Last Battle of The Battleship Bismarck - Aftermath

Aftermath

After the sinking, Admiral John Tovey said, "The Bismarck had put up a most gallant fight against impossible odds worthy of the old days of the Imperial German Navy, and she went down with her colours flying." The Board of the Admiralty issued a message of thanks to those involved:

Their Lordships congratulate C.-in-C., Home Fleet, and all concerned in the unrelenting pursuit and successful destruction of the enemy's most powerful warship. The loss of H.M.S. Hood and her company, which is so deeply regretted, has thus been avenged and the Atlantic made more secure for our trade and that of our allies. From the information at present available to Their Lordships there can be no doubt that had it not been for the gallantry, skill, and devotion to duty of the Fleet Air Arm in both Victorious and Ark Royal, our object might not have been achieved.

Unaware of the fate of the ship, Group West, the German command base, continued to issue signals to Bismarck for some hours, until Reuters reported news from Britain that the ship had been sunk. In Britain, the House of Commons was informed of the sinking early that afternoon.

After the battle, the British warships returned to the United Kingdom with 111 Bismarck survivors. One died later of his wounds. After a period of interrogation and processing, the survivors spent the rest of the war as prisoners. No British ship was sunk during this action, but the destroyer HMS Mashona was sunk by the Luftwaffe during the subsequent withdrawal the following day.

Timing of the sinking was fortunate for the United Kingdom. Publicity concerning Bismarck distracted public attention from the heavy losses suffered by the Mediterranean fleet during the Battle of Crete, where cruisers HMS Calcutta, HMS Fiji, HMS Gloucester, HMS York and six destroyers were sunk; and damage to aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, battleships HMS Barham and HMS Warspite, and cruisers HMS Ajax, HMS Orion, HMAS Perth and HMS Dido reduced the effective Mediterranean strength of the Royal Navy to two battleships and three cruisers to oppose the four battleships and eleven cruisers of the Italian Navy.