The WW2 German Battleship Bismarck
How the British Sank the Bismarck – at the Cost of the Mighty Hood
Feb 24, 2009
Launched in 1939, the Bismarck was much more than a mere battleship. Named for the Iron Chancellor who created the original Hohenzollern Reich, she was a potent symbol of Germany’s revival under Hitler. The battleship also cocked a snook at regulations theoretically restricting the country to building pocket battleship type vessels. In fact, she weighed a decidedly full-sized 50,000 tons, packed a full main armament of 8 x 15” guns and could make a very respectable 29 knots. In other words, she was a massive modern battleship that could outfight or outrun anything else afloat.
Actually, some naval experts have disputed quite how advanced the Bismarck was. Inevitably, lack of activity meant that Germans designers had fallen behind the game a little. According to Robert Preston in ‘Battleships’ (1990) the Bismarck was basically an updated World War One Baden class design and lacked the features of some more contemporary designs. Nevertheless, she was still a very formidable foe for an overstretched British navy, whose own capital ships’ style had been cramped by the 1921 Washington Naval Treaty.
Bismarck Sinks Hood
The trepidations felt by the Brits at the prospect of the Bismarck break ing loose and savaging the North Atlantic convoys that were their nation’s lifeline were soon justified. In tandem ith the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, Bismarck sailed out of the Baltic on 18 May 1941, intent on mayhem. The ships did not go undetected, though, and the British Admiralty sent a force to intercept. Admiral Holland’s force consisted of the brand new battleship Prince of Wales and the aged battle-cruiser Hood. The latter, although basically an obsolete pre-Jutland design, was widely considered to be the pride of the fleet and dubbed ‘The Mighty Hood’. Undoubtedly, this was more down to her size and imposing appearance than anything substantial, as events were soon to prove.
The two rival squadrons made contact in the Denmark Strait off Iceland, early on May 24. The range was 17 miles. The British admiral, mindful of the vulnerability of his aging flagship to plunging fire at extreme range, approached the enemy head-on in an effort to close rapidly, with the Hood as lead ship. However, it meant that they could not bring all their guns to bear, and the Germans took full advantage of this window of opportunity. After just 8 minutes, the Bismarck’s 5th salvo scored a direct hit on Hood. The ancient ship erupted into flames, broke in two and disappeared under the icy waves. It was a hideous echo of Jutland twenty five years earlier, when three British battlecruisers met the same fate. Sadly, the loss of life was equally severe – of a complement of 1419 men, only three survived. It was also a massive loss of prestige for the British, and a great propaganda victory for the Third Reich.
The Brits then broke off the battle, with the outnumbered Prince of Wales also suffering from major teething troubles with her quadruple gun turrets. However, this was not before she scored a hit on Bismarck which damaged her fuel supply. This was to prove very significant. With all surprise gone as well, the German captain Lindemann wisely wanted to return to base, but was over-ruled by Admiral Lutjens.
Hitler Is Put in the Picture – and so Are the British!
Two British cruisers, Norfolk and Suffolk, continued to shadow the Germans, while feverish attempts were made to send fresh forces. However, contact was lost, only to be restored when a foolish 30 minutes wireless message was sent to an exuberant Adolf Hitler.
The aircraft carrier Victorious and another fragile battecruiser Renown were brought into the hunt. At one stage, Swordfish aircraft on reconnaissance even fired on the British cruiser Sheffield, in an early case of friendly fire. However, when they eventually located the proper foe a lucky hit from another archaic Swordfish – known as stringbags – damaged the Bismarck’s rudder and rendered her unable to steer straight.
Brits sink Bismarck
This development enabled a powerful British force consisting of the elderly but heavily gunned battleship Rodney and the modern King George V under Admiral Tovey to catch Bismarck in the Bay of Biscay on May 27. Now going solo having despatched Prinz Eugen, the Bismarck fought bravely but was soon pounded into a floating wreck by 16” and 14” shells. The denouement probably came at the hands of the cruiser Dorsetshire and her torpedoes, although some Germans claim to this day that the ship was scuttled. Indeed, it is true that the ingenious construction of German capital ships, with their myriad of sub-compartments, enabled them to stay afloat long after others would have succumbed.
The loss of Bismarck on her maiden voyage had major strategic implications. It dissuaded the Nazis from taking further risks with their remaining heavy ships, and Bismarck’s sister Tirpitz spent the war skulking in a Norwegian fiord. The emphasis was placed even more on submarine warfare, just as had happened after strategic defeat at Jutland in the Great War. The name of the battleship Bismarck remains a famous one, however, more so after the discovery of her wreck in 1989 by Dr. Robert Ballard of Titanic fame. There was even a film about the episode. ‘Sink The Bismarck’ was a typically 1950’s Brit stiff upper lip effort, complete with stalwart actor Kenneth More and some rather dubious special effects.
For more information about the Bismarck, visit http://www.kbismarck.com/ or visit http://www.battleshipbismarck.com/
References:
Bassett, Ronald: Battle-Cruisers: A History 1908-1948. McMillan, 1981.
Battle of the Atlantic, Purnell.
Forester, CS: Hunting The Bismarck, Mayflower-Dell, 1959.
Preston, Antony: Battleships, Bison Books, 1981.
Regan, Geoffrey: The Past Times Book of Naval Blunders, Past Times, 1999.
