Channell wrote:
I have a question about Bismarck and depth charge racks.
The kit has them (on the stern), the Pontos detail set deletes them entirely. I can't find any photo evidence for/against them. Anybody know the truth of the matter?
Interestingly, I recall seeing footage from the Cameron expedition in which what appears to be water bombs are located on the seafloor very close to the hull. I think they’re pretty close to the rudders. I could be wrong of course as I am recalling this from memory (and I had a bit too much eggnog last night).
I recall seeing photos of these devices aboard Prinz Eugen during Rheinubung. In some photos the barrels are present and others they are not. No idea if they were jettisoned before the battle, used during the battle (I have no idea why they would do that) or if they were taken below and stowed. It makes me wonder if there was some sort of standard protocol for the devices when going into an imminent surface battle. Does anyone know?
The reason I am interested in this because I got a model of the Beastie (Bismarck) for Christmas. The horror! Just kidding! As the Hood guy I know that you can’t have one without the other (Yin Yang, etc.). I intend to have a “book-end” display with Hood to one side and the Beastie on the other. I want them to be accurate, but of course, I am going to opt to leave the railing up rather than down…even though it’s more historically accurate to have the railing down during the battle, it just looks “weird” on a model (IMHO).