I tried to argue that this ship was a legend and anyway it was impossible to hide our involvement. Often, when meeting some British or US navy officers and they learned I worked at Blohm + Voss, they’d exclaim “Oh wow! YOU built the BISMARCK!” To which I’d reply “Well, not me personally, but…yes.” 😌

Magnificent story - would have been even better if you had convinced them that you actually built it ;-)

Well, I did work for a guy in that firm for a while who had studied naval architecture after the war - with the lead designer of the Bismarck! BTW, this is now the official soundtrack of this sub-thread, courtesy of Sabaton 👊🇸🇪🔥

Yeah, I understand that it's sensitive, but there's no hiding the fact of who built the Bismarck, and the ship itself is more or less as uncontroversial as anything related to the German state in WWII can be.

Oh the Bismarck is definitely controversial, not just because of its characteristics, but also because it sank the HMS Hood, causing thousands of casualties. What I mean is, it's dangerous to censor historical facts. One must accept and confront them rather than pretend something didn't happen.

Agree, trying to ignore less pleasant parts of history rarely works out in the end. With Lütjens having been acceptable to remember, one could argue the ship should be as well, but I understand it isn’t so much about what Bismarck the ship is as it is about Bismarck the myth and Bismarck the symbol.

In Denmark the Bismarck name does not have any good vibes, but that is because of the man and not the ship ;-)

Oh well, it is not all bad...

Bismarck the man is also remembered for allegedly saying “If one knows how laws and sausages are made, it’s impossible to sleep at night.” A whole new perspective on legislation!

🤣😀😂 never heard that one. Will pass it on to my law-making friends for their perspective ;-)

It’s what has stopped me from being unpleasant to lawmakers many times. “Poor thing, probably didn’t get any sleep this night” helps one endure some trying situations. Such as being asked “but don’t the Americans desperately WANT this war over Taiwan?” Breathe - count to three - remember Bismarck..