warship Archives - Page 5 of 18 - Destination's Journey

German Battleship Bismarck

Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched in February 1939. Work was completed in August 1940, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Bismarck and her sister ship Tirpitz were the largest battleships ever built by Germany, and two of the largest built by any European power.

In the course of the warship’s eight-month career under its sole commanding officer, Captain Ernst Lindemann, Bismarck conducted only one offensive operation, lasting 8 days in May 1941, codenamed Rheinübung. The ship, along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, was to break into the Atlantic Ocean and raid Allied shipping from North America to Great Britain. The two ships were detected several times off Scandinavia, and British naval units were deployed to block their route. At the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the battlecruiser HMS Hood initially engaged Prinz Eugen, probably by mistake, while HMS Prince of Wales engaged Bismarck. In the ensuing battle Hood was destroyed by the combined fire of Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, which then damaged Prince of Wales and forced her retreat. Bismarck suffered sufficient damage from three hits to force an end to the raiding mission.

The destruction of Hood spurred a relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy involving dozens of warships. Two days later, heading for occupied France to effect repairs, Bismarck was attacked by 16 obsolescent Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal; one scored a hit that rendered the battleship’s steering gear inoperable. In her final battle the following morning, the already-crippled Bismarck was severely damaged during a sustained engagement with two British battleships and two heavy cruisers and sank with heavy loss of life.

Construction

Bismarck Fitting Out — Bismarck under construction at Blohm & Voss Hamburg, Germany

At Sea

Detailed Photos

Bismarck Starboard Bow — Bismarck Port Bow Bismarck

In Battle

Bismarck During the BAttle of the Denmark Strait

Bismarck Firing — Bismarck During the BAttle of the Denmark Strait

Japanese Battleship Nagato

Japanese Battleship Nagato

Commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy on 25 November 1920, Nagato was the lead ship of her class of battleships. Her sister Mutsu was commissioned a year later.

Nagato was modernised from 1934-36, with increased armour, updated machinery and the rebuilding of her superstructure into a pagoda mast.

During World War Two, she did not see combat until the Battle of the Philippine Sea in mid-1944, where she escorted the aircraft carriers Jun’yō, Hiyō and the light carrier Ryūhō. During the battle, she provided anti-aircraft fire, claiming to have shot down two Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers.

During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Nagata formed part of the Center Force which planned to attack the American invasion force. During the initial the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October, she was hit by two bombs one of which damaged the air intake to No. 1 boiler room, immobilizing one propeller shaft for 24 minutes until the boiler was put back online. On the morning of 25 October, Center Force sighted Taffy 3 and opened fire on the escort carriers, although Nagato did not achieve any hits.

At 06:54 the destroyer USS Heermann fired a spread of torpedoes at the fast battleship Haruna; the torpedoes missed Haruna and headed for Yamato and Nagato which were on a parallel course. The two battleships were forced 10 miles (16 km) away from the engagement before the torpedoes ran out of fuel. On turning back, Nagato fired forty-five 410 mm and ninety-two 14 cm shells but due to poor visibility claimed only two hits on a cruiser. At 09:10, the Japanese turned away and broke engagement.

On her return to Japan, Nagato was converted to an anti-aircraft platform, as the lack of fuel did not permit her to sortie again. Despite US Navy air attacks, she survived the war and was then expended as a target in US atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll.

Nagato in Service

Nagato with sight training devices on all turrets

Nagato in 1920 — Nagato with sight training devices on all turrets

Nagato Post-War

Nagato at Yokosuka (Japan), as seen from the U.S. Navy battleship USS Massachusetts (BB-59) — Nagato being guarded by US troops

British Aircraft Carrier HMS Warrior

HMS Warrior leaving Plymouth Sound bound for the Far East 1953

British Aircraft Carrier HMS Warrior (R31)

When completed on 2 April 1945, the Colossus-class aircraft carrier HMS Warrior was lent to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Warrior. She remained in Canadian hands from 14 March 1946 until 23 March 1948.

Upon returning to British service, HMS Warrior was refitted at Devonport, where she was equipped with an experimental flexible deck. The concept of the rubber deck was to permit aircraft to land without an undercarriage, the impact of landing being absorbed by the flexible deck. Although successful it was not implemented and Warrior was paid off to reserve in 1949.

Re-commissioned in 1960, Warrior was used to transport troops and equipment for the Korean War. When she returned to the UK in 1955, she was refitted, and an angled deck installed, along with upgrades to the arrester system and catapults to enable the operation of aircraft up to 20,000lbs.

During 1957, Warrior was used as the headquarters ship for Operation Grapple the British hydrogen bomb tests. For this operations she embarked Grumman Avenger AS4s to collect samples and a flight of Westland Whirlwind helicopters. The Avengers became contaminated from flying through the radioactive dust clouds and were dumped overboard at the end of the operation.

Warrior was decommissioned on 28 February 1958 and sold to Argentina as ARA Independencia on 6 August 1958.