Germany's Naval Ambitions: The Concrete Ships and Giant Battleships That Never Were Germany’s naval ambitions during WWII led to radical designs that never fully materialized. The H-Class super-battleships, planned starting in 1939, were designed to reach 30 knots and carry massive 20-inch guns, dwarfing the Bismarck. Meanwhile, desperate steel shortages birthed experimental concrete ships between 1943 and 1945. These slow-moving vessels were primarily used for transport and fuel storage. While

Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. Bismarck was ordered under the name Ersatz Hannover ("Hannover replacement"), a replacement for the old pre-dreadnought SMS Hannover, under contract "F". The contract was awarded to the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, where the keel was laid on 1 July 1936 at Helgen IX. The ship was launched on 14 February 1939 and during the elaborate ceremonies was christened by Dorothee von Löwenfeld, granddaught

How did German U-boats attack merchant vessels during World War II? Did they have to surface or could they launch torpedoes from underwater? They could fire from both the surface and periscope depth. When a convoy was first detected by a U-Boat, they would contact the base giving them the position and course of the convoy. This first sighting submarine would then shadow the convoy. Meanwhile, headquarters would send out a signal to all the submarines that could attack the convoy. It was then the