July 1, 1936-The keel of the Bismarck is laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg.
February 14, 1939-Bismarck is launched.
April 1940-The crew of the Bismarck begin arriving aboard to accustomize themselves to the new vessel.
August 24, 1940-Bismarck is commissioned.
September 15, 1940-Bismarck leaves Hamburg and moves toward Gotenhafen for a trial run in the Baltic.
September 16 through 17, 1940-Bismarck moves through the Kiel Canal.
September 17 through 28, 1940-Bismarck is stationed at Scheerhafen (Kiel).
September 28, 1940-Bismarck arrives at Gotenhafen.
October through November, 1940-Bismarck undergoes trial runs in the Baltic Sea.
December 5, 1940-Bismarck returns to Hamburg after completing the Baltic trial operations, where the battleship will finish being outfitted.
December 7 through 8, 1940-Bismarck again passes through the Kiel Canal.
December 9, 1940-Bismarck returns to port in Hamburg.
January 24, 1941-Bismarck is ready to sail as the outfittings are completed.
March 6, 1941-Bismarck departs from Hamburg, ordered to report to Gotenhafen.
March 7 through 8, 1941-Bismarck takes its final voyage through the Kiel Canal.
March 8 through 17, 1941-Bismarck takes on supplies at Kiel, including two Arado fighters. The battleship also has its camoflauge scheme changed, now showing chamoflauge stripes along the hull.
March 17, 1941-Bismarck arrives at Gotenhafen. The battleship begins trials in the Baltic beginning March 18, and lasting into April.
May 5, 1941-Adolf Hitler, Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel, and Admiral Lütjens board the Bismarck. Hitler will be aboard the Bismarck for only five hours. Lütjens, who will be in command of the massive ship, becomes permanently stationed aboard the battleship after May 12.
May 13, 1941-Bismarck conducts refueling exercises with the Prinz Eugen.
May 18, 1941-Bismarck leaves Gotenhafen at 0200 local time.
May 20, 1941-Bismarck is sighted by a Swedish cruiser while going through Kattegat.
May 21, 1941-Bismarck enters Korsfjord near Bergen. At 1100, the Bismarck anchors in the Grimstadfjord, and is sighted approximately 2 1/2 hours later by a Spitfire belonging to British Coastal Command. At 2000 the Bismarck, Prinz Eugen, Z10 Hans Lody, Z16 Frederick Eckoldt, and Z23 leave the fjord.
May 22, 1941-The three destroyers leave the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen heading due north at 0400.
May 23, 1941-Reaches the ice limit around early evening and about an hour later the Bismarck sights the Suffolk and at 2030, fires several salvos. After a while, the Prinz Eugen passes the Bismarck and takes the lead, using the cruiser radar to replace the damaged system aboard Bismarck. The Suffolk manages to evade all attempts by the Bismarck to hit the British cruiser.
May 24, 1941-At 0600, the Bismarck spots a pair of ships on the horizon. The two ships (the Hood and the Prince of Wales) open fire on the German battleship. Shortly after firing the first salvo at the Hood, the battlecruiser explodes and breaks in half, sinking with only three survivors. The Bismarck is hit four times by the Prince of Wales. At about 0615, the Bismarck fires its last salvo of this engagement, 93 shells 38 cm shells fired from the ship in all so far. The battleship is hit three times by the Prince of Wales. Once in the ships bow, one in the armored belt, and a third that ran through a lifeboat. Changes course around 1200 to head south at a reduced speed of 28 knots. At 1814, the Bismarck turns north again, and attempts to fire shells at the Suffolk and Prince of Wales as the Prinz Eugen leaves the battleship behind. However, the Bismarck fails to score hits on any of the British vessels trailing behind. At 2330, the carrier Victorius launches 9 Swordfish and 6 Fulmars, which attack the Bismarck. The battleship is hit by one torpedo which does little damage.
May 25, 1941-Bismarck turns to heading 130 and loses the British pursuit ships.
May 26, 1941-Bismarck is spotted by an RAF Coastal Command PBY Catalina flying boat from No. 209 squadron at 1030. At just after 1730, the battleship is spotted by the British cruiser Sheffield. The carrier Ark Royal launches her 15 Swordfish torpedo aircraft, which succeed in hitting the Bismarck with two torpedoes, both on the port side, one of which jams the battleships rudder at 12 degrees left, also rendering the Bismarck unable to maneuver. The battleship fires three salvos at the Sheffield between 2130 and 2200.
May 27, 1941-The King George V and Rodney spot the crippled battleship Bismarck. The Rodney opens fire on the ship shortly before 0900 in the morning. Shortly afterwords, the Germans open return fire on the Rodney. About 0900 the Bismarck is hit again, and loses two forward main turrets. The Bismarck stops firing after about 0930 and is hit by several shells fired at a range between 2,500 meters and 4,000 meters between 0930 and 1015, followed by demolition charges placed in the turbine room, then the ship takes 3 torpedo hits fired by the Dorsetshire between 1020 and 1040. Shortly afterwords, the Bismarck sinks. Several survivors are picked up by the British ships, but they are ordered to resume course as U-boat activity was spotted in the area. (This U-boat is most likely U-556, which had been shadowing Ark Royal for a while, but the submarine had already expended all torpedoes. At the christening, the commander had felt that the submarine was to be the "Bismarck's Godfather", to protect it, but he later wrote his frustrations in the ships log. *I will look to try to find his entry on the matter.*)
June 9, 1989-Bismarck wreckage is spotted by Robert Ballard at a depth of 4,700 meters.
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