Ernst Lindemann was frustrated by the fact that—as commander of the Naval Gunnery School—he would never come into direct contact with the enemy. When he received the news that he had been selected to be the first commander of the battleship , he was honoured by the trust that had been bestowed on him but doubted that he would be able to get "Bismarck" ready for action before the war was over. His doubts suggest that he was confident the war would end in a favourable outcome for Germany by mid-1940. Prior to commanding "Bismarck", Lindemann had never held any shipboard command, a situation rare if not unique in the "Kriegsmarine". Nevertheless, Lindemann had served exclusively on ships with a gun calibre of at least , and he was Germany's leading gunnery expert. In 1940, he ranked second out of Crew 1913 and was considered an outstanding leader.