http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/may41/f26may41.htm
British aircraft damage Bismark
Monday, May 26, 1941 www.onwar.com
In the North Atlantic... A Catalina aircraft finds Bismark only 700 miles from Brest and it is clear that the aircraft of the Ark Royal (of Force H) offer the best chance of slowing the German ship so that she can be caught. The first strike launched by the Ark Royal finds and attacks the British cruiser Sheffield by mistake owing to bad weather. The attack fails because of defects in the magnetic exploders of the torpedoes, so simple contact types are substituted for a second strike. The 15 Swordfish find the correct target and score two hits. One hit wrecks the German battleship’s steering and practically brings her to a halt. During the night Bismark is further harried by torpedo and gunfire attacks by five British destroyers. It is unclear whether they score any torpedo hits.
In the Mediterranean... On Crete, the British commander, Freyberg, raises the question of a withdrawal from the island. During the night of the 26th most of the Allied forces withdraw from the Galatas position amid some confusion about the exact nature of their orders. Aircraft from the carrier Formidable attack the Stuka base at Scarpanto in the Italian Dodecanese. The carrier is hit twice by air attacks.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/26.htm
May 26th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM:
Corvette FS Commandant d’Estienne d’Orves (ex-HMS Lotus) laid down.
Minesweeper HMS Eastbourne commissioned.
Corvette KNM Andenes (ex-HMS Acanthus) launched.
Gate vessels HMC GV 5 and CV 6 ordered. (Dave Shirlaw)
GREECE: CRETE: Carrier HMS Formidable, accompanied by HMS Barham and HMS Queen Elizabeth, flies off aircraft from a position well to the south for an attack on the Scarpanto Island airfields. In the counter-attack HMS Formidable and destroyer HMS Nubian are damaged, by Stukas flying from Scarpanto.
General Freyberg raises the question of evacuation from Crete. Withdrawal from their positions in Galetas will begin tonight.
British commandos under Brigadier Robert Laycock land at Suda Bay to cover the evacuation.
GOLD COAST: Night of 26/27 May 1941 U-69 (Jost Metzler) entered Takoradi travelling on the surface between the heavily fortified moles and laid seven mines. She escaped undetected. (Dave Shirlaw)
JAPAN: The Kayaba Ka-1, Army Model 1 Observation Autogyro makes its maiden flight.
In 1939, the Japanese Army purchased a Kellet KD-1A single-engine two-seat autogyro from the U.S. (The USAAC purchased nine KD-1s and designated them YG-1s.) Unfortunately for the Japanese, the machine was damaged beyond repair in a crash during flight tests at low altitude. The wreck was delivered to the Kayaba Industrial Co. Ltd.
(K.K. Kayaba Seisakusho) and they were told to develop a similar machine. A two-seat observation machine was built based on the KD-1A but modified to Japanese production standards. This machine makes its first flight today. About 240 Ka-1s were built. (Jack McKillop)
CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Bayfield launched North Vancouver, British Columbia. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: America’s first experimental blackout takes place at Newark, New Jersey.
Heavy cruiser USS Baltimore laid down.
Destroyer USS Doyle laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: After a 30 hour interval a Catalina flying boat of RAF Coastal Command 209 Squadron discovers the BISMARK about 700 nm from Brest, its port of destination. The Catalina was fitted with a recently improved ASV radar device.
The copilot on this Catalina was Ensign Leonard B. Smith, USNR. Another Catalina of RAF No 240 Squadron with Lieutenant James E. Johnson, USN, aboard begins shadowing the German ship. (Jack McKillop)
Later in the afternoon a Swordfish strike from Force H’s Ark Royal attacks the Sheffield in error. She is not hit. A second strike takes place in the evening by 810, 818 and 820 squadrons with 15 Swordfish led by Lt-Cdr Coode. They torpedo BISMARK twice and one hit damages her propellers and jams the rudders. As BISMARK circles, destroyers of the 4th Flotilla (Capt Vian) come up around midnight, and make a series of torpedo and gun attacks but with uncertain results.
HMSs Cossack, Maori, Sikh, Zulu and Polish Piorun have been detached from troop convoy WS8B, an indication of the seriousness of the BISMARK’s threat.
By this time Adm Tovey’s force of heavy ships has lost the Repulse to refuel, but been joined by HMS Rodney. They now come up from the west but do not attack just yet.
I believe one of the pilots on the Catalina was an American officer. So much for neutrality.