Last Battle of The Battleship Bismarck - Overview

Overview

In the Battle of the Denmark Strait, Bismarck's fuel tanks had been damaged, and her intention was to reach the port of Brest for repair. Her companion, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, had left to continue further into the Atlantic. The action began after Bismarck, which had eluded the British forces (Prince of Wales and the heavy cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk) pursuing her, was sighted by a patrolling British aircraft on the afternoon of 26 May. It consisted of four main phases. The first phase consisted of air strikes by torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal, which disabled Bismarck's steering gear and thus jammed her rudders. The second phase was the shadowing and harassment of Bismarck during the night by British destroyers, with no serious damage to any ship. The third phase was an attack by the British battleships King George V and Rodney, supported by cruisers, on the morning of the 27th. After about 100 minutes of fighting Bismarck was sunk by the combined effects of shellfire, torpedo hits and deliberate scuttling. On the British side, Rodney was lightly damaged by near-misses and by the blast effects of her own guns. British warships rescued 111 survivors from Bismarck before being obliged to withdraw, leaving several hundred men to their fate, because of an apparent U-boat sighting. In the final phase the withdrawing British ships were attacked by aircraft of the Luftwaffe, resulting in the loss of the destroyer HMS Mashona, and German ships and U-boats arrived later at the scene of the sinking and saved five more survivors.