The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis 1 The ...

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The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis is a shell penetration in each turret, with the starboard side turrets damaged by 203-mm hits from either Norfolk or Dorsetshire. The penetrations to port were likely caused by 152-mm shells from Rodney. Bismarck’s antiaircraft batteries were devastated during this engagement. The 105-mm antiaircraft gun mounts were heavily damaged, although seven of the gun carriages still exist. One port 105-mm mount, forward, was completely obliterated, apparently from direct hits from a large caliber shells from either Rodney or King George V. Some of the 37-mm and 20-mm machine guns remain, but several were swept away during the heavy shelling. The remaining attached forward superstructure is heavily damaged on the port side and shows intense fire damage on both sides. The teak deck on the port side in way of the 105-mm mounts is completely missing, a victim of fire. There is a 406-mm shell hole on the port side from a low angle hit from Rodney. This shell hit killed a number of the antiaircraft personnel who had taken shelter there. One survivor, Ordinary Seaman Theo Klaes, was a witness to this shell’s penetration and explosion. Just as he was about to enter the space where the shell exploded, a 406-mm shell came through the overhead and exploded in the middle of the room where almost all of his gun crew had assembled. Klaes was thrown to the deck by the force of the detonation. He likened the scene to a flickering picture on a movie screen of a man who did not know where he was or where he was going. This sketch gives an idea of the condition of the wreck of Bismarck on the sea bed. 36
The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis The superstructure decks of the forward command tower aft of the heavily armored forward conning tower are missing from the main hull. (The missing decks range from the Lower Bridge Deck to the foretop, including the Admiral’s Bridge and the decks from the fore tower mast.) The failure is believed to be the result of shell damage to the lower bridge deck and the inability of the welded connection to resist the impact force of the capsizing and subsequent rotation of the hull before and after the plunge. Seaman Statz recalled that a number of shells struck the forward command tower above and below his position on the Upper Bridge Deck. Welded connections could have been weakened by such shell damage. This portion of the superstructure was found upside down a few meters west of the slide scar, 350 meters north of the main hull. It appears to be complete and is at the lower terminus of its own small slide scar, evidence of the main hull striking it during its slide downhill. The port side windows of the Admiral’s bridge are without glass but otherwise intact. Some of the access ladders were torn away or severely damaged during the final battle. Baron von Müllenheim- Rechberg confirmed this, noting that several men were running around the forward command tower looking for a route of escape during the time before capsizing 35 . It is believed that this structure, like the main battery turrets, made a direct plunge to the bottom. The forward windows appear to have been damaged by shell hits or fragments, as well as from the impact of this structure with the seabed. The windows are heavily overgrown with rusticles 36 , suggesting fire damage. The foretop main battery director cupola and rangefinders are missing. This was probably shot away by one of Norfolk’s early 203-mm shell from King George V at its base brought it down near the end of the engagement. The funnel is missing. It was not found in the debris field, but could have been buried by the avalanche that preceded the main hull in its slide down the seamount, or it may have disintegrated in its plunge to the seabed. According to the senior surviving officer, Baron von Mǖllenheim-Rechberg, the funnel was heavily holed by shell fire. The structure around the attachment of the funnel to the main hull exhibits heavy shell damage. The funnel probably was detached from the ship during the capsizing and subsequent rotations of the hull during its plunge to the bottom. All three aircraft hangars still exist, but the two forward ones were heavily damaged by shellfire. The doors are missing from all three. Since the aft hangar doors were missing, it was possible to examine that hangar’s interior. A large piece of one of the aft hangar doors was found inside the forward starboard hangar, lying within a very large shell burst hole three meters in diameter. This hole might have created by a shell hit from Rodney, whose fragments may have penetrated to one of the starboard boiler rooms, as reported by one survivor. One Arado seaplane was found in the center of the aft hangar. Only the front half remains, including the left wing and float, the radial engine, and propeller. Parts of a second Arado were found in the port forward hangar that was heavily damaged by shell hits. There was a spare propeller found still mounted on the forward bulkhead. 35 Baron Burkard von Müllenheim-Rechberg. Page 256, Battleship Bismarck, A Survivor’s Story. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1980. 36 Rusticles are bacterial growths that will eventually recycle metal into the environment. They are discussed later in this paper. 37
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