Bismarck was the first of two
Bismarck-classbattleships built for the German
Kriegsmarine. Named after Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind
German unification in 1871, the ship was launched on 14 February 1939 and commissioned in August 1940. Bismarck and her sister ship
Tirpitz were the largest battleships ever built by Germany, and two of the largest built by any European power. Bismarck conducted only one offensive operation, in May 1941. The ship, along with the
heavy cruiserPrinz Eugen, was to raid Allied shipping from North America to Great Britain. The two ships were detected several times off Scandinavia, and British naval units were deployed to block them. At the
Battle of the Denmark Strait, Bismarck destroyed the
battlecruiserHMS Hood, the pride of the
Royal Navy, and forced the battleship
HMS Prince of Wales to retreat. After two days of relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy, she was attacked by
torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier
HMS Ark Royal and her steering gear was rendered inoperable. In
her final battle the following morning, Bismarck was neutralised by a sustained bombardment, was scuttled by her crew, and sank with heavy loss of life. (
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2005 – Former Lebanese Prime Minister
Rafic Hariri was assassinated when explosives were detonated as his motorcade drove past the St. George Hotel in
Beirut, sparking the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon.
Beata Beatrix, an 1870
oil on canvas painting depicting
Beatrice Portinari (1266–90), subject of
Dante Alighieri's La Vita Nuova, at the moment of her death; Dante claims to have met her only twice, on occasions separated by nine years, but was so affected by the meetings that he carried his love for her throughout his life.
The artist,
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, includes a red dove as the messenger of love in this work and modeled Beatrice after his deceased wife and frequent model,
Elizabeth Siddal (1829–62).
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