BATTLE OF THE DENMARK STRAIT
1941
In 1935 however the Germans secretly began construction on two formidable fifty one thousand ton battleships, Bismarck and her sister ship Tirpitz.
The extra tonnage was put to good use and both warships showed a marked superiority in speed and armor in comparison to other Naval designs of the period. This also meant that on the open seas no single battleship could match them.
Following the successes in the Atlantic achieved by the Kreigsmarine during the winter of nineteen forty forty one, the German naval high command began to formulate plans for a much more ambitious and daring operation.
The plan was to send a powerful battle group comprising the newly commissioned battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz accompanied by the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau into the Atlantic and attack supply convoys bound for England.
The operation however began to fall apart almost from the outset as Scharnhorst was forced to undergo major machinery repairs and Gneisenau was seriously damaged by RAF bomber strikes. The Tirpitz was then scratched from the operation as she had not yet completed her sea trials.
The commander in chief of the Kreigsmarine Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, believed it imperative to keep pressure on the hard pressed British supply convoys and decided to go forward with a revised operation. As a result the German force was greatly reduced to Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen.
In the early hours of May 21st both the Bismarck and Prince Eugen were sighted leaving Kattegat and later that same day identified in Bergen Fjord, the two German ships then entered more open waters and disappeared.
On May 23rd while on patrol in the stretch of water between Greenland and Iceland the British cruisers HMS Norfolk and Suffolk sighted the two enemy ships. After notifying the British Admiralty both cruisers then began to shadow the enemy warships.
The nearest British warships capable of intercepting the German's were the newly commissioned Battleship Prince of Wales and the Battle Cruiser Hood which were both ordered on an intercept course.
On paper the balance of forces for the upcoming battle favored the British with the 44,000 ton Prince of Wales mounting ten 14 inch batteries and a top speed of 28 knots along with the 49,000 ton Hood armed with eight 15 inch guns and a top speed of 31 knots.
The German's countered with the 51,000 ton Bismarck mounting eight 15 inch batteries and a top speed of 30 knots along with the 19,000 ton Prince Eugen armed with eight 8 inch guns and a top speed of 32.5 knots.
At 05:52 on the morning of May 24th, Hood opened the battle from a distance of 12.5 miles targeting Prince Eugen, Hood's first two salvo's however fell just short of her foe. One minute later the Prince of Wales followed suit targeting Bismarck firing four salvo's in quick succession, all of which fell over and beyond Bismark's superstructure.
At 05:55 while both British warships were performing a turning movement twenty degrees to port, at a distance of 11 miles Admiral Lutjens ordered both Bismarck and Prince Eugen to break their silence and open fire against their foremost opponent, the Hood. The first German salvo's however fell short of their target as the British ships continued to close the distance between the two battle groups.
All four warships were now in full action. At 05:56 Prince of Wales fifth salvo overshot Bismarck once again, but her sixth straddled the bow of the German battleship just above the waterline leaving a gaping hole two meters in diameter which allowed two thousand tons of sea water to get into the forecastle.
At 05:57 Prince Eugen scored a hit on Hood's shelter deck near the mainmast destroying her 4 inch batteries which started a large fire that spread towards the second funnel with alarming speed.
At 0600 while the Hood and Prince of Wales were in the process of turning another twenty degrees to port, at a distance of nine miles Bismarck let loose her fifth salvo. At least one 15 inch shell struck Hood's armor belt and penetrated deep within the ship reaching her ammunition magazines where it detonated.
Suddenly the Hood was split in two by an enormous explosion. A few minutes later she had vanished beneath the waves amidst a vast pail of smoke.The entire crew of the Bismarck were awestruck by what had just unfolded before them. The Mighty Hood, for twenty years the largest warship in the world and pride of the Royal Navy, had sank in under three minutes.
This catastrophic event happened so fast that there was not even time for the Hood's crew to abandon ship. All but three of her valiant company, more than fifteen hundred men including Vice Admiral Holland and Captain Ralph Kerr had perished.
The Prince of Wales now quickly altered her course to avoid the sinking wreckage of the Hood, a move which now forced her between the sinking Battle cruiser and the German warships, this presented the enemy with an easy target switch.
At 06:02 Bismarck's heavy guns began to punish the Prince of Wales, within minutes she received four hits, one of which completely destroyed the bridge killing all present except for Captain Leach. Prinz Eugen now entered the unequal fight scoring three additional hits on Prince of Wales.
At 06:03 Captain Leach launched a smoke screen and ordered his ship to retreat from the combat zone. Captain Lindemann now issued orders for Bismarck to pursue and finish off the crippled Prince of Wales, but Admiral Lutjens intervened, arguing the original battle plan was not to engage British capital ships, but to destroy supply convoys bound for England.
The battle of the Denmark Strait was now at an end, In just seventeen minutes the Hood had been sunk and the Prince of Wales had been severely damaged and forced to withdrawal from the fight.
Although the Prinz Eugen suffered no hits in the engagement, Bismarck had suffered damage to her bow under the waterline blocking the use of one thousand tons of fuel oil which reduced her speed to 27 knots and left a visible stream of leaking fuel oil.
Bismarck was also down three degrees by the bow and had a nine degree list to port. The overall damage was not entirely serious, Bismarck maintained her fighting capability, still possessed good speed, and had no casualties to report.
At 12:40 Bismarck and Prinz Eugen continued on course due south at 24 knots. Command of the British situation now passed to Rear Admiral Walker aboard the cruiser HMS Norfolk who was ordered to continue and shadow the two German warships with the Suffolk.
At 6:40 on the evening of May 24th Lutjen's ordered Bismarck to turn and engage her pursuers. Bismarck opened fire on the Suffolk who along with the Norfolk quickly retired under a smoke screen.
Sixteen minutes later the engagement was over and Bismarck turned and once again resumed her original course. This action was purely a diversionary maneuver to cover and make good Prinz Eugen's escape, which then made off at high speed reaching the French port of Brest unchallenged some ten days later.
The British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious would now enter the fight as she came within range to strike at Bismarck. Admiral Tovey knew how imperative it was to sink the Bismark and decided the situation warranted a daring and risky night operation. At 10:00 pm, at a range of one hundred and twenty miles, Victorious launched all nine of her Swordfish torpedo planes against strong head winds and driving rain.
Guided by the Norfolk's wireless, the Swordfish caught up with Bismark some two hours later and began their attack. After skillfully avoiding the first six torpedo runs, Bismarck was suddenly hit directly under the bridge on her starboard side. The damage was minimal however as the torpedo struck the main armament belt which resisted the explosion.
Despite heavy German anti aircraft fire not one of the obsolete Swordfish were shot down during their attack and all succeeded in landing safely aboard the Victorious at 0230 am in pitch dark conditions.
After the Swordfish attack, Bismarck reduced her speed to 16 knots in order to carry out repairs and reduce the pressure within the forecastle. Soon after 0300 on the 25th Lutjens saw the opportunity to break contact with his pursuers.
By taking advantage of the enemy's disposition and the darkness, Lutjens set a new course of one hundred and thirty degrees southeast and ordered Bismarck's speed increased to 27 knots in a bid to reach the French coast.
The maneuver worked as Suffolk suddenly lost contact with Bismarck.The British Admiralty's hopes of preventing Bismarck's escape were dashed when at 0400 Suffolk reported ''Lost enemy contact''.
Bismarck's disappearance caused the utmost despair and anxiety within the British Admiralty back in London, all seemed as though Bismarck had escaped. However just as hopes were beginning to fade, one of two Coastal Command Catalina flying boats out of Lough Erne in Northern Ireland spotted Bismarck at 1030 on the 26th about seven hundred miles from France and steering for Brest.
After thirty one tense hours Bismarck had been found once again. Unfortunately for the British the battleships King George V and Rodney were 135 miles to the north and 125 miles northeast respectively and still far behind the chase. They would never prevent the German battleships escape unless her speed could be drastically reduced.
At 1450 the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal now came within range and launched her striking force of fifteen Swordfish on a attack run towards Bismarck. At 1550 they obtained radar contact with a ship and began their torpedo run.
Unknown to the pilots the ship within their sights was not the Bismarck but in fact the British cruiser Sheffield. In a extreme stroke of luck the Sheffield was not hit by one of the eleven torpedoes launched because they were fitted with faulty magnetic pistols.
The British put every effort into this last attempt. At 1900 the same fifteen Swordfish used in the previous attack took off from Ark Royal this time with torpedoes armed with contact pistols.
At 2047 the British found their quarry and pressed home their attack with extreme determination. By 2130 the Swordfish had completed their torpedo assault and headed for home. During the course of their attack two torpedoes had certainly hit Bismarck and possibly a third.
One or two torpedo's had struck Bismarck port side amidships while the other detonated at the stern on the starboard side. the first hits did not cause sufficient damage to Bismarck's superstructure but the second jammed both steering rudders at a twelve degree angle to port.
A shadowing aircraft later reported that Bismarck had been seen to make two complete circles and seemed to be out of control. The flooding within the stern section and other adjacent compartments meant that all repairs would have to be done underwater. Unfortunately, extremely rough seas prevented all attempts by divers to free the rudders.
Admiral Lutjens now had no illusions as to the Bismarck's fate. Shortly before midnight he cabled Berlin, ''Ship unable to maneuver we shall fight to the last shell. Long live the Fuhrer."
The Bismarck was still four hundred miles from Brest. Strong German U-boat forces were now dispatched to Bismarck's aid, however there arrival time was estimated to be too late to help. During the night the atmosphere aboard the German warship was silent and tense, each crewman knew that by dawn the British would engage them with capital ships.
At 0843, the British battleships King George V and Rodney sighted Bismarck and closed to within 20,000 meters. At 0847 Rodney opened fire with King George V quickly following suit. Unscathed Bismarck targeted Rodney and returned fire with her forward turrets at 0849 without recording a hit.
At 0854 the Norfolk arrived and joined the battle quickly followed by the Dorsetshire. Bismarck was now up against two enemy battleships and two heavy cruisers with herself unable to maneuver and a top speed of only ten knots.
At 0902, the British rate of fire began to tell upon Bismarck as she was hit by several shells which struck the forecastle, foremast and destroyed the fore top rangefinder. With Bismarck's third salvo she managed to straddle the Rodney but thereafter the British weight of attack became overwhelming.
At 0908 Bismarck's forward rangefinder along with her two forward turrets were put out of action. The aft turrets now directed four salvos against King George V with no success. At 0913 the aft fire control cupola was struck by a shell from King George V and was destroyed.
The Bismarck's aft turrets continued the fight blindly firing against Rodney under local control, which at the same time Rodney launched six torpedoes at Bismarck of which none struck their mark.
At 0921 Bismarck's turret closest to the stern was hit and put out of action. Ten minutes later Bismarck's final main turret fired its last salvo before being destroyed.
Aboard Bismarck their remained but only a few secondary guns still in action, but these too were quickly silenced by the avalanche of British fire. Captain Lindemann now gave the order to prepare charges to scuttle and abandon the ship.
At 0940 the Rodney turned across Bismarck's bow pouring in a heavy rate of fire at a range of no more than 4,000 yards, at this point blank range it was impossible for the British to miss a shot as shell after shell tore into the Bismarck which was amazingly still afloat.
Just after 1000, Norfolk launched four torpedoes at a range of 3,600 meters in which two struck Bismarck's starboard side. At 1016 Rodney fired its last salvos hammering Bismarck one last time as the King George V short of fuel was forced to leave the scene.
The destruction aboard Bismarck was total as she lay wallowing in the heavy seas a flaming, smoking ruin, yet she still would not go under.
For the next twenty minutes the British patiently circled their stricken foe waiting for her to sink. German sailors now began jumping overboard to escape the carnage. Amidst the chaos and destruction Bismarck's mainmast was still standing with the German battle flag still flaying in the wind.
At 1036 Dorsetshire cruised in and delivered a spread of four torpedoes scoring at least one hit. Captain Lindemann now ordered the remaining crew to abandon ship and detonated the scuttling charges.
At 1040, the Bismarck finally went down stern first. With her nearly 2,000 German sailors perished including the Captain and Fleet commander. Only a mere 110 survivors were later picked up and rescued by the British. This work of mercy was cut short by the appearance of German U-boat's which compelled the British to withdrawal.
In all the four British warships fired some 2,876 shells at Bismarck in which approximately 600 found their mark. For seventy four minutes the pride of the German Navy received a punishing barrage that no other warship afloat could have survived. In contrast it was a mere three days earlier that HMS Hood was destroyed and sank in only six minutes after the first German shells were fired.
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