/about/bismarck-large-57c4bd3b3df78cc16edd19eb.jpg )
What a waste of life...just to see both Germany & England hand their countries over to cave dweller goat boinkers.
Posted on 05/27/2017 8:51:08 AM PDT by Bull Snipe
The British Battleships, HMS King George V and HMS Rodney engaged the German Battleship Bismarck. After about two hours of battle, British gunfire had reduced Bismarck was a slowly sinking, burning wreck. The German crew set off scuttling charges and the Cruiser HMS Dorsetshire fired a salvo of torpedoes into her. At 10:39 Bismarck slid beneath the waves. 120 sailors out of the 2200 man crew were rescued.
“120 sailors out of the 2200 man crew were rescued.”
Volunteers?
probably not.
What a waste of life...just to see both Germany & England hand their countries over to cave dweller goat boinkers.
I know they were the enemy and a good many were probably Nazis or sympathizers, but it’s still a terrible loss of life.
Sometimes I wonder if Europe wouldn’t be in such dire straits today if she hadn’t lost so many of her young men in the 1940s.
It really goes back to 1914. If only, if only, ...
The proud tower toppled and no force can rebuild it, unfortunately. It really was the pinnacle of human civilization.
I heard That War is Hell...
Sometimes the alternative Is Worse!
We’ll find that German battleship,
That’s makin’ such a fuss.
We gotta sink the Bismarck,
‘Cause the world depends on us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KecIdlEAKhU
Why was the HMS Hood not in the battle?
I’m always more impressed more by one the Bismarck’s companion ships, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Survived WWII and two atomic bomb blasts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Prinz_Eugen
The Bismark destroyed the Hood by then.
HMS Hood had blown up after suffering a devastating salvo from Bismarck’s main guns in a previous engagement. Only 3 survivors.
Because she was sunk by Bismark 3 days earlier during the Battle of the Denmark Strait. There were only 3 survivors rescued from the Hood's company of ~1,300 men.
Interesting stuff:
Early on 25 May the British forces lost contact with Bismarck, which headed ESE towards France while the British searched NE, presuming she was returning to Norway. Later on 25 May Admiral Lütjens, apparently unaware that he had lost his pursuers, broke radio silence to send a coded message to Germany. This allowed the British to triangulate the approximate position of the Bismarck and aircraft were dispatched to hunt for the German battleship. She was rediscovered in the late morning of 26 May by a Catalina flying boat from No. 209 Squadron RAF and subsequently shadowed by aircraft from Force H steaming north from Gibraltar.
The final action consisted of four main phases. The first phase late on the 26th consisted of air strikes by torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal, which disabled Bismarck’s steering gear, jamming her rudders in a turning position and preventing her escape...
WWI and WWII destroyed European civilization.
The Bismarck sank the HMS Hood in an exchange of salvos three days earlier near Iceland. One of the Bismarck shells penetrated an ammunition storage area on the Hood, the subsequent massive explosion literally blew the HMS Hood out of the water.
HMS Hood was sunk by gunfired from Bismarck, 3 days before.
Not a good idea when a battle cruiser is designed to sacrifice armor in general for a bump in speed.
I just watched this, a full-length documentary. It’s pretty good.
Nazi Supership - The Bismarck (HD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N59MTv4z38A
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.