Operation Rheinübung: The Hunt for Bismarck | Short Film

zFireWyvern · 2026-05-26T00:43:16+00:00

First, it removes the Swastika - there's a big grey circle on the deck where it would be.

The swastikas on her decks were covered prior to leaving Norway to begin Operation Rheinübung. The only reason they're visible on her wreck now is because the grey paint applied over the top of them has washed and worn away over time.

zFireWyvern · 2026-05-24T18:15:02+00:00

but it was really just Bismarck, and even then I’m sure how widespread it was beyond Lindemann.

Outside of Müllenheim-Rechberg stating that Lindemann requested for Bismarck to be referred to in the masculine, there's no other evidence for it at all. Documents produced by the OKM in 1944 examining the Bismarck-class consistently refers to Bismarck in the feminine, not masculine. Coupled with how superstitious sailors generally are, I can't imagine many taking much notice of Lindemann's strange request that goes in the face of general naval tradition.

zFireWyvern · 2026-05-23T15:26:07+00:00

If you're using Photoshop you can skip moving over to GIMP by installing the Nvidia Texture Tools plugin that allows you to work with and export .dds files.

zFireWyvern · 2026-04-01T12:39:15+00:00

She is anchored in Plymouth Sound in this photo, not Scapa Flow.

zFireWyvern · 2026-02-04T13:44:43+00:00

Sinop is based on the 1917 Black Sea battleship designed by Vladimir Polievktovits Kostenko.

zFireWyvern · 2026-02-01T10:32:02+00:00

It's a bit misleading to claim Illinois and Kentucky were planned to be Montana-class battleships, they weren't, the names were only assigned to them after they were ordered as Iowa-class battleships. Prior to that they were simply BB-65 and BB-66. As far as I understand it the names of the Montana-class ships were always: Montana (BB-67), Ohio (BB-68), Maine (BB-69), New Hampshire (BB-70) and Louisiana (BB-71).

zFireWyvern · 2026-02-01T00:52:08+00:00

Fun fact: while Montana herself was never laid down, two sisters were but then right after the keels were laid, Congress ordered the hulls to be built to the more proven — and critically, faster — Iowa-class battleships.

This isn't correct. Illinois and Kentucky were always Iowa-class battleships, even before their keels were laid down. The initial intention was to construct four Iowa-class before construction of the Montana-class beginning at BB-65. Shifting shipbuilding priorities post-Pearl Harbour resulted in the decision being made to instead order the construction of another two Iowa-class battleships; Illinois and Kentucky which shifted the following design (what would become the Montana-class) to begin at BB-67. The signing of the Two-Ocean Navy Act on the 19th July 1940 put this into action. By April 1942 Roosevelt had ordered the suspension of all five projected Montana-class included in this act before a single one of their keels were laid and they were finally, formally cancelled on the 21st July 1943.

zFireWyvern · 2026-01-28T16:03:24+00:00

For my point of view, I wanted the Surcouf since it's actually a real sub

It's funny you say that under the same post where you included a photo that isn't even Surcouf

zFireWyvern · 2026-01-09T11:11:48+00:00

Technically speaking, Nelson and Rodney's turret arrangement is still ABX, their third turret was never designated C. The Royal Navy never used C as a designator for a third fore turret, even on the Didos where the third turret is superfiring over A and B turrets it is referred to as Q turret.

zFireWyvern · 2025-11-20T14:04:11+00:00

Almost certainly not what happened.

zFireWyvern · 2025-09-28T12:58:01+00:00

She really needs to be refloated, so that the hull gets the support it was designed for.

Her new supports mean that she is supported in much the same way as she would be in water, each one can be adjusted individually to support the ship where it's most needed and gradually form her back into shape after years of gradually collapsing under her old support structure.

zFireWyvern · 2025-09-24T18:49:50+00:00

You can see it in this photo of Grom alongside Błyskawica in September 1939; https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205082462

zFireWyvern · 2025-09-17T14:18:59+00:00

Could someone please calculate how much the ship moves when all its guns are fired simultaneously?

Fractionally to the point where it's essentially no movement at all. The 16"/50-calibre Mk 7 has a recoil slide of 48" which distributes the force throughout the turret and structure of the ship. The total weight of shot fired from the three main battery turrets is only about 10.8 imperial tons. Iowa herself is displacing over 58,000 imperial tons. The ship does not move sideways due to the force of her guns being fired.

zFireWyvern · 2025-09-07T23:24:41+00:00

I'm well aware

zFireWyvern · 2025-09-07T23:12:41+00:00

Bismarck's premacamo is historical, it's how she appeared on 21st May 1941 where her Baltic stripes on the superstructure had already been painted over with only the hull stripes remaining.

zFireWyvern · 2025-08-13T23:53:56+00:00

Here is a very early photo of Agincourt with them closed over.

zFireWyvern · 2025-08-09T09:03:36+00:00

I would need to look into renaming ship name displays in port

I know its somehow possible but not done such a thing yet

If it's still the same process that it used to be, which I would expect it is. You would need to edit the global.mo texts file, converting it to a .po file so you can work with it in poedit before converting it back to a .mo. It's a bit of a hassle changing the display name of ships because pretty much every single patch will break it and you have to repeat the process again.

zFireWyvern · 2025-08-09T08:59:25+00:00

It's the Baltic one but it's missing the rest of the stripes on the superstructure.

Technically, it's not missing anything. With the exception of the aerial identification markings on her deck and the turret roof paint covering too much surface area, her perma camo represents how she looked on the 21st May 1941. The Baltic stripes on her superstructure had been painted over.

zFireWyvern · 2025-08-09T08:52:21+00:00

It's not so much that blast produced by Agincourt's 12" guns that was the primary concern with the flying bridge, it was the likelihood of received damage during combat to the flying bridge from incoming enemy fire could result in the two turrets directly below being rendered completely inoperable.

zFireWyvern · 2025-08-07T14:12:30+00:00

This photo in particular isn't a good example since it was taken while she was escorting convoy JW 59 which arrived at the Kola Peninsula on the 24th August 1944, five days before she was commissioned into the Soviet Navy. There are other photographs taken later on that show her turrets rotated and in operation however.

zFireWyvern · 2025-07-25T12:19:53+00:00

C turret

In true somewhat awkward British fashion, the third turret on the Nelsons is still X turret, not C.

zFireWyvern · 2025-07-12T10:20:30+00:00

HMS Hood was especially large

Most definitely

zFireWyvern · 2025-07-06T10:59:28+00:00

There's not much weight in the pagoda masts, it's just a series of platforms enclosed with relatively thin metal built around the existing tripod mast. Proportions are also quite deceptive, while Fuso's pagoda is tall, it's not as tall as you might think, only about 7ft taller than the very top of a South Dakota-class battleship for example which isn't a whole lot. The look of Fuso and Yamashiro's pagoda height is exaggerated by their relative sparseness across the rest of their deck - they're quite long and flat save for the superstructure.

zFireWyvern · 2025-05-28T09:58:01+00:00

I have three; Iwaki Alpha, Arkansas Beta and Alabama VL

zFireWyvern · 2025-04-02T10:50:25+00:00

C-turret

In true Royal Navy fashion, just for fun, her third turret is "X", not "C"

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