May 27th.1941 Battle of The Bismarck:'The Final Battle'On the morning of 27th.May Admiral Tovey manoeuvred his squadron
so that it would approach the Bismarck from the west
and have the target silhouetted by the morning light.
The battleships, King George V and Rodney,
sailed in line abreast about 550 meter (600 yards) apart
toward the last reported position of the enemy.
The Bismarck, steering on a meandering course at 7 knots,
finally came into view to the south-east at about 08:43
and at a range of about 23,000 meters (25,000 yards).
As soon as the enemy was sighted, the Rodney peeled off to port
and headed on a more easterly course to engage the Bismarck separately as prearranged.
At 08:47, the final battle began as the Rodney opened fire against the Bismarck.
King George V opened fire at 08:48. The distance was about 20,000 meters (22,000 yards).
At 08:49, the Bismarck opened fire against the Rodney.
At 08:54, the heavy cruiser Norfolk opened fire against the Bismarck.
At 09:02, the Bismarck was hit for the first time.
At 09:04, the heavy cruiser Dorsetshire opened fire.
At 09:08, the forward range finder and turrets A (Anton) and B (Bruno) were put out of action.
Therefore, on board the Bismarck, the fire control
was shifted to the after command post,
until this station was also put out of action at about 09:13.
At 09:13, the Bismarck's after command post went out of action.
At 09:31, the Bismarck fired her last salvo.
At 09:12 - 10:16, the Bismarck received multiple hits
at point blank range between 2,500 (2,700 yards) and 4,000 meters (4,400 yards),
but was still afloat.
By 09:40, the Rodney was firing point-blank at a range of 3,600 meter (4000 yards).
The Norfolk and Dorsetshire also closed in, while the King George V continued
to pound the enemy from a range of 11,000 meter (12,000 yards).
Admiral Tovey was anxious to settle the issue as soon as possible
so that his ships could disengage before their fuel situation became critical.
Soon all weapons was silent on Bismarck but she was still flying her ensign
and showed no signs of capitulation.
With the Bismarck still defiantly flying her ensign,
the British had no alternative but to continue to fire on the ship
until the Germans capitulated or the Bismarck was sunk,
Both British battleships were running critically low on fuel
and would soon have to break off the action.
Seeing that gunnery would not be able to deliver the knockout blow
that would send the Bismarck to the bottom,
Admiral Tovey ordered the battleships (Rodney and King George V)
to cease fire and return to base. The destroyers Mashona and Tartar had already turned back
due to their being low on fuel. Captain Vian's destroyers were not only low on fuel
but also out of torpedoes, so there was no point in their remaining.
The Norfolk had just fired its last remaining torpedoes
at the Bismarck and turned to depart, leaving only the Dorsetshire
on the scene with any torpedoes.
The Dorsetshire was therefore ordered to finish off the Bismarck.
As soon as all the weapons were silenced, Bismarck's commander,
Captain Ernst Lindemann, gave the order to open the valves to the sea
and to set scuttling charges to sink the ship. Once the charges had been set,
the order was given to abandon ship.
At about 10:00, demolition charges exploded in the turbine room on Bismarck.
At 10:39, the Bismarck sinks at 48º 10' north, 16º 12' west bringing to an end a short
but highly eventful career, marked by initial victory and then ultimate defeat.
The battle had lasted almost two hours (08:47 - 10:39) before the Bismarck finally had to give up.
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For more info on this final battle.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_BismarckCheers mates
David
