The sinking of Bismarck as seen from HMS Dorsetshire
Posted on 05/27/2007 6:40:05 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
Fact File : 'Bismarck' Sunk
27 May 1941
Location: North Atlantic
Players: Admiral Gunther Lutjens, Admiral Sir John Tovey Outcome: Destruction of the German navy's flagship with the loss of perhaps 2,131 men.
Commissioned in August 1940, the Bismarck, at 45,000 tons, was the largest battleship in the Kriegsmarine (German navy) and contravened the Anglo-German Naval Treaty of 1935 which limited German battleships to a maximum of 35,000 tons.
The Bismarck spent the eight months following its commission in the eastern Baltic, and in mid-May 1941, under the command of Admiral Lutjens, the Bismarck and the cruiser Prinz Eugen broke out into the Atlantic. It was the ship's first operational mission.
After the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were spotted entering the North Sea, Admiral Tovey ordered the British cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk to engage the German battleships in the Denmark Strait. The Bismarck opened fire and the outgunned British withdrew, maintaining radar contact and awaiting the approaching battleships HMS Hood and the Prince of Wales.
The arriving British ships concentrated their fire on the Prinz Eugen, believing her to be the Bismarck, allowing the Bismarck to fire several volleys which sank HMS Hood and seriously damaged the Prince of Wales. The crippled Prince of Wales used her radar targeting apparatus to fire on the Bismarck, destroying her fuel lines and slowing her down. Forced to make a decision, Lutjens elected to make for occupied France for repairs and sent the Prinz Eugen on her way alone.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
The sinking of Bismarck as seen from HMS Dorsetshire
Bump
My Dad’s first USCG skipper in WWII was on a Coast Guard vessel located between the Bismark and the Hood in the battle in which the Hodd was lost and Black Prince seriously damaged. As a kid I remember that old captain telling me how the shells which passed overhead looked like flying boxcars.
Excuse me, not Black Prince, Prince of Wales. Sorry, old age!
Unfortunately for the crew of the Hood those boxcar size shells from the Bismarck scored a direct hit.
The USCG Cutter Modoc, I presume...
http://www.avalanchepress.com/Americans-Bismarck.php
There’s some speculation the Modoc provided some targeting data to an unsuccesful British Swordfish attack.
The Modoc was definitely not in-between Hood and Bismarck during the battle of Denmark Strait while firing was going on - I’ve read numerous accounts of the battle and it’s never mentioned, and certainly would have been. Also a very dangerous place to be - there were a number of torpedoes fired, which missed.
http://www.bismarck-class.dk/miscellaneous/modoc/modoc.html
Definitely in the vicinity, though. In fact, it seems that Bismarck WAS firing AAA fire near Modoc when she was under attack from the Swordfish - but not her main guns and not at Hood. Example of how basically true stories can mutate a bit over time...
I have the song, ‘Sink the Bismark’ by Johnny Horton on my media player. Great song.
Sorry Bismarck.
These days I suspect that many more people who the hear the name Bismarck think of the battleship before the man who the ship was named for.
Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood
And every British seaman he knew and understood
They had to sink the Bismarck the terror of the sea
Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees
We'll find the German battleship that's makin' such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us
Yeah hit the decks a runnin' boys and spin those guns around
When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down
[ ac.guitar ]
The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day
The Bismarck started firing fifteen miles away
We gotta sink the Bismarck was the battle sound
But when the smoke had cleared away the mighty Hood went down
For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail
Churchill told the people put every ship asail
Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she's gotta be
We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea
We'll find the German battleship...
[ ac.guitar ]
The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the morning
sun
Ten hours away from homeland the Bismarck made its run
The Admiral of the British fleet said turn those bows around
We found that German battleship and we're gonna cut her down
The British guns were aimed and the shells were coming fast
The first shell hit the Bismarck they knew she couldn't last
That mighty German battleship is just a memory
Sink the Bismarck was the battle cry that shook the seven seas
We found the German battleship t'was makin' such a fuss
We had to sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us
We hit the deck a runnin' and we and spun those guns around
Yeah we found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down
We found the German battleship...
I’m sure your right.
That is among the 1 out of 10 who even know about either the ship or the chancellor.
I hated school but history was the only class I really paid attention in. I love history.
Ditto. At family gatherings I like to play a game where I offer a $10 bill to any of my cousins if they can tell me what job Alexander Hamilton held in the federal government. Needless to say I haven’t lost the money yet.
How you must chuckle inside. The irony is lost on them, huh. lol
Video of the song w/movee footage (from the movie Sink the Bismarck, and some from real life)
That movie was all right. It seemed to be lacking something.
Yep, when you send a Battle-Cruiser (Hood) against a Battleship (Bismark), the thinner-armored Battle-Cruiser is going to lose most engagements. I thought that the British had figured out at the WWI Battle of Jutland that Battle-Cruisers should not go toe-to-toe with line Battleships.
They were slow learners.
dvwjr
BTTT
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