The "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz" were planned in the mid 1930's by the German Kriegsmarine to counter France and its own naval expansion. Construction began in 1936 and were supposed to fall within the 35,000 long ton limit as imposed by the Washington regime and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement during the Interwar period. Both of them secretly ignored the limits but before it's completion, the agreement and the treaty fell apart due to Japan's withdrawal in 1937. "Bismarck" weighed 41,700t (long tons) and 50,300 t (49,500 long tons) when fully loaded and had a overall length of 251m (823 ft 6in) which was the largest built than any other European power until HMS Vanguard after the war. "Bismarck" had a top speed of 30.01 knots (55.58 km/h; 34.53 mph) during trials and had a max distance of 16,430 km (10,210 mi) without refuels. Bismarck had a crew of 2000-2200 and had them divided into twelve divisions of 180-200 per division and half of them were assigned to main and secondary weaponry while the other half were support crew. (Cooks, Radio Operators) The "Bismarck" had an armament of eight 38cm (15in) guns, twelve 15cm (5.9in) guns, sixteen 10.5cm (4.1in) guns, sixteen 3.7 (1.5in) guns, and twelve 2cm (0.79in) guns. "Bismarck's" main belt had a thickness of 320mm (12.6in) and was additionally covered with upper and main armor deck ranging from 50mm to 120mm ( 2in to 4.7in ) while the turret faces were protected by 360mm (14.2in) fronts while the sides were 220mm (8.7in) thick. 