Bismark wasn't sunk

[Dan]

http://www.fpp.co.uk/History/General/Ba ... ttled.html

Sorry is someone else has already posted this. Contains a New York Times article that says the 13 inch steel was proof against the Brit torpedos.

[Bill Medland]

Hi Dan, it was reported in the German press a few days ago.
The German crew scuttled the ship themselves, to stop it falling intact into British hands, so it truely was "unsinkable".
Could you imagine what it would have been like for Germany if the Bismarck fell into British hands, repaired and renamed HMS CHURCHILL, what a propaganda victory for the Royal Navy!
regards,Bill.

[David C. Clarke]

Yes!!! Thank you Dan! Also, being a suspicious sort of person, it would be curious to see how much else of the official British story was wartime propganda. The British always claimed that Bimarck made no hits on her pursuers during this final battle. I am far from certain this is true. Best Regards, David

[Xavier]

thereis a special this weekend on N. Geo channel on the Bismark, by the guy who made Titanic (Cameron, ) I hope he is up to something..!!

regards

Xavier

[Michael Kenny]

Falling INTACT into British hands?. I think a ship that has had 380 '16' rounds and 339 '14' rouds fired at her would be much more than a pile of scrap. Bismark was caught, Bismark was engaged and Bismark was reduced to a hulk. Tovey could not wait around whilst she settled so he ordered Dorsetshire to put 3 torpedos into her. If the crew set of demolition charges that is neither here nor there. It was beaten and was heading for the bottom come what may. I have never seen any reports of shell impacts on KGV or Rodney during the engagement and hits would be difficult to conceal. Bismark was unable to hit any of the Destroyers (or the slow Swordfish)chasing her or the Sheffield (although all had some form of splinter damage) and a hit on any of them would have been impossible to hide!. Sorry guys but the Bismark was never going to get away no matter what it cost the RN. Even if the crew did speed up their own sinking it is still the case that RN action sank the Bismark. I see echoes of the fable "No Tiger was ever knocked out ,they all ran out of petrol and were demolished by the crews" raising its head.

[Birgitte Heuschkel]

Well, there may be a morale difference between pulling the plug yourself or waiting for the final blow from the enemy. It made no real difference from a strategical point of view, but it may have meant quite a bit to the men aboard the Bismarck.

[Scanderbeg]

There's a documentary on Bismark on the Discovery Channel Sunday evening, December 8. Can't wait to see it. seems like it's going to be a good one.

Besian

[Christian Ankerstjerne]

I have to agree with Michael on this one. It is doubtfull that teh Germans would sink an unsikable ship themselve, and to bord the ship would be hard, considering the number os smaller cannons on board.

I would say that the ship would have gone down fighting, and punching a hole from the inside would be almost as hard as punching it from the outside...

In either case, it did sink because of deliberate action, so sunk it was

Christian

[Xavier]

Hello.

well not exactly punching a hole form the inside (as suggested by some) but by opening the seacock valves...

these valves are included in the design of all warships to prevent capture, and are located strategically in points hard to reach inside a ship...once opened, is no way back.

regards

Xavier

[DarExc]

They just showed in expedition Bismarck that is was indeed scuttled and the torpedeos didn't breach the bulkhead, we actualy got to see the torpedeo's still intact!

[Caldric]

Does it really matter if they finished it off with scuttle. The ship lost it would have been sunk, completely irrelevant. 1400 hits from British ships or whatever makes no difference if the Germans pulled the plug or not.

[Marcus]

Does it really matter if they finished it off with scuttle. The ship lost it would have been sunk, completely irrelevant. 1400 hits from British ships or whatever makes no difference if the Germans pulled the plug or not.

How can such a historical fact be "completely irrelevant" ?

/Marcus

[Michael Kenny]

to the outcome. The Bismark was sinking and if it hadn't settled the ships around it would have continued firing at it until it did sink. If the Germans want to claim this as a 'victory' fine let them. The Kriegsmarine has a long history of sinking its own ships and the Bismark continued this tradition started by Graff Spee and the Destroyer Flottila at Narvik. Who cares if they scuttled or not.

[Marcus]

Who cares if they scuttled or not.

People with an interest in the history of the Kriegsmarine and the Third Reich? ;-)

/Marcus

[Sam H.]

I believe the Bismark was finished at the end, it may be that the crew set charges to scuttle the ship. But in the end, she was a wreck and going down regardless of the scuttleing attempt. If the British had to keep pouring torpedoes in her they would have. The ship was adrift and helpless.

Can't even imagine the effort it would have taken to bring her into port in that state. To rebuild her would have been near impossible, better off just building a whole new ship.