The Bismarck became Germany’s most feared battleship after destroying the pride of the British Royal Navy, the Hood. The Bismarck was disabled by a torpedo bomber on May 26, 1941, and sank on the following day. The event caused a shift in naval warfare strategy, which thereafter began to recognize the value of subsurface and air assets.
At the time of its completion in 1941, the Bismarck was one of the most formidable battleships of the time. Protected by heavy armor, carrying eight primary guns in four turrets, and capable of speeds of more than 30 knots (nautical miles per hour), it was designed to prey upon commerce in the open sea. The new ship was pressed into service by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder to take part in Operation Rheinübung
Under the command of Captain Ernst Lindemann, the Bismarck sailed from the Baltic Sea port of Gotenhafen (Gdynia) on Monday, May 19, 1941, and later in the day was joined by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and three destroyers. The task force encountered the Swedish cruiser Gotland in one of the narrow passages connecting the Baltic and North seas on May 20, and although Sweden’s ostensibly neutral status suggested that news of the sighting might not reach the Allies, Lütjens chose to delay his progress. Accordingly, the task force lay up the following day in fjords on the southwest coast of German-occupied Norway and only at nightfall continued its journey into open waters. At this point, the destroyers accompanying the two larger ships dropped away.
The allies were keenly aware of the Bismarck’s dangerous capabilities and made every effort to track it. Besides the sighting by the Gotland (a report of which was forwarded), a British Spitfire plane photographed the ships in the Norwegian fjords on May 21. Another flight the following day revealed that the ships were gone, but the British could not be sure where they were headed.
After assessing the situation, the commander in chief of the British Home Fleet, Admiral Sir John Cronyn Tovey, guessed that the German task force might round northern Iceland and proceed southward through the Denmark Strait between Iceland and Greenland. Thus he ordered two of his fleet’s best ships, the battleships Hood
On Friday, May 23, the Bismarck and another German ship, the Prinz Eugen,
The brief Battle of the Denmark Strait
As it turned out, the battle had not left the Bismarck unscathed. It had been hit by three shells from the Prince of Wales, resulting in a loss of fuel and a reduction in its top speed to 28 knots. Consequently, Lütjens decided to make for the port of Saint-Nazaire on the western coast of occupied France for repairs. The British ships shadowing it lost contact early on the morning of May 25 but were able to estimate its approximate location using radio direction finding equipment. Its precise location was reestablished the morning of Monday, May 26, when a Catalina aircraft, on loan to the Royal Air Force by the United States, sighted the Bismarck approaching the Bay of Biscay.
As Tovey’s ships were too far away to reach it before the Bismarck entered port, the task of interception was given to a flotilla of destroyers commanded by Captain Philip Vian and sailing north from the British colony of Gibraltar. Fifteen Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers launched from the carrier Ark Royal under the direction of Lieutenant-Commander Trevenen Penrose Coode attacked the Bismarck at nightfall. At least two torpedoes struck the ship, one of them jamming its rudders and leaving it unable to maneuver.
By the following morning, May 27, Tovey’s flotilla reached the area. The King George V, the Norfolk, the battleship Rodney,
Although German chancellor Adolf Hitler
Yet the larger issue at stake had little to do with any shortcomings in the initial phases of Operation Rheinübung. The Bismarck’s loss, traceable to a single torpedo dropped by a slow biplane, revealed that Raeder’s overall strategy was flawed and outdated. The sinking of the Bismarck, and of the Hood before it, marked the end of the era of large—and vulnerable—battleships. Henceforth. submarines and aircraft carriers dominated naval warfare.
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Bercusson, David J., and Holger H. Herwig. The Destruction of the Bismarck. New York: Overlook, 2001. Emphasizes the American role in the hunt for the Bismarck. Includes short biographies of key figures and histories of the ships involved. Illustrations, maps, extensive bibliography. -
Brower, Jack. The Battleship Bismarck: Anatomy of the Ship. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2005. Detailed chronology of the ship’s construction and subsequent career, followed by a short text, photographs, and an extensive series of diagrams. -
Rhys-Jones, Graham. The Loss of the Bismarck: An Avoidable Disaster. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999. A comprehensive account of the ship’s career and an examination of the role of the German high command in its loss. Photographs, maps, detailed notes, bibliography, glossary. -
Steury, Donald P. “Naval Intelligence, the Atlantic Campaign, and the Sinking of the Bismarck: A Story in the Integration of Intelligence into the Conduct of Naval Warfare.” Journal of Contemporary History 22 (1987): 209-233. Attributes the loss of the ship to British superiority in the strategic use of intelligence. -
Winklareth, Robert J. The Bismarck Chase: New Light on a Famous Engagement. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1998. Examines inconsistencies in previous accounts of the ship’s pursuit and destruction. Maps, photographs, short bibliography.
World War II: European Theater
United States Enters the Battle of the Atlantic
Roosevelt Signs the Lend-Lease Act
Germany and Italy Declare War on the United States