The flagship Bismarck was laid down in Wilhelmshaven in 1937 and was completed in 1939. She was named after the well known Prussian "iron chancellor" Otto Von Bismarck.
After some time with trials and testing, Bismarck was sent on her first major mission on May 1941, operation Rheinübung. On 19. May Bismarck leaves København, and meets up with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and three destroyers before they set course for Norway. 21. May Bismarck and Prinz Eugen leaves Norway, and the morning after the escorting destroyers leaves the battle group. bismarck and Prinz Eugen now sails alone, and set their course northbound. At 05:43 on 24. May the battle group spots the British warshships HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales at the Denmark Strait outside Greenland. HMS Prince of Wales manage to score a hit on Bismarck in this battle, but soon after HMS Hood explodes in a gigantic explosion, and soon after also Prince of Wales is hit four times by salvoes from Bismarck. After this ferocious battle HMS Prince of Wales withdraws from the site heavily damaged, and Bismarck set course south to reach St. Nazaire in France to repair her damages. The heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen returns towards Germany. In the following days Bismarck are followed by British forces and also attacked by Swordfish planes that manage to hit Bismarck three times with torpedoes. One of these hits proves to determine the faith of Bismarck, the rudder is stuck and she can`t keep a straight course. On the morning 27. May the British has understood the situation and assembled sufficient forces to take up the final fight with the mighty Bismarck. After several hours of ferocious fighting, the battleship disappear in the deep in the Atlantic ocean 10:39 on 27. Mai 1941. The wreck of Bismarck was found by Dr. Robert Ballard 9. Juni 1989 after several weeks of searching. Bismarck was found approximately 680 kilometers south of the Irish city of Cork on a depth of 4790 meters. The wrecks stands on her keel, but carry obvious marks of the ferocious battle she went through in the hours before she disappeared in the deep...
Exactly 50 years later an other German Flagship completed but this one was faster and created in order to give pleasure and not the horror of war!
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce the one of only 369 made for the worldwide market and the one and only in Greece, the 1989 PORSCHE 928GT BISMARCK!
Best Regards
Lefteris
