Bismarck was the first of two s built for
Nazi Germany's
Kriegsmarine. Named after Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the
unification of Germany in 1871, the ship was laid down at the
Blohm & Voss shipyard in
Hamburg in July 1936 and launched in February 1939. Work was completed in August 1940, when she was commissioned into the German fleet.
Bismarck and her sister ship were the largest battleships ever built by Germany, and two of the largest built by any European power.