The Bismarck was the capital ship for the German navy, the biggest most heavily armored, and the fastest. The British realized the power that this ship demanded when at sea, realized the power and problem that this ship had if it was able to damage shipping lines in the Atlantic. Keeping a tab on the ship they started to notice movement out of the Baltic sea, and out Norway looking like it was heading into the Atlantic, the last thing that Allies wanted.
A ship of this power would be able to destroy the Liberty ships that were transporting so many goods, and be able to sneak back into the veil of night to never be found again. The Bismarck was now making a run into the Pacific, but in between it and the Atlantic was Scapa Flow which was a British military port. The Hood and the Prince of Wales(POW) were the pride of the British navy during this time and were on duty to chase the Bismarck and sink it. But they meet at the Denmark Strait and after a short battle the Hood was sunk and the POW damaged, but the Bismarck as well was damaged and leaking oil. But after this battle, they lost the position of the Bismarck and it could have headed under Iceland back to Norway, could have headed over Iceland back to Norway, or it could have traveled south into the Atlantic.
After hours of trying to find the Bismarck, a radio signal was triangulated to be heading toward France, but the British fleet headed north thinking that it would try to repair in Norway. An old aircraft carrier holding old swordfish was the closest ships to be called on, and these swordfish were torpedo bombers which were not going to be that effective against the Bismarck because of its thick armoring. Through torpedo bombing, one swordfish was able to take out the steering in the Bismark and now Destroyers were able to catch up with the Bismarck.
As the ship ground to a halt, it took 2,876 shells to take down the Bismarck, and the crisis of the Bismarck in the Atlantic was averted. Hitler was never again going to invest in a ship of this caliber because he thought that it was too expensive to maintain and was a target for aerial attacks
http://www.kbismarck.com/bismarck-chase.html
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03071846509419790?journalCode=rusi19
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_battle_of_the_battleship_Bismarck
very factual documentation of events. I truly love this story in history. It was a great chase the German battleship which was a mighty beast had to be hunted down by the british and americans and the battle was truly spectacular. Also I would highly recommend the amazing jam "we gotta sink the Bismark!"
ReplyDeleteFor Some reason I cant sign in this is Ethan Clark
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