Commissioned in 1940, the Bismarck was a heavy battleship of the German Navy. It bears the name of the famous chancellor behind the creation of the German Empire at the end of the 19th century. In May 1941, during a blitzkrieg in the northern Atlantic Ocean, Bismarck sank HMS Hood , an English battlecruiser that was the finest unit of the Royal Navy. It will be his only feat. Tracked down by the British Navy, it failed to reach the harbor of Brest and was sunk on May 27, 1941. Naval warfare in the Atlantic Ocean became mainly submarine, and clashes between surface ships were rare.
The Bismarck, emblem of the Kriegsmarine
The Treaty of Versailles crushed Germany. His fleet, which had stood up to the Royal Navy, had to suffer the humiliation of being scuttled in the English bay of Scapa Flow. Before Hitler arrived in 1933, the Kriegsmarine is just a small coastal navy. It was in 1935, following skilful negotiations, that Germany obtained the right to launch the construction of fast battle cruisers, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, armed with 280 mm guns. Within the German fleet two options then emerge:that of Admiral Reader, in favor of the construction of a balanced fleet, and that of Doenitz who, convinced that war is near, prefers to bet on a fleet of submarines. sailors. The first, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy from 1928, counted on a program until 1948, and launched, among other things, the construction of two aircraft carriers. But the acceleration of events forced him to review his plans, and priority was then given to the construction of two heavy battleships of 42,000 tons, the Bismarck and the Tirpitz.
The name of the first was chosen by the Führer, and it is no coincidence:it must symbolize the revival of German pride . Launched in 1936, the "Bismarck "is commissioned on August 24, 1940. Monster 251 m long, 36 m wide, and is equipped with four turrets, two 380 guns. It is the most modern ship of its time, and the best balanced. It combines firepower, speed, maneuverability and protection. Only the Japanese and the Americans will do better later…
The war launched, Reader will have to revise his plans, and his somewhat unbalanced fleet (pocket battleships, and a monster) will force him to choose a strategy:rather than the frontal attack against a much superior fleet (even aging) he will choose the "war of race", that is to say the harassment of English supplies and the attack of the convoys.
Duel of Titans
The Bismarck was ordered to leave Kiel on May 21, 1941, along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. The squadron is commanded by Admiral Lütjens , cold and taciturn, a great patriot but little fond of Nazi ideology; he shared the bridge of the Bismarck with Commander Lindemann, of opposite character, but just as competent. The group's mission:harass and destroy any enemy convoy, as long as circumstances allow!
England did not remain inactive, and prepared for the "reception" of Bismarck. The squadron of Scapa Flow has been reinforced and the Home Fleet has among other things three battleships, two heavy cruisers, eight light cruisers and twelve destroyers; she is joined by the aircraft carrier Victorious and the cruiser Repulse. However, even if the number is large, the value is irregular:the Repulse dates from 1917, two battleships are the very recent King George V and Prince Of Wales? intended to be the future hard core of the Navy, but not yet 100% ready. Finally, there is the Hood :this one is the pride of the English navy; Dating back to 1920, she was for a long time the most modern ship in the world and remains the darling of the British, despite her advanced age.
The Home Fleet spotted the Bismarck as it left the fjords of Norway. The cruisers Suffolk and Norfolk were chased by Admiral Tovey, while a small squadron consisting of Hood, Prince Of Wales and six destroyers was ordered to ambush near Iceland. The hunt is taken by the two cruisers, which exchange a few shots with the Bismarck, but are above all content not to lose it... Meanwhile, the Admiralty decides to reinforce its presence with a squadron made up of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, of the battlecruiser Renown, the cruiser Sheffield and six destroyers, which has orders to leave Gibraltar. The Bismarck threat is therefore taken very seriously.
Hounded by Suffolk and Norfolk, Lütjens' flotilla headed straight for that of Holland, commander of Hood. The harassment continued on the night of May 23 or 24 and, at dawn, the two titans, the Hood and the Bismarck found themselves in combat position! The English fired first, then the Germans, who recognized "the pride of Albion" but confused Prince Of Wales and King George V. The deluge of fire lasted fourteen minutes; the English are unable to "bar the T", to put themselves in the ideal firing position and the salvoes of the Bismarck are more and more precise.
The German gunners hit the mark at the fifth impact:several shells explode right in the middle of the old cruiser, at a distance of 18,000 m:an explosion of several hundred meters tears the unfortunate Hood , literally cut in half! Of the 1421 crew, only three will be recovered by a destroyer after the battle...The Prince Of Wales narrowly avoids the wreckage which sinks into the gray waters...He too suffered the blows of the German ships and, above all , is overheating, its armament not yet being tested! Hit by seven shells, he sees his turrets break down one by one! Commander Leach, wounded, manages to order a retreat by hiding in his own smoke screen... The Bismarck gives up pursuing him and the English cruisers and destroyers have not been able to approach.
Within minutes, the German ship had sunk the symbol of the Royal Navy and badly damaged its most recent building:the shock is terrible for England.
The Bismarck and the Swordfish
On the German battleship, the euphoria of victory gives way to the toll of damage taken. The Prinz Eugen is unscathed, but the Bismarck was hit three times by the Prince Of Wales:one of the English shells hit the hull just above the bow and 4000 t of water rushed into the boat, it lost oil and sinks from the front:its offensive potential is therefore frankly started! Lütjens then decides to head for French ports for repairs, a longer but safer route…
In England, the excitement caused by the loss of the "mighty Hood" led Churchill to mobilize the entire fleet to hunt down and "[sink] the Bismarck". Thus, the battleships Rodney, Ramillies, Revenge and the heavy cruiser London join the pack. The Norfolk and Suffolk resumed the hunt and did not let go of the German squadron, exchanging a few shots with the Prinz Eugen. He finally manages to escape to the south, and leaves his big brother alone to face his fate.
It is time for the Royal Navy to use its advantage over the German fleet:naval aviation. Swordfish , old torpedo biplanes launched from the Victorious attack the Bismarck like a swarm of hornets; but, the execrable weather conditions and the inexperience of the pilots lead for the moment to a failure...relative. Indeed, if no torpedo reaches its target, the maneuvers of the battleship to avoid them aggravate the damage and the waterway.
From May 25, begins a real hide-and-seek in the middle of the North Atlantic. English planes and cruisers regularly lost and found the Bismarck, which kept changing course. On the German ship, concern mounts:the Germans now know they are being hunted down by the majority of the English fleet, threatened by the Swordfish, and diminished with a lack of fuel and reduced speed.
Several times, however, the Bismarck seems to escape its hunters, and it is finally the Sheffield who manages to hook it and “take its wheel”. But luck still seemed to smile on the Germans:Swordfish launched from the Ark Royal hit the wrong target and nearly sank the…Sheffield! The English airmen, furious with themselves, decide to launch a last attack before nightfall. On May 26 at 7:15 p.m., the old cuckoo clocks take off in the middle of a raging sea; they all pass the Bismarck anti-aircraft fire barrier and drop their torpedoes…
Only two hit the mark, but one will change the course of the sea war! While there is only one chance in a hundred thousand, the torpedo strikes the rudder of the steel monster on the starboard stern! The battleship nearly capsizes, and no longer obeys movement orders:it is ungovernable! The Sheffield, still reckless, emerges from the mist and fires a few shells without success.
But the main thing is done, the Bismarck is at the mercy of the pack. The problem is that this one still ignores it.
The killing of the Bismarck
Swordfish and Sheffield attack misjudged by Royal Navy; the latter is unaware that it was a total success, and even believes that the German ship is coming to challenge them since it has changed course and is heading straight for them. Will the Bismarck be able to take advantage of this to escape anyway?
The situation on the building is unfortunately dramatic:no repairs are possible, the boat is not obeying any order. Lütjens then sends a message to his superiors at 11:40 p.m.:“Ship disabled. We will fight until the last shell. Long live the Führer! ". The German submarines in the area cannot protect the Bismarck, and the Luftwaffe planes are too far away. On board, the German sailors are preparing for the hell of the curée , with the only hope of causing maximum damage to their opponents...
The English fleet, which has finally realized that the mad battleship is at its mercy, regroups its forces. Individually, the Bismarck is superior to all English ships, but the disproportion of forces leaves no doubt. At 8 a.m. on May 27, the English presented themselves to the enemy battleship:the battleships Rodney and King George V, the cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire and a few destroyers. As possible reinforcement, planes from the Ark Royal and the Renown.
The Bismarck opens fire on the Norfolk, the English battleships respond to it at a distance of 23,000 m. The cruisers approached and fired in their turn… The German ship framed the Rodney, but at 9 o'clock, the one-ton shells from the old battleship destroyed the two front turrets of the Bismarck, reducing its firing capacity by 50%! The distance increases in a few minutes from 15,000 to 3,000 meters; the Bismarck suffered a hail of steel of all calibers and coming from four directions, without trying to avoid it, completely adrift… The English ships then launched torpedoes . The battleship no longer looks like a jagged wreck, but it's hell on board where the men, the shielding of the superstructures completely destroyed, are at the mercy of shrapnel and vainly seek shelter under the deluge of fire…
At 10:15 a.m., the Rodney and the King George V ceased fire. They are relayed by the destroyers who want to carry the thrust with their torpedoes. But the German monster does not want to sink! Torpedoes fail to pierce her hull armor! On board, at the same time, the few survivors refuse that their boat falls into the hands of the enemy, and decide to scuttle it. Around 11 a.m., the Bismarck rolled over to port and sank astern before slowly disappearing into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic.
Time of the Gray Wolves
Dorsetshire is in charge of recovering the survivors:out of 2200 men, only 115 survived! The English ships suffered little direct damage, but the battleships went so far as to overheat! The Rodney suffered structural deformations because of its excessive rate of fire, the King George V experienced the same inconveniences as his brother the Prince Of Wales...
The destruction of the ship-symbol of Nazi Germany, after that of its British equivalent the Hood, sounded the death knell of the golden age of battleships. From now on, the English navy, but especially the Japanese and American navies, will turn their naval doctrine towards the use of aircraft carriers, opening a new era in maritime warfare. As for Germany, unable to catch up in this area, it will choose the strategy of its new admiral, Doenitz, and will launch its pack of Gray Wolves into the Atlantic:the U-Boats.
Bibliography
- P. Bois, The end of Bismarck , Socomer, 1990.
- The hunt for the Bismarck, by François-Emmanuel Brezet. Tempus, 2019.
- R.D. Ballard, Discovering Bismarck , Glénat, 1990.