I recall reading one of the Bismarck books - can't remember which one - and recall three "deserters" allegedly jumping over board before the ships final battle.
If this is true, who picked them up, was it the Germans and if so what happened to them?
And were there any surviviors picked up by the spanish navy?
Just read the new swedish Bismarck "War at sea" book and there's no mention of either of these two events...
Bismarck "deserters"?
Re:
I've never heard of this story before reading it here but I doubt it happened. I mean, the sailors aboard the Bismarck probably thought the ship was invicible and gave them a feeling of immortality. But of course, it could've happened. And I thought the Royal Navy ship, Prince of Wales, was the primary British vessel taking part in the battle so if anything, it was the aformentioned vessel that rescued the German sailors following the sinking of the Bismarck.
Like Ro/Lt I've also read this somewhere, 2-3 guys abandoned ship in some inflatable or carley-float.....picked up by German U-Boat(?) and faced court-marshal. I have my doubts about the story. At OKM request the Spanish navy sent the cruiser CANARIAS and a couple of destroyers to the battle-scene - but whether they rescued anything but corpses I cannot recall. For laukana; the crew of the BISMARCK did in no way feel invincible on the morning of 27.5.41 - the mood had been terrible since the evening before - they all knew that they were 'walking dead'. That night was when the alleged desertion by some men shouldhave taken place.
There were a few survivors(3?) picked up by a U-Boat some time after the battle, but all the sources I've read state they abandoned the Bismarck at the time of her sinking.="varjag"]Like Ro/Lt I've also read this somewhere, 2-3 guys abandoned ship in some inflatable or carley-float.....picked up by German U-Boat(?)
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Kurt_Steiner
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Found this interesting postbattle report, including a survivor list. Nothing mentioned about any deserters though...
http://www.bismarck-class.dk/bismarck/c ... _list.html
http://www.bismarck-class.dk/bismarck/c ... _list.html
Re: Bismarck "deserters"?
Ro/Lt wrote:I recall reading one of the Bismarck books - can't remember which one - and recall three "deserters" allegedly jumping over board before the ships final battle.
If this is true, who picked them up, was it the Germans and if so what happened to them?
And were there any surviviors picked up by the spanish navy?
Just read the new swedish Bismarck "War at sea" book and there's no mention of either of these two events...
The three seamen, Herbert Manthey, Otto Hontzsch, and Georg Herzog took cover near the end of the battle behind turret Dora. They saw a rubber dinghy, and dragged it behind the turret. A near miss washed the dinghy overboard, and the men were able to swim after it and climb in. U-74 sighted the three men and they were taken onboard. U-48 and U-73 joined the search and found no one alive. The German weathership Sachsenwald arrived on the scene and spent the morning of the 28 May
searching for survivors. Later that night, three red flares were spotted, by the Sachsenwald and two men were brought onboard from a rubber
dinghy, Otto Maus and Walter Lorenzen. On May 30 still in the search area,
the Spanish cruiser Canarias came along side the Sachsenwald. With provisions running low, the Sachsenwald headed home, reaching Gironde
France on June1. The Canarias continued searching and found two bodies, with tags, Walter Grasczak and Heinrich Neuschwander. Both bodies were
given full military honors and buried at sea. Thanks brustcan
Re: Bismarck "deserters"?
Was there a court martial for "abandoning ships" before the order was given?brustcan wrote:Ro/Lt wrote:I recall reading one of the Bismarck books - can't remember which one - and recall three "deserters" allegedly jumping over board before the ships final battle.
If this is true, who picked them up, was it the Germans and if so what happened to them?
And were there any surviviors picked up by the spanish navy?
Just read the new swedish Bismarck "War at sea" book and there's no mention of either of these two events...
The three seamen, Herbert Manthey, Otto Hontzsch, and Georg Herzog took cover near the end of the battle behind turret Dora. They saw a rubber dinghy, and dragged it behind the turret. A near miss washed the dinghy overboard, and the men were able to swim after it and climb in. U-74 sighted the three men and they were taken onboard. U-48 and U-73 joined the search and found no one alive. The German weathership Sachsenwald arrived on the scene and spent the morning of the 28 May
searching for survivors. Later that night, three red flares were spotted, by the Sachsenwald and two men were brought onboard from a rubber
dinghy, Otto Maus and Walter Lorenzen. On May 30 still in the search area,
the Spanish cruiser Canarias came along side the Sachsenwald. With provisions running low, the Sachsenwald headed home, reaching Gironde
France on June1. The Canarias continued searching and found two bodies, with tags, Walter Grasczak and Heinrich Neuschwander. Both bodies were
given full military honors and buried at sea. Thanks brustcan
Bismarck survivors
Just came across an interesting wed site that will answer all questions:
http://www.kbismarck.com This has the debriefing reports from the survivors
that were picked up and made it back to German Naval HQ in France.
Cheers brustcan
http://www.kbismarck.com This has the debriefing reports from the survivors
that were picked up and made it back to German Naval HQ in France.
Cheers brustcan
Another good forum about Bismark can be found at http://www.bismarck-class.dk/forum/index.php
I found the refference: in Will Bertholds "The sinking of the Bismarck" two deserters are mentioned (although not by name) who abandoned ship before the final battle and then after being picked up by a german sub are questioned by the authorities and later executed for deserting the ship. Howcome this isn't mentioned in any other books?
Regards Ro/lt
Regards Ro/lt
Probably because it didn't happen.Ro/Lt wrote:I found the refference: in Will Bertholds "The sinking of the Bismarck" two deserters are mentioned (although not by name) who abandoned ship before the final battle and then after being picked up by a german sub are questioned by the authorities and later executed for deserting the ship. Howcome this isn't mentioned in any other books?
Regards Ro/lt
One of the men who was picked up by U-boat was on a TV documentry recently explaining how they escaped from the ship during the final battle.
He looked in very good health for someone who had been shot for desertion :roll:
There are two major problems with this deserting the ship before the last battle.
The first is the Atlantic is a very large and hostile place, the chances that a couple of sailors who abandoned ship on the quiet would be found by anybody is nil (and a sailor would know this).
Secondly how do you abandon ship off a ship which is travelling at 20+knots in a rough Atlantic sea, remembering that anyone in the water would only last an hour or two at the most.