Holder of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and Oak Leaves, the ninth most successful German submarine commander with 164,952 GRT
Albrecht Brandi was a German U-boat commander in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Together with Wolfgang Lüth, he was the only Kriegsmarine sailor who was awarded with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.
Iowa Class Battleships - Reactions to the Japanese super-battleships Yamato and Musashi. Thanks to their modern concept, they have remained in active service until the 90s.
Iowa Class Battleships - Reactions to the Japanese super-battleships Yamato and Musashi. Thanks to their modern concept, they have remained in active service for up to 90 years.
The German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, moored in Brest after returning from corsair cruises, became the targets of British air raids, which could sooner or later severely damage them. Therefore, it was decided to move them to Germany, where they could be provided with better defense.
In May 1941, most of Europe was ruled by fascist Germany. The Kriegsmarine ( German Navy ) wolf packs inflicted heavy losses on British convoys and attacked the German battlecruisers SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU ( Operation BERLIN ), which sank or captured 22 ships with a total tonnage of 115,622 GRT during their corsair voyage, aggravating the British Empire.
Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, under the command of Admiral Günther Lütjens, left Gotenhafen ( now Gdynia ) on May 18, 1941 and passed through the Danish Straits of Kattegat and Skagerrak. In order to hide the corsair voyage to the British, the Germans organized a theater in the Baltic in the form of a large convoy with strong security ( Bismarck, Prinz Eugen, destroyers, etc. ). The air force patrolled over the convoy to, if necessary, neutralize reconnaissance aircraft. However, Bismarck was spotted by the Swedish cruiser GOTLAND and workers of the Norwegian resistance movement.
At 5:55, Hood fired his first volleys. A gong sounded on Hood announcing the start of the fight. There was a moment of silence, then a deafening blow and four projectiles, each weighing a ton, flew out of Hood at 2,575 km / h ( 715 m / s ). At that moment, the Germans realized that they were not cruiser guns, but battleships.
At 8:47 the first shots were fired from Rodney's guns, a minute later King George V began firing. Bismarck fired two minutes at the British ships and focused on Rodney, as his 406 mm guns posed a greater danger than the 365 mm King George V guns
Bismarck and Prinz Eugen left Gotenhafen on May 18, 1941 and passed through the Danish Straits of Kattegat and Skagerrak. In order to hide the corsair voyage to the British, the Germans organized a theater in the Baltic in the form of a large convoy with strong security. The air force patrolled the floating convoy to, if necessary, neutralize the reconnaissance aircrafts.
If Bismarck and Prinz Eugen got into the Atlantic, it would be a disaster for the British to the greatest extent.
Technical description, armament and equipment of these two famous ships
On December 4, the newly formed Eastern Fleet arrived in Singapore, consisting of the battleship Prince of Wales, the battleship Repulse and several destroyers. Command was entrusted to Vice Admiral Thomas Philips.
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