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On May 19, 1941, the new Nazi battleship Bismarck left Gdynia, Poland. Sinking the Bismarck became one of the most well-known naval battles in history.
The hunt for World War II's Bismarck
Posted from britishheritage.com
WWII World War Two
World History
Military History
Warfare
Combat
Posted >1 y ago
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Bismarck's primary mission was to attack escorted British merchant convoys. In April 1941 Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, commander-in-chief of the German navy, planned to form a battlegroup of the ships Bismarck, Prinz Eugen, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau that would be capable of destroying even the most heavily defended convoys. But before these ships could depart for the Atlantic, all except Bismarck had been damaged by British bombs and mines.
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Fog hampered reconnaissance efforts on both sides. While British flyers struggled to ascertain whether the German ships had left Norway, German scout planes incorrectly reported that all the battleships of the Home Fleet still lay at anchor.
On the evening of 23rd May, Suffolk sighted Bismarck as the battleship steamed through a clearing between the patches of fog. The cruiser radioed a report to Hood and Prince of Wales, which were then about 300 miles away. They turned to close on the enemy and at dawn on the 24th, they intercepted the German warships.
When the range had closed to about 25,000 yards, Hood and Prince of Wales began firing. Bismarck and Prinz Eugen responded within a few minutes. About eight minutes into the fight, a shell from Bismarck plunged through Hood's thinly armoured deck and exploded among the ship's main ammunition stores. A huge cloud of smoke erupted and when it cleared, Hood had vanished. From the vantage point of Prince of Wales, a crewman noticed 'a great rushing sound which had ominously ceased, and then, as I looked a great spouting explosion issued from the centre of the Hood. I just did not believe what I saw--Hood had literally been blown to pieces.'
this was quite the battle....German subs were a real threat to Allied shipping
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Fog hampered reconnaissance efforts on both sides. While British flyers struggled to ascertain whether the German ships had left Norway, German scout planes incorrectly reported that all the battleships of the Home Fleet still lay at anchor.
On the evening of 23rd May, Suffolk sighted Bismarck as the battleship steamed through a clearing between the patches of fog. The cruiser radioed a report to Hood and Prince of Wales, which were then about 300 miles away. They turned to close on the enemy and at dawn on the 24th, they intercepted the German warships.
When the range had closed to about 25,000 yards, Hood and Prince of Wales began firing. Bismarck and Prinz Eugen responded within a few minutes. About eight minutes into the fight, a shell from Bismarck plunged through Hood's thinly armoured deck and exploded among the ship's main ammunition stores. A huge cloud of smoke erupted and when it cleared, Hood had vanished. From the vantage point of Prince of Wales, a crewman noticed 'a great rushing sound which had ominously ceased, and then, as I looked a great spouting explosion issued from the centre of the Hood. I just did not believe what I saw--Hood had literally been blown to pieces.'
this was quite the battle....German subs were a real threat to Allied shipping
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