been found again. Captain B. C. S. Martin saw that the enemy was a mere 300 miles almost due north of him. On his own he left the convoy and steamed off at twenty-eight knots to try to get in on some action.He had arrived on the scene just in time. At 9:04 A.M. the Dorsetshire turned her 8-inch guns on the enemy and opened fire.
Thus by shortly after nine o’clock the Bismarck , helpless to take avoiding action because of the damage to her rudders, was being shelled by two British battleships and two heavy cruisers. Such superiority soon began to tell. The British warships were now scoring direct hits with their big shells. One of the first salvos was seen to knock away part of the Bismarck ’s bridge. The German guns, though still blazing away, were losing accuracy.
At one minute before nine o’clock, Sir John turned his flagship south so he could bring a full broadside against the enemy. The Rodney followed her. They were both now only 15,000 yards from the German ship, which was yawing roughly north. After fifteen minutes of continuous exchange of salvos Admiral Tovey found that he had passed the Bismarck . He turned his ships around for another run parallel to the enemy, this time northward.
The range had lowered to a bare 8,000 yards.Both the Rodney and King George V were delivering full broadsides as fast as their big guns could be reloaded. The Bismarck was obviously hurt from such a murderous fire at such close range. A large fire was seen belching smoke and flame amidships. Some of her 15-inch guns were no longer firing. A lookout on the Norfolk saw two of them drop almost to the water line. Others pointed crazily at the sky. Their hydraulic controls, it was evident, were no longer functioning. One gun turret was blown clear away, its twisted metal toppling against the bridge.
About ten o’clock, a little more than an hour after the action had started, the last of the Bismarck ’s guns were silenced. She had been reduced to a flaming, smoking, battered hulk. Through the jagged shell holes in her side could be seen the bright flames of fires consuming her insides.
And yet above the blazing inferno the Bismarck ’s flag still flew. She was beaten. She was finished. But she would not surrender.
***
It is almost impossible to reconstruct the holocaustas it was experienced at this hour by the 2,400 Germans aboard the battered battleship. Each of the 118 survivors later had a tale of horror to tell. But only three of them were officers, all of junior rank. The overall picture as seen from the bridge can never be told. Admiral Luetjens did not send out a single message about this last battle. He did not even signal, as was customary, that it had begun.
He could not, in any case, have sent many messages. One of the first salvos from the British battleships blew away the admiral’s bridge and with it Admiral Guenther Luetjens. Captain Lindemann might have survived. Miraculously he escaped injury even when his bridge was demolished by a British shell. Junior officers urged him to jump overboard with them when it became clear that the ship was doomed. But he stuck to his post to the end.
Battered and silent and afire though she was, the Bismarck would neither surrender nor sink!
Admiral Tovey thought his guns had poured enough heavy shells into her to sink a dozen battleships. During the run to the south the Rodney had fired six torpedoes at the Bismarck and the Norfolk had fired four in an effort to dispatch her by this means. All had missed. But the bombardment by both heavy and light guns had not let up for a moment. And still the flaming enemy hulk kept afloat.
The Commander in Chief was both puzzled and impatient. He had never imagined that a ship could take so much punishment and not go down. Time was getting short. German long-range bombers from France had been reported approaching. German U-boats were known to be converging on the scene. The Rodney and King George V were already zigzagging as they
Thus by shortly after nine o’clock the Bismarck , helpless to take avoiding action because of the damage to her rudders, was being shelled by two British battleships and two heavy cruisers. Such superiority soon began to tell. The British warships were now scoring direct hits with their big shells. One of the first salvos was seen to knock away part of the Bismarck ’s bridge. The German guns, though still blazing away, were losing accuracy.
At one minute before nine o’clock, Sir John turned his flagship south so he could bring a full broadside against the enemy. The Rodney followed her. They were both now only 15,000 yards from the German ship, which was yawing roughly north. After fifteen minutes of continuous exchange of salvos Admiral Tovey found that he had passed the Bismarck . He turned his ships around for another run parallel to the enemy, this time northward.
The range had lowered to a bare 8,000 yards.Both the Rodney and King George V were delivering full broadsides as fast as their big guns could be reloaded. The Bismarck was obviously hurt from such a murderous fire at such close range. A large fire was seen belching smoke and flame amidships. Some of her 15-inch guns were no longer firing. A lookout on the Norfolk saw two of them drop almost to the water line. Others pointed crazily at the sky. Their hydraulic controls, it was evident, were no longer functioning. One gun turret was blown clear away, its twisted metal toppling against the bridge.
About ten o’clock, a little more than an hour after the action had started, the last of the Bismarck ’s guns were silenced. She had been reduced to a flaming, smoking, battered hulk. Through the jagged shell holes in her side could be seen the bright flames of fires consuming her insides.
And yet above the blazing inferno the Bismarck ’s flag still flew. She was beaten. She was finished. But she would not surrender.
***
It is almost impossible to reconstruct the holocaustas it was experienced at this hour by the 2,400 Germans aboard the battered battleship. Each of the 118 survivors later had a tale of horror to tell. But only three of them were officers, all of junior rank. The overall picture as seen from the bridge can never be told. Admiral Luetjens did not send out a single message about this last battle. He did not even signal, as was customary, that it had begun.
He could not, in any case, have sent many messages. One of the first salvos from the British battleships blew away the admiral’s bridge and with it Admiral Guenther Luetjens. Captain Lindemann might have survived. Miraculously he escaped injury even when his bridge was demolished by a British shell. Junior officers urged him to jump overboard with them when it became clear that the ship was doomed. But he stuck to his post to the end.
Battered and silent and afire though she was, the Bismarck would neither surrender nor sink!
Admiral Tovey thought his guns had poured enough heavy shells into her to sink a dozen battleships. During the run to the south the Rodney had fired six torpedoes at the Bismarck and the Norfolk had fired four in an effort to dispatch her by this means. All had missed. But the bombardment by both heavy and light guns had not let up for a moment. And still the flaming enemy hulk kept afloat.
The Commander in Chief was both puzzled and impatient. He had never imagined that a ship could take so much punishment and not go down. Time was getting short. German long-range bombers from France had been reported approaching. German U-boats were known to be converging on the scene. The Rodney and King George V were already zigzagging as they
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