German naval is so weird its not even funny they ruined it basically Bismarck has zero reason to go after Sachsen is far more a super dreadnought it makes no sense. Scharnhorst is far closer to a fast battleship then Sachsen she has a far higher top speed than Sachsen and more armor to boot. while she may only have 11-inch guns she was planned to be refitted with 15-inch guns like Gneisenau have in game. now I think this may be a good thing though as if they do add Tirpitz most likely go after Scharnhorst as it makes sense.
thoughts and comments below
A lot of Bismarck’s design was based on both the Bayern class and the Scharnhorst class. But unlike the Scharnhorst class which were designed primarily for a commerce raiding fast battleship role, the Bismarck class was designed with Jutland style battles in mind, she was meant to fight the Royal Navy’s newest Battleships and also the Dunkerque class Battleships. So it makes perfect sense for her to come after the Bayern class. If Tirpitz were added she’d be better off foldered with her sister at a slightly higher BR due to the better AA. Neither the Bismarck class nor the Scharnhorst class are comparable in role or capabilities and it does not make sense for Bismarck to come after the Scharnhorst class. Not how the Scharnhorst class is in the Battlecruiser line and not the Battleship line.
¬Hunter
highly unlikely for them to add tirpitz and folder her as the way there heading they need something to come in and cap off the battle cruiser line bismarck is in no way designed a dreadnought shes a fast battle ship you can see it from top view taper down sides very slim and sleek
and bismarcks construction was to counter the french naval expansion of Richelieu laid down in 1935
the only really close thing between bayern and bismarck is the guns really shes far more modeled after scarnhorst then bayern class
it becomes even clearer the more you look at Tirpitz both Scharnhorst and Tirpitz had good AA and torpedo protection both had torpedo’s and similar armor schemes too long taper bow and wide turning radius
if anything bismarck and tirpitz are just up armored and up gunned scarnhorsts
more likely is H39 to go after bismarck
and they almost never folder naval just look at bayerns
And yet, Bismarck was meant as a Battle Line Battleship, to bring the fight to other Battleships while Scharnhorst was meant to raid commerce and support landing operations, specifically targeting enemy Cruisers and Battlecruisers. Scharnhorst’s armour couldn’t stand up to the 14inch guns of a King George V class Battleship as shown in the Battle of North Cape where a shot from one of HMS Duke of York’s 14inch guns penetrated her deck armour and took out some boilers. Something that would have never happened with Bismarck. Had that been Tirpitz at North Cape, then DoY would have had a much, much harder time. Scharnhorst only had exceptionally strong armour on her belt and magazine spaces, but was relatively thinly armoured on her deck. A major flaw but an unavoidable one as adding more armoured weight would’ve made her sit even lower in the water when she already sat very low to begin with which also negated a lot of her thick belt armour’s effectiveness. The Scharnhorst class are my favourite class of German Battleship, but they are in now way comparable to the Bismarck class. Bismarck may have been fast, but just like Bayern, she had the overall armour and firepower to fulfill the role of a Dreadnought Battleship similar to what the Bayern would’ve held in WW1 if she was in time for Jutland.
¬Hunter
she was a lone wolf battle ship actually only ships of line where in WW1 very few times did german battleships use that doctrine
bismarcks armor belt wasnt immune to plungeing fire as she was hit by POW in denmarck straight
the round that went and killed scarn was the one that hit her engine room went and hit over her armor belt which was really lucky
The ranges at which PoW injured Bismarck were not far enough for plunging fire, and all the damage Bismarck took against PoW was a shot in her bow which was nowhere near her armoured belt (also why the damage was so severe) and also damage to her amidships section which destroyed her aircraft hangar and damaged the catapult. PoW never once scored a penetrating shot through the belt. (and neither did KGV, all the penetrating shots in Bismarck’s belt armour were from Rodney because 16inch guns > 14inch guns)
¬Hunter
Prince of whales also hit bismarcks engine room
The second shell passed through the bow from one side to the other without exploding. The third struck the hull underwater and burst inside the ship, flooding a generator room and damaging the bulkhead to an adjoining boiler room, partially flooding it. The last two hits caused damage to Bismarck 's machinery and medium flooding
again WW1 jutland battle lines where not a thing for germany in ww2 they had 4 Battle ships total all being fast battle ships which again do not work in jutland they also didnt have resources to rebuild the battle ship fleet. they did not have numbers for those engagements bismarck is just a evolution of the Scharnhorst class both classes designed for convoy hunting primarily and engagement of enemy escort ships of those convoys
bismarck was not meant to go toe to toe with the british grand fleet as she would be overwhelmed and sunk like all of them where