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| Drawings in Comparison |
| View from the side |
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| Bismarck (1941) |
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| Tirpitz (1944) |
| View from above |
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| Bismarck (1941) |
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| Tirpitz (1944) |
| General Details in Comparison | |||
| Name of the ship | Bismarck | Tirpitz | |
| Building costs | 196 m RM | 191.6 m RM | |
| Measurement (gross or net registered tons) |
28,181 grt 11,110 nrt |
28,160 grt | |
| Actual displacement: | (August 1940) | (Februar 1941) | |
| empty | 39,517 tonnes | 39,539 tonnes | |
| designed | 45,451 tonnes | 45,474 tonnes | |
| full | 49,406 tonnes | 49,429 tonnes | |
| maximum | 50,405 tonnes | 50,425 tonnes (53,500 tonnes 1944) |
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| Length Overall | 250.5 m | 253.6 m | |
| Length Waterline | 241.55 m | 241.72 m | |
| Maximum draught | 10.2 m (at 49,406 tonnes) |
10.61 m (at 52,890 tonnes) |
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| Designed draught | 9.3 m | 9.9 m | |
| Machinery output | maximum | 150,170 shp | 163,026 shp |
| Speed | designed | 28 knots | 29 knots |
| Range | 8,525 nm at 19 knots | 8,870 nm at 19 knots | |
| Bunkers | maximum | 7,400 m3 | 7,780 m3 |
| Ship's company | 103 officers, 1,962 + 27 men (1941) | 108 officers, 2,500 men (1943) | |
| Searchlights, triaxially stabilised and directed centrally (those positioned on Tirpitz's funnel platform later replaced by flak) |
7 | 7 | |
| Weight Grouping in Comparison | ||
| All weights are expressed hereunder in metric tonnes. | ||
| Name of the ship | Bismarck | Tirpitz |
| Aircraft installation | 83 t | 80 t |
| General equipment | 369,4 t | 361 t |
| Nautical equipment | 8,6 t | 9 t |
| Empty ship with equipment | 39,931.2 t | 39,931 t |
| Ammunition | 1,510.4 t | 1,510 t |
| Defensive equipment | 2,5 t | 3 t |
| Consumables | 155.4 t | 156 t |
| Crew and effects | 243.6 t | 247 t |
| Provisions | 194.2 t | 194 t |
| Type displacement (without drinking and washing water) | 42,343.5 t | 42,077 t |
| Drinking water | 139.2 t | 139 t |
| Boiler feedwater | 187.5 t (battle cells) | 188 t |
| Diesel fuel oil | 96.5 t | 94 t |
| Construction displacement | 45,950.5 t | 45,951 t |
| Supplementaries: | ||
| Boiler feedwater | 187.5 t | 188 t |
| Diesel fuel oil | 96.5 t | 97 t |
| Reserve fresh water | 389.2 t | 389 t |
| Full displacement | 49,946.7 t | 49,948 t |
| (Bismarck special supplement fuel 1,009 t; actual full displacement 50,955.7 t) | ||
| Armour in Comparison | ||
| The armour plate was principally KC (Krupp Cemented, containing 0.34% carbon, 3.78% nickel, 0.31% manganese and 2.06% chrome) steel, Wh=Wotan hard. Wh had an ultimate tensile strength of 85-95 kg/mm2, 20% expansion and a yield point of 50-55 kg/mm2. | ||
| Barbettes for 38 cm turrets |
340 mm KC (middle, forward), 340 mm KC (sides), 340 mm KC (rear); Tirpitz 220 mm KC (rear) | |
| Slope of belt armour, midships and ends | 320 mm KC on Bismarck, 315 mm KC on Tirpitz (and reducing to 170 mm) | |
| Decks: | ||
| Armour deck above machinery, centre | 80 mm Wh (Bismarck); 50 mm Wh (Tirpitz) | |
| Armour deck above magazines, centre | 95 mm Wh (Bismarck); 100 mm Wh (Tirpitz) | |
| Armament in Comparison | ||
| Name of the ship | Bismarck | Tirpitz |
| Flak | 12 x 2 cm | 12 x 2 cm (78 x 2 cm by July 1944) |
| Torpedo armament | None | 2 banks 53.3 cm quadruple mountings from end 1941 to early 1942 |
| Ammunition inventory: | ||
| Torpedoes | Nil | 24 |
| Note: As the war progressed, stocks of ammunition aboard Tirpitz increased, particularly for the main guns and the flak. By 1944 she carried over 90,000 rounds of 2 cm. The term "Flak", a contraction of "Fliegerabwehrkanonen", is used throughout this homepage to describe anti-aircraft (AA) weapons and installation both aboard ship and ashore. |
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| Armament Details in Comparison | |||||||
| Calibre | Barrel length (m) |
Wt of shell (kg) |
Muzzle velocity (m/sec) |
Range (m) |
Elevation of barrel |
Rdsl/ barrell/ min |
Chassis |
| 10.5 cm/L65 C33 | 6.825 | 15.1 | 900 | 17,700 | +85° | 18 | Bismarck: four forward, triaxially stabilised twin mounting C31, stern C37; Tirpitz: triaxially stabilised twin mounting C37 |
| 2 cm/L65 | 0.9 | 0.132 | 900 | 4,800 | +90° | 200 single, 800 quad | Basic mounting C38: on Tirpitz later quadruple C38 mounting; Bismarck had 2 cm C30 single mountings and a C38 2 x 2 cm quadruple |
| Note on barrel data: 10.5 cm/L65 and /L60.5: the former agrees with German specification, the latter is 6.348 m. 3.7 cm/L83 and /L80: the former corresponds to German length of 3.071 m, the latter to 2.96 m. |
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| Fire Direction and Radar Equipment in Comparison | |||||
| Base rangefinder | Serving | Location | Radar equipment | Location | Remarks |
| 10.5 m | Main armament | "A" turret "B" turret "C" turret "D" turret |
Instruments in "A" turret on Bismarck removed in winter 1940/41; never installed on Tirpitz | ||
| FuMO 212/213 (Würzburg) | Aft control centre | Tirpitz: in spring/summer 1944 platform raised by about 2 m | |||
| FuMO 27 | Above 10.5 m base rangefinder | Additional installation on Tirpitz with supplementary observer platform | |||
| TIMOR | On fighting top roof portside | Additional aboard Tirpitz until spring/summer 1944, when replaced by: | |||
| FuMB 4 | |||||
| SAMOS | |||||
| FuMO 30 Hohentwiel | On fore topmast | FuMO 26 and FuMO 30 on Tirpitz from spring/summer 1944 | |||
| Note on Radar equipment: As an experimental solution, Tirpitz was fitted on the after A/A gun (single mount) control position with a type "Würzburg" radar set (3-m-diameter parabolic reflector) for measuring height. This caused a slight reduction in the angle of sweep of the A/A gun (single mount) control position. |
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| Machinery in Comparison |
| Turbines |
| 3 sets geared turbines (Curtis type) with single reduction: in three turbine rooms. Bismarck: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg. Tirpitz: Brown, Boveri & Cie. |
| In Bismarck the individual turbine sets were grouped round the gearing. The HP reaction turbine was a Curtis wheel with 40 stages, the IP a double-flow 14 stage reaction turbine and the LP a 9 stage reaction turbine supporting the condenser slung below it, as was customary. The HP astern turbine was a single Curtis wheel, the LP astern turbine was of the divided double-flow type. No cruising turbine was fitted. In Tirpitz the individual turbines were similar to those of the Bismarck except that the ship was fitted with crusing turbines; the crusing and HP drums were both set at the after end of the main wheel; the IP and LP were simple reaction turbines; and the HP astern turbine was contained in the IP ahead drum at its forward end and the double-flow LP astern turbine was located between the LP turbine block. |
| Additional Information |
| Bismarck |
| Bismarck was never fitted with the protective domes for the two after A/A gun (single mount) fire control instruments. In this ship the searchlight fitted on either side in the forward part of the funnel platform rim underneath the hinged protective dome was fitted 1.5 m higher than in Tirpitz |
| Bismarck carried at great height above it a flying bridge between turret mast and funnel which also accomodated the supports for the ship's cranes. As the ship's cranes were mounted one deck lower and slightly further aft than in Tirpitz, the second 105mm A/A gun (twin mount) on either side were placed 3m further forward and about 7m further inboards. |
| Only Bismarck carried the RF domes during trial runs on A turret. Although these had been intended for Tirpitz as well, they were never fitted. |
| Further differences from Tirpitz: bridge superstructures, turret mast, funnel cowling (this was always silver-grey in Bismarck only) and the derrick cranes on the funnel for raising and lowering the seaplane. |
| Unlike Tirpitz where all the 16 105 mm A/A gun (twin mount) were mounted in the more modern Type C 33 mountings, Bismarck carried the forward half of the 105 mm A/A gun (twin mount) in the older Type C 31 mounts and only the after half in Type C 33 mounts. |
| Tirpitz |
| In Tirpitz the funnel cowling was at first black, and silver grey or light grey only from about 1942 onwards. |
| Tirpitz always carried the protective hoods above the after A/A gun (single mount) control positions and the searchlight positions with their protective domes were of the same height as the platform rim surrounding the funnel. |
| The ship's cranes were mounted on the main deck and slightly more forward than in Bismarck and for that reason the second 105 mm A/A gun (twin mount) on either side were fitted approximate 3 m further aft and approximate 7 m further outboards. |
| In 1942 the spotting top on the mainmast was removed and a potato locker was installed between funnel and turret mast and above this a catwalk between funnel platform rim and turret mast. From that time onwards the quadruple torpedo tubes were also carried. |
| The continuous reinforcement of the A/A weapons reflected the increasing threat from aircrafts and resulted in the installation of numerous additional A/A weapons, especially of 20 mm A/A gun (quadruple mount). |
| At the end, the seaplanes were no longer carried because they had to be handed over to the German air force. |
| Technical Layout | |
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