It is 1943, and the North Atlantic
is shrouded in thick
mist. The ocean
is uneasy and flooded
with sea wolves, German
submarines on the hunt
for any allied convoy.
Nonetheless, the imposing
USS Iowa, the largest
and most powerful
battleship in the US Navy,
armed with its massive
16-inch guns, ventures
forward, fearless
as the fog thickens.
The crew knows a
far bigger threat lies
ahead on the horizon:
Battleship Bismarck,
the pride of the
Kriegsmarine. She has
almost the same
tonnage, speed, guns,
and armor as her
American counterpart.
They steadily move
closer to each other
under the thick fog.
Suddenly, Iowa´s
sonar detects an ominous rumbling:
a massive vessel
piercing through the
ocean’s stillness: it is Bismarck.
The officers
immediately issue hurried
commands: “To battle
stations!” they shout.
An instant later, Bismarck´s
spotters detect the
silhouette of Iowa
emerging from the darkness.
Iowa fixes her 16-inch
guns. Bismarck does the
same with her eight 15-inch
main battery, and each
awaits their captain´s
command. The battle of the
Atlantic’s largest
battleships is about to begin.
Naval Restrictions
Battleship Bismarck,
the pride of the
Kriegsmarine, was the
largest European
battleship at the time of
her construction during
the early phase of World
War 2. Besides the Imperial
Japanese Navy Yamato
and Musashi Battleships,
Bismarck was the third
most powerful battleship
the world had ever seen.
Bismarck, alongside her
sister battleship Tirpitz,
was built following the
1922 Washington Naval
Treaty restrictions imposed
on Germany. Both ships
had a 35,000-ton limit
but eventually reached
a standard displacement
of over 42,000 tons.
This tonnage was
similar to that of post-war
British battlecruisers, such
as HMS Hood, built in 1920,
which displaced 42,000
tons and would later face
Bismarck during the
Battle of the Denmark Strait.
Other treaty-era
warships included the
British King George
V–class battleships,
with a standard
displacement of 36,727 tons,
and The United States
Navy North Carolina–class
and South Dakota-class
battleships, with
a standard displacement
of 35,000 tons.
At the time, France
built two French
battleships of the Richelieu class
with a standard
displacement of 37,832 tons,
and Benito Mussolini’s
Regia Marina developed
three battleships of
the Vittorio Veneto–class
with an overall
displacement of 40,516 tons.
The Imperial Japanese
Navy left the treaty
and developed Yamato
and Musashi with an
impressive displacement
of over 71,000 long tons.
For the European
Theatre, the only allied ships
that would surpass the
Bismarck class were the
non-treaty American
Iowa-class battleships. These
were built in 1943
once the war had broken
out, rendering the
naval treaty useless.
The Pride of the Kriegsmarine
Battleship Bismarck,
commissioned in
August 1940, was the
pride of the Kriegsmarine.
It symbolized German
naval power and defiance
against the hegemony
of the British Royal Navy.
The ship was the pinnacle
of naval engineering
and design, boasting
several innovative features
that set it apart from
other ships of her time.
She had a length of
792 feet, a beam of
118 feet, a draft of
30 feet, and weighed
an astonishing 50,300
tons under full load.
Among her many
innovative features was the
introduction of Horizontal
Armor Protection,
which comprised sloping
armor that improved the
hull’s resistance to
shell impacts. This added
protection was also
dubbed turtleback armor.
In addition, the battleship
also incorporated
anti-torpedo bulges
along her sides to increase
resistance against
torpedo damage. Bismarck
also boasted sophisticated
fire control systems,
including radar, rangefinders, and
gyroscopic stabilizers,
greatly enhancing
her accuracy in
targeting enemy vessels.
All in all, Bismarck's
armor was more than
impressive. Its main
belt armor was over 12.6
inches thick, the
turrets were 14.2 inches,
and the deck armor
was between 3.9 and 4.7
inches. The battleship's
armored citadel protected
critical areas,
enhancing its survivability.
Although she packed
enough firepower to take
on any battleship of
her time, Bismarck's
primary role was to
scour the seas as a
commerce raider to
support the U-boat crews in
choking Britain by
blocking foreign supplies.
With this objective
in mind, Bismarck
was tailored for
long operations with
an approximate range
of over 8,870 nautical
miles, allowing her
to undertake extended
missions and raids deep
into the Atlantic Ocean.
Bismarck was powered
by three Blohm & Voss
geared steam turbines
and twelve Wagner
ultra-high-pressure
oil-fired boilers,
allowing her to reach
an impressive top speed
of around 30 knots. Her
engine and propulsion
system were advanced
for the time, making
Bismark faster than
any ship of her time.
Short-lived Career To establish
her dominion of the seas, Bismarck
was armed with eight
15-inch guns housed in four
twin turrets capable of
firing high-explosive and
armor-piercing shells
with devastating accuracy.
Her secondary armament
included over 40 naval,
anti-aircraft, and
torpedo launchers. She
also carried four
Arado Ar 196 floatplanes
and one double-ended
catapult for reconnaissance
and rescue operations.
Nevertheless, despite
her impressive
design and capabilities,
Bismarck's combat
career was short-lived.
In May 1941, during
her first and only
mission, she engaged
British naval forces
in the Battle of the
Denmark Strait, sinking
Britain's valuable
battlecruiser HMS Hood and
prompting the Royal
Navy to dispatch a task
force of more than
25 vessels to hunt her.
The sinking of Bismarck
marked a significant
turning point in World
War 2's naval theater,
for it demonstrated
the vulnerability of
even the mightiest
warships to determined
adversaries and naval
aircraft. Nevertheless,
Bismarck remained an
iconic symbol of naval
engineering and prowess
during a tumultuous era
of maritime conflict and
rapid naval technology.
Iowa Battleship While
Bismarck was built
following the limits
imposed by the Washington
Naval Treaty, the United
States Navy Iowa-class
of battleships began
with a different story.
After Japan refused to
ratify the Naval Treaty
of 1935 to develop its
colossal battleships, the
US Navy set out to develop
a new battleship design
with a total displacement
of over 45,000 tons.
American engineers
sought to use the extra
tonnage to add
power, protection, and
firepower to the
vessel. The result
was a battleship with
mixed firepower and
speed to keep pace
with a carrier force.
Four vessels were
built and delivered in the
early 1940s. The Iowa
had a length of 887 feet,
a beam of 108 feet, a
draft of 41 feet, and a
displacement of 60,000
long tons under full load.
Her main armor belt
was over 12.1 inches
thick to protect her
against enemy shells.
Anticipating attacks
from dive bombers and
other aerial threats,
the deck armor ranged
from 1.5 to 3.5 inches thick.
Like Bismarck, the four Iowa
battleships also
featured a citadel armor
arrangement to
protect critical areas and
enhance the ship’s survivability.
Iowa was powered by eight oil-fired
Babcock & Wilcox
boilers and four geared
steam turbines,
delivering an impressive
212,000 horsepower,
allowing the battleship
to reach a top speed
of around 33 knots.
The ship’s primary
armament consisted of nine
16-inch Mark 7 guns
housed in three turrets,
capable of firing
armor-piercing and
high-explosive shells
over long distances.
The secondary armament
consisted of twenty 5-inch
anti-aircraft and
anti-surface defense guns and
more than a dozen 20-
and 40-millimeter guns.
Iowa was also designed
with an advanced fire
control system that
integrated radar,
rangefinders, and
devices to enhance
accuracy in targeting
enemy ships and aircraft.
The design featured a
teardrop-shaped hull and
bulbous bow to
improve hydrodynamics
and stability at high speeds.
Battle of Giants
Although World War 2 was
a colossal conflict, there
were few engagements
between the United States
Navy and Kriegsmarine
surface fleets. Most
of the fighting between
them occurred in the
Atlantic, where the U-boat
wolf packs hunted
down American convoys.
By the time the
US joined the war in
December 1941,
Bismarck and most of
the German surface
fleet had already
been neutralized by
the Royal Navy, leaving
only the U-boats as
a considerable threat.
Still, one could
think what could have
happened if the Royal
Navy had failed to
hunt down Germany’s
most powerful warships
when the United
States joined the war.
What would have
happened if the Iowa-class
battleships ventured
into the Atlantic while
Bismarck and her
sister Tirpitz ravaged
any allied convoy they
encountered? Which
ship would win a
one-on-one fight at sea?
For instance, the USS
Iowa had a significant
advantage over the
Bismarck regarding
firepower. USS Iowa
was armed with nine
16-inch guns housed
in three turrets.
These guns had a
range of over 20 miles
and could strike
surface and shore targets
with lethal firepower.
On the other side,
Bismarck was armed
with eight 15-inch
guns with a similar
range of 20 miles.
Despite the range
parity, Iowa´s larger guns
would inflict significantly
more damage against
Bismarck once both ships
were within firing range.
Additionally, Iowa's
larger number of secondary
guns gave her better
anti-aircraft capabilities.
Bismarck’s main belt
armor was 14.2 inches thick
and had a 4.7-inch
armored deck. On the other
side, Iowa had a main
belt armor of 12.1 inches
thick and a 1.5 to
3.5-inch armored deck.
Both ships offered
excellent protection, but
when analyzing the deck,
Bismarck was considerably
thicker and more resistant
to enemy fire, despite
Iowa having more protected
turrets. Possible Outcome
Both battleships had
similar speeds, with
Bismarck reaching a
top speed of about 30
knots and Iowa a speed
of around 32 knots.
On paper, both battleships
were almost equal,
with Bismarck having
better armor and Iowa a more
powerful arsenal. Nonetheless,
Iowa had one unique
asset the colossal
Bismarck lacked: radar.
The American ships
were fitted with primitive
radar, resulting in radar-directed
guns that greatly improved their
accuracy when
firing at longer ranges.
Eliminating Bismarck’s
floatplanes, Iowa
could force her to rely
on the visual range for
her fire control systems
to work out effectively.
The radar-directed
guns would come in
handy in a scenario
with low visibility,
leaving Bismarck
at the mercy of her
surroundings to identify
the American ship.
The battle would be
even only if both ships
engaged each other
in the daytime. Still,
the German ship had
to hit first to prevent
Iowa from landing a
powerful 16-inch shell
on her hull and
inflicting more damage.
At the end of the
day, both ships could
outmaneuver each
other, but the range
and damage of Iowa´s main battery,
complimented by
her radar, would be
more than enough
to put Bismarck out of
commission if the
crew failed to maneuver
effectively and
coordinate her shots.
If the contrary occurred, and more
Bismarck battleships
were delivered,
the British Isles would
have fallen to the Third
Reich, changing the
war plans of the Allies.
With the British Home
fleet decimated, the
Kriegsmarine would
establish its domain over
the Atlantic, convincing
Hitler to continue
developing Plan Z,
expanding the German navy,
and the launch of Graf Zeppelin,
the Reich’s first aircraft carrier.
Consequently, the US
would take a less aggressive
stance against Germany
after Britain's defeat.
If the American nation
still went to war against
Japan if it attacked Pearl
Harbor, the conquest of
the Atlantic would begin
with Marines landing on
Iceland and the Aleutians
in the Pacific to defend
the Western Hemisphere
from the Axis forces.
So much could have
changed if Europe's most
powerful battleship
survived its first encounter
against the Royal
Navy and the US forces…