Bismarck

On completion, the Bismarck spent eight months on trials and working up before being declared operationally ready. The Bismarck left port in company with the Prinz Eugen on 23 April 1941, for commerce raiding, however the Prinz Eugen was damaged by a magnetic mine and the departure was delayed until 18/19 May. They arrived off the Norwegian town of Bergen on 21 May, where the Prinz Eugen refuelled, then moved off towards the Atlantic.

In the evening of 23 May the ships were contacted by British cruisers, and in the early morning of 24 May the battleship Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser Hood intercepted them. The Bismarck destroyed the Hood with her fourth salvo, then shifted fire to the Prince of Wales, damaging her and forcing her to withdraw.

The Bismarck had not escaped unscathed, however, being hit three times by the Prince of Wales. These hits caused flooding forward (over 1000 tonnes of water came on board), a fuel leak, contamination of some fuel by sea water, damage to pumps and pipes further reducing available fuel, and in addition the forward flooding caused the maximum speed to be reduced to 28 kts. It was decided to return to port in France, leaving the Prinz Eugen to continue the commerce raiding sortie alone. At this stage she was still being shadowed by British forces.

Near midnight on 24 May the Bismarck was attacked by torpedo bombers and fighters, scoring one hit. The torpedo was set to run at 31 ft, but ran on the surface and struck the armoured belt. Nevertheless, this action exacerbated the damage caused earlier and the port number two boiler room flooded, raising fears of salt water contaminating the boiler feed water and necessitating a complete purge of the system. Shortly after the attack the Bismarck slipped her shadowers and headed for France.

She was undetected for the next 31 hours, before being located in the morning of 26 May and shadowed from the air. She was attacked that evening by torpedo bombers, and was struck twice. The critical hit was aft, in the vicinity of the rudders, jamming both rudders and flooding both steering gear compartments. Attempts were made to free the rudders and to steer using the engines, however this proved impossible in the prevailing weather conditions. That night the Bismarck was attacked by destroyers, without effect, and the next morning was caught and wrecked, primarily by the Rodney and the King George V. She finally went down at 10:40 on 27 May 1941, taking with her 2,106 of her 2,221 crew.

The Tirpitz began her operational career by acting as the flagship of the German Baltic Fleet during the invasion of Russia, although she was still working up to full operational efficiency. She stood off the Aaland Islands from 23 to 26 September 1941, blockading the Russian fleet in Leningrad, then transferred to Trondheim in Norway on 13 November 1941.

On 5 March 1942 the Tirpitz left port to attack the Arctic convoys QP8 and PQ12, but were unable to locate them and headed for port. She was attacked by torpedo bombers on the way back but was not struck, and anchored in the Lofoten Islands on 9 March, and returned to Trondheim on 13 March. She was subjected to high level attacks by bombers at night on three occasions in March and April, but suffered no damage.

Her next sortie was intended to be against convoy PQ17, however she was recalled late on 5 July after the convoy scattered. She was fired at by the Russian submarine K21, however the torpedoes missed. She transferred to Narvik in the summer, then returned to Trondheim for an overhaul on 23 October. This was complete by 28 December 1942.

She was tasked with bombarding the Spitzbergen facilities, which were occupied by Norwegians and used by the British as a weather station, leaving port on 6 September 1943 and firing her main guns in anger for the first time on 8 September against shore targets. On 22 September she was attacked by x-craft midget submarines, which placed four charges beneath the ship. The shock from the explosions severely damaged the ship's equipment, with turret Dora (the aft turret) being immobilised, the propulsion system being disabled and numerous other defects.

Repairs were undertaken in Norway, despite Allied air raids, and full power trials were scheduled for 3 April 1944. On that day, whilst she was preparing to leave her berth, she was attacked by fighters and dive-bombers. They scored 13 hits and three near misses, and repairs were not complete until mid-July. She was subjected to repeated air attacks thereafter, and was severely damaged by a 'tallboy' bomb on 15 September 1944. Rather than repair her it was decided to relegate her to a floating gun battery, and she was moved to Tromsø for this purpose on 15 October 1944. She was again damaged in an air attack on 29 October, and she finally capsized on 12 November 1944 after being struck by 'tallboy' bombs.