Summary of Iain Ballantyne's Killing the Bismarck

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The launch of the battleship Bismarck was celebrated by the German people, but Hitler made it clear that Germany would not be spending more resources on its fleet than necessary.

#2 Hitler did not want war with the British, and he knew that building a fleet to rival the Royal Navy would provoke them. He told the admirals that he was the boss. The British Naval Attaché thought that Hitler was a disciple of Bismarck, and that he wanted to leave the navy in a half-developed state.

#3 Hitler was very interested in military technology, but he could not find a single word to say about Bismarck’s masterpiece of naval construction and weapon technology. He was not moved to comment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822514201

IRB Media

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Insights on Iain Ballantyne's Killing the Bismarck

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 18

Insights from Chapter 19

Insights from Chapter 20

Insights from Chapter 21

Insights from Chapter 22

Insights from Chapter 23

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The launch of the battleship Bismarck was celebrated by the German people, but Hitler made it clear that Germany would not be spending more resources on its fleet than necessary.

#2

Hitler did not want war with the British, and he knew that building a fleet to rival the Royal Navy would provoke them. He told the admirals that he was the boss. The British Naval Attaché thought that Hitler was a disciple of Bismarck, and that he wanted to leave the navy in a half-developed state.

#3

Hitler was very interested in military technology, but he could not find a single word to say about Bismarck’s masterpiece of naval construction and weapon technology. He was not moved to comment.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The Anglo-German Naval Agreement limited Britain’s next generation of battleships to 35,000 tons, and it was expected that the Germans would do the same. The head of the Kriegsmarine, Admiral Erich Raeder, told his naval architects to create a battleship that would in reality displace 45,000 tons, but in 1936 the official figure handed over to the British was 35,000 tons.

#2

The Anglo-German Naval Agreement was signed in 1936, and allowed the Germans to build the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz. Britain was not willing to risk a fight with Germany over its naval intentions.

#3

The British navy began building new battleships in the 1930s, as the threat of Fascism grew. They were initially designed to abide by naval limitation treaties, but the lapsing of those agreements gave naval architects the opportunity to be more ambitious.

#4

The King George V Class were designed to take only ten 14-inch guns, which was a disaster in Churchill’s eyes. The Admiralty maintained that the more numerous 14-inch guns had a faster rate of fire.

#5

The Anglo-German Naval Agreement allowed the German navy to have thirty-five percent of the strength of the British navy when, in war, it was difficult for the Royal Navy to concentrate even that percentage of its power in home waters to counter Germany.

#6

The man in charge of the main striking force expected to kill Bismarck or Tirpitz was Admiral John Tovey.