Introduction
The Battleship Bismarck from
Osprey Publishing LTD launches their new series
Anatomy of The Ship. Authored by author, researcher and 3D modeler Stefan Draminski, this amazing hardcover book boasts 336 pages presenting 660 scale drawings and 400 color 3D views! Osprey catalogues this book as
ANT 1 with
ISBN 9781472828880. It is also available in eBook (PDF).
Osprey's description of this book is thus
The Bismarck is perhaps the most famous - and notorious - warship ever built. Completed in 1941, the 45,000-ton German battleship sunk HMS Hood, the pride of the British Navy, during one of the most sensational encounters in naval history. Following the sinking, Bismarck was chased around the North Atlantic by many units of the Royal Navy. She was finally dispatched with gunfire and torpedoes on 27 May, less than five months after her completion. Her wreck still lies where she sank, 4,800m down and 960km off the west coast of France.
Drawing on new research and technology, this edition is the most comprehensive examination of Bismarck ever published. It includes a complete set of detailed line drawings with fully descriptive keys and full-colour 3D artwork, supported by technical details, photographs and text on the building of the ship and a record of the ship's service history.
Content
The Battleship Bismarck is one of over a dozen similar publications by Stefan Draminski. This 336-page book is presented through several chapters and subsections:
SECTION 1Introduction
The battleship Bismarck - Technical description
History of the battleship Bismarck
SECTION 2Primary Views
SECTION 3The drawingsA General arrangements
B Hull structure
C Superstructure
D Rig
E Armament
F Fire Control
G Fittings
H Aircraft
I Boats
J Other ships involved in Operation Rheinübung
Bibliography
Author Draminski expresses a passion for the
Bismarck and this book looks to be a labor of love. The text begins with 22 pages of detail and history. Described in detail are the main components of the ship:
Hull structure
Armour
Machinery
ArmamentMain artillery
Secondary artillery
Heavy anti-aircraft artillery
Medium anti-aircraft artillery
Light anti-aircraft artillery
Depth charges
Fire control
Main and secondary artillery
Anti-aircraft artillery
Radar equipment
Searchlights
Aircraft, catapults and cranes
Boats (nine types)
Other equipment (sonar, paravanes, magnetic protection, etc.)
Complement
Camouflage (10 colors and how they were applied)
Wreck of the Bismarck
Bismarck history is presented through narratives of significant days, from awarding the contract to build the ship on 16 November 1935, through the third McDowell expedition of May 2005.
The rest of the 300 pages are technical illustrations and 3D artwork. Now we will explore that aspect of the book.
Photographs, Artwork, Graphics
Photographic support for the text is limited. However, the photos provided are remarkable. Several show
Bismarck in action at The Denmark Strait. Several document the ship under construction.
Tables
Principal characteristics of Bismarck, May 1941: 20 technical characteristics with data
Boilers: described with 13 technical features
Turbines: described with 5 technical features
Liquids: 7 types and capacity
38cm SK C/34 guns: 25 characteristics with data
15cm SK C/28 guns: 24 characteristics with data
10.5cm SK C/33 and 10.5cm SK C/33 na guns: 24 characteristics with data
3.7cm C/30 guns: 20 characteristics with data
2cm C/30 and 2cm C/38 guns: 19 characteristics with data
Specifications of the Arado Ar-196 A two-seat floatplane<: 10 characteristics with data
Map
Ship movements during Operation Rheinübung, 18 May - 1 June 1941: color map with ship tracks, keyed to 11 events.
Artwork
Artwork is the meat of this book - over 1,000 creations. The level of effort that went into creating this incredible gallery is extraordinary. The author relates that to illustrate the ship in such detail, that he created 40 million (40,000,000) individual polygons!
Those 40 million polygons first meld together to depict several two-page profiles of
Bismarck:
24 August 1940, Commissioning Day, Hamburg: a profile and a planform
Early March 1941, Kiel: a profile and a planform, in the Baltic camouflage scheme
Early March 1941, Kiel: the other side in profile, and a 3-quarter view
5 May 1941, Day of Hitler's Visit to the Combat-Ready Battleship off GDynia: in profile and planform
5 May 1941, Day of Hitler's Visit to the Combat-Ready Battleship off GDynia: left and right 3-quarter views
24 May 1941, Battle of the Denmark Strait: profile and planform; 27 May 1941, Bismarck's Last Battle: bird's-eye view of the bow and stern
Early March 1941, Kiel: close-up 3-quarter views of the fore and aft halves of the ship
Following those images are a series of engineering and technical drawings that show all manner of characteristics such as:
Hull plates and curvature per bulkhead
Anchor buoys
Arado floatplane
Auxiliary boats and launches and dinghies
Barbettes
Boat booms
Boat booms
Bollards
Breakwaters
Deck plans with compartments (keyed with hundreds of components)
Fairleads
Fire control posts
Flak guns
Floatplane stowage trolleys
Guard rails
Ladders
Lanterns
Life rings
Loudspeakers
Magazines
Masts
Platforms
Radars
Range finders
Rigging
Rope lockers
Shipyard construction plate
Skylights
Spare gun barrel canisters
Superstructures
Turrets and gun mounts
Vents
Remember, those are just a sample of over 1,000 3D color renderings and technical images.
Each image has captions and many are keyed with individual components. This is an incredible gallery of artwork.
Conclusion
The Battleship Bismarck from
Osprey is an exceptional presentation of one of the iconic warships of the Twentieth Century.
Bismarck led a short but legendary life and her physical attributes are exceptionally recreated with obvious passion by the author/artist. This book boats an incredible gallery of high quality artwork, over 1,000 amazing images!
I have nothing meaningful to criticize.
This book should be a valuable addition to the library of modelers of
Bismarck, Kriegsmarine, battleships, and WWII naval actions. Highly recommended.
Please remember to mention to Osprey and retailers that you saw this book here - on Model Shipwrights.
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