs German Battleship

At the outbreak of World War II, the four key Capital German ships comprised the Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Their primary threats where the Royal Navy's King George Vclass battleships, the most modern British battleships in commission during World War II and some of the Navy's most powerful vessels. Five ships of this class were built: HMS King George V, Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Howe (late 1942) and Anson (late 1942). The powerful vessels in this class would clash with the pride of the Kriegsmarine in two major engagements: first, during the Battle of the Denmark Strait and subsequent pursuit of the Bismarck between 24 and 27 May 1941, and again at the Battle of the North Cape on 26 December 1943. Alongside the King George V class, the Royal Navy's two-ship Nelson-class (Nelson and Rodney), comprised Britain's only other battleships built in the interwar years. Both ships served extensively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian oceans during the war, but their moment of fame came when Rodney (together with King George V) chased down and bombarded the doomed Bismarck in May 1941. This superbly detailed addition to the Duel series compares and contrasts the design and development of these opposing capital ships, and describes the epic clashes on the high seas that ended with the destruction of the Kriegsmarine's major naval assets.

This book uses the latest historical and marine archeological research to present a novel, comparative exploration of an ever-popular subject: the epic clashes of British and German surface battleships during World War II. At the outbreak of World War II, the four key Capital German ships comprised the Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau. Their primary threats where the Royal Navy's King George Vclass battleships, the most modern British battleships in commission during World War II and some of the Navy's most powerful vessels. Five ships of this class were built: HMS King George V, Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Howe (late 1942) and Anson (late 1942). The powerful vessels in this class would clash with the pride of the Kriegsmarine in two major engagements: first, during the Battle of the Denmark Strait and subsequent pursuit of the Bismarck between 24 and 27 May 1941, and again at the Battle of the North Cape on 26 December 1943. Alongside the King George V class, the Royal Navy's two-ship Nelson-class (Nelson and Rodney), comprised Britain's only other battleships built in the interwar years. Both ships served extensively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian oceans during the war, but their moment of fame came when Rodney (together with King George V) chased down and bombarded the doomed Bismarck in May 1941. This superbly detailed addition to the Duel series compares and contrasts the design and development of these opposing capital ships, and describes the epic clashes on the high seas that ended with the destruction of the Kriegsmarine's major naval assets.

The author of Blitzkrieg covers one of the most dramatic events of the Second World War in an “outstanding book about naval warfare” (World War II History). When the German battleship Bismarck—a masterpiece of engineering, well-armored with a main artillery of eight 15-inch guns—left the port of Gotenhafen for her first operation on the night of May 18, 1941, the British battlecruiser Hood and the new battleship Prince of Wales were ordered to find her quickly, as several large convoys were heading for Britain. On May 24, Bismarck was found off the coast of Greenland, but the ensuing battle was disastrous for the British. The Hood was totally destroyed within minutes, with only three crewmen surviving, and Prince of Wales was badly damaged. The chase resumed until the German behemoth was finally caught, this time by four British capital ships supported by torpedo-bombers from the carrier Ark Royal. The icy North Atlantic roiled from the crash of shellfire and bursting explosions until finally the Bismarck collapsed, sending nearly two thousand German sailors to a watery grave. Tamelander and Zetterling’s work rests on stories from survivors and the latest historical discoveries. The book starts with a thorough account of maritime developments from 1871 up to the era of the giant battleship, and ends with a vivid account, hour by hour, of the dramatic and fateful hunt for the mighty Bismarck, Nazi Germany’s last hope to pose a powerful surface threat to Allied convoys. “Exciting story-telling . . . recreat[es] the thrill of the hunt.” —International Journal of Maritime History “[An] epic sea chase and its vivid, human details.” —World War II

On 24 May 1941 the German battleship Bismarck engaged in a gunnery duel with the flagship of the Royal Navy, the battlecruiser HMS Hood, and the newly commissioned King George V class battleship, HMS Prince of Wales. Within minutes, Hood found a watery grave beneath the devastating shellfire of the legendary German ship. Not much later, Prince of Wales made smoke and left the field of battle.But would it have been indeed so foolhardy to fight Bismarck alone? The purpose of this concise inquiry is to compare the relevant technical characteristics of the two ships and discover whether Prince of Wales alone could have achieved victory and, if so, under what conditions. - Highly technical, no-nonsense analysis based on primary sources including the British Admiralty's official documents dealing with the ballistic performance of the heavy armour plates of the German battleship Tirpitz, the armour-piercing projectiles of the King George V class battleships and more. - Lavishly illustrated with line drawings including armour penetration curves, immunity graphs, armour diagrams and more. - Imperial + metric units.

Describes the actions of the German battleship "Bismarck" during World War II and the operations of the British navy to destroy this ship.

The warships of the World War II era German Navy are among the most popular subject in naval history with an almost uncountable number of books devoted to them. However, for a concise but authoritative summary of the design history and careers of the major surface ships it is difficult to beat a series of six volumes written by Gerhard Koop and illustrated by Klaus-Peter Schmolke. Each contains an account of the development of a particular class, a detailed description of the ships, with full technical details, and an outline of their service, heavily illustrated with plans, battle maps and a substantial collection of photographs. These have been out of print for ten years or more and are now much sought after by enthusiasts and collectors, so this new modestly priced reprint of the series will be widely welcomed.The first volume, appropriately, is devoted to the Kriesmarine's largest and most powerful units, the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, whose careers stand in stark contrast to each other one with a glorious but short life, while the other was to spend a hunted existence in Norwegian fjords, all the time posing a threat to Allied sea communications, while attacked by everything from midget submarines to heavy bombers.

“An excellent account . . . A suspenseful narrative that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.” —WWII History Magazine In May 1941, the German battleship Bismarck, accompanied by heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, broke out into the Atlantic to attack Allied shipping. The Royal Navy’s pursuit and subsequent destruction of Bismarck was an epic of naval warfare. In this new account of those dramatic events at the height of the Second World War, Iain Ballantyne draws extensively on the graphic eyewitness testimony of veterans, to construct a thrilling story, mainly from the point of view of the British battleships, cruisers, and destroyers involved. He describes the tense atmosphere as cruisers play a lethal cat and mouse game, shadowing Bismarck in the icy Denmark Strait. We witness the shocking destruction of the British battle cruiser Hood, in which all but three of her ship’s complement were killed—an event that filled pursuing Royal Navy warships, including the battered battleship Prince of Wales, with a thirst for revenge. While Swordfish torpedo-bombers try desperately to cripple the Bismarck, we sail in destroyers on their own daring torpedo attacks, battling mountainous seas. Finally, the author takes us into the final showdown, as battleships Rodney and King George V, supported by cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire, destroy the pride of Hitler’s fleet. This vivid, superbly researched account portrays this epic saga through the eyes of so-called “ordinary sailors” caught up in extraordinary events—conveying the horror and majesty of war at sea in all its cold brutality and awesome power.

During World War II's battle for control of the Mediterranean, both the British and Italian navies planned to bring their battle fleets into play. At the centre of both of these fleets was a core of battleships which both sides expected to play a decisive role in the conflict. On 9 July 1940, the two navies met in the central Mediterranean, as two Italian battleships faced off against three of their British counterparts. Christened the Battle of Calabria, the action allowed the ships to play to their strengths, engaging in a long-range gunnery duel, the very thing they had been designed for. Though both sides shot well, the only hit was scored by Warspite on the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare. The Italians were forced to withdraw, and the action ended up being indecisive, but it was the largest fleet action fought in the Mediterranean during the war. As well as this battle, there were other occasions during the war when both British and Italian battleships were present and influential, but during which they never engaged each other directly – the Battle of Spartivento on 27 November 1940, and the Battle of Cape Matapan on 28–29 March 1941. Packed with full-colour artwork, carefully selected archive photographs and expert analysis, this title explores in detail the role played by British and Italian battleships in these encounters, and their influence in the Mediterranean theatre of World War II.