The Bismarck
class battleships were a class of battleships built by the Wehrmacht around the
onset of World War II. In terms of full-load displacement, the Bismarck-class
ships were the third-largest battleships ever built. According to the prewar German
naval program, Plan Z, the Bismarcks were to function in conjunction with the
Scharnhorst battleships as a homefleet set against the Royal Navy. Operationally,
they had to be used in attacking merchant shipping. Bismarck was sunk in battle
with the Royal Navy in the North Atlantic. The Tirpitz capsized at its anchorage
in Norway after an aerial attack from Royal Air Force bombers.
The Scharnhorst
class were the foremost capital ships built for the German Navy since World War
I. They marked the commencement of German naval rearmament after the Treaty of
Versailles. They were the first class of German ships to be officially called
by the Kriegsmarine as Schlachtschiff (battleship). Preceding German battleships
were classified as Linienschiffe (ship of the line) and Panzerschiffe (armoured
ship). Their enemy, the Royal Navy considered them as battlecruisers, although
another adversary, the United States Navy thought of them as battleships.
Ships in Bismarck class
Bismarck
Tirpitz
Ships in Scharnhorst
class
Gneisenau
Scharnhorst
German
Warships, 1815-1945: Major Surface Vessels.
ISBN-10: 0851775330
German
Warships, 1815-1945: U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels.
ISBN-10: 155750301X
German warships of the Second World War.
ISBN-10: 0668040378
For a complete list of
sources 
