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The Fate Of Nazi Germany’s Two Battleships
The only battleships fielded by the Germans in WWII
At the outbreak of World War II, most of the global powers had stocked up on massive battleships. Many military planners believed that the floating steel fortresses would be the bedrock of future naval combat. The British Royal Navy had fifteen battleships at the outbreak of World War II. The United States had seventeen battleships by the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Germany, on the other hand, had just two. The two battleships, the Bismarck and the Tirpitz were supposed to contend with the British Navy in the northern waters around Germany’s coasts.
These ships were monsters. Each battleship displaced over 40,000 long tons and sported eight 15-inch naval guns and a dozen 6-inch guns. So what happened to them? What was the fate of Germany’s battleships? Did they manage to uphold their mandate in ruling the seas against British resistance?
German Battleship Tirpitz
The Tirpitz was launched on April 1st, 1939, just months before the fateful invasion of Poland. The Tirpitz was built and designed to contend with the…
