Last battle of Bismarck
The last battle of the German battleship Bismarck took place in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) west of Brest, France, on 26–27 May 1941 between the German battleship Bismarck and naval and air elements of the British Royal Navy. Although it was a decisive action between capital ships, it has no generally accepted name. It was the culmination of Operation Rheinübung where the attempt of two German ships to disrupt the Atlantic Convoys to the United Kingdom failed with the scuttling of the Bismarck.
The last battle consisted of four main phases. The first phase late on the 26th consisted of air strikes by torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal, which disabled Bismarck's steering gear, jammed her rudders in a turning position and prevented her escape. The second phase was the shadowing and harassment of Bismarck during the night of 26/27 May by British and Polish destroyers, with no serious damage to any ship. The third phase on the morning of 27 May was an attack by the British battleships King George V and Rodney supported by the heavy cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire. After about 100 minutes of fighting, Bismarck was sunk by the combined effects of shellfire, torpedo hits and deliberate scuttling.[1] On the British side, Rodney was lightly damaged by near-misses and by the blast effects of her own guns.[2] British warships rescued 110 survivors from Bismarck before being obliged to withdraw because of an apparent U-boat sighting, leaving several hundred men to their fate. A U-boat and a German weathership rescued five more survivors. In the final phase, the withdrawing British ships were attacked the next day on 28 May by aircraft of the Luftwaffe, resulting in the loss of the destroyer HMS Mashona.
Under the command of the Fleet Commander Günther Lütjens, the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen tried to break out into the Atlantic in order to attack convoys. The ships were intercepted by a British force from the Home Fleet. In the resulting Battle of the Denmark Strait on 24 May, Bismarck's fuel tanks were damaged and several machinery compartments, including a boiler room, were flooded. Her captain's intention was to reach the port of Brest for repair.[3]
Determined to avenge the sinking of the "Pride of the Navy" HMS Hood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the British committed every possible unit to hunting down Bismarck.
In the early evening of 24 may Bismarck briefly turned on her pursuers (Prince of Wales and the heavy cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk) to cover the escape of her companion, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen to continue further into the Atlantic. During the late evening of 24 May, an attack was made by a small group of Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers of 825 Naval Air Squadron under the command of Eugene Esmonde from Victorious. One hit was scored, but caused only superficial damage to Bismarck's armoured belt. Early on 25 May the British forces lost contact with Bismarck, which headed ESE towards France while the British searched northeast, presuming she was returning to Norway. Later on 25 May the commander of the German force, Admiral Günther Lütjens, apparently unaware that he had lost his pursuers, broke radio silence to send a coded message to Germany. This allowed the British to triangulate the approximate position of Bismarck and deduce that the German battleship was heading to France. By now, however, fuel was becoming a major concern to both sides : due to the battle damage, the subsequent loss of fuel and because Bismarck had not refueled in Norway nor from a tanker whilst underway to the North Atlantic, Lütjens had to maintain economical speed of 21 knots instead of dashing on top speed to France. From the pursuing Home Fleet, Prince of Wales, Repulse, Victorious and the four cruisers had to break off, and Suffolk as well. Only King George V and Norfolk were able to continue. Since the destroyer screen of King George V was also running short on fuel, the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla consisting of the destroyers HMS Cossack, Sikh, Maori and Zulu, and the Polish destroyer ORP Piorun, under command of Captain Philip Vian was ordered to detach from convoy WS-8B and to screen King George V.[8]
At 10:30 on 26 May Bismarck was detected by a Coastal Command Catalina reconnaissance aircraft from 209 Squadron RAF that had flown over the Atlantic from its base on Lough Erne in Northern Ireland across the Donegal Corridor.[9] It was piloted by the British Flying Officer Dennis Briggs[10] and co-piloted by the US Navy observer Ensign Leonard B. Smith, USNR.[11] Smith was at the controls when he spotted Bismarck[12] (via a trailing oil slick from the ship's damaged fuel tank) and reported her position to the Admiralty. Shortly before at 09:00 Ark Royal had launched scouting planes and half an hour after the Catalina, two Swordfish found Bismarck as well.[13] From then on, the German ship's position was known to the British, although the enemy would have to be slowed significantly if heavy units hoped to engage outside the range of German land-based aircraft. On receiving the message from the Catalina, Vian decided not to join the pursuing British battleships, but to steer directly for Bismarck.[14] All British hopes were now pinned on Force H and these destroyers.