During the short engagement, the British battlecruiser HMS Hood, flagship of the Home Fleet and pride of the Royal Navy, was sunk after several minutes of firing. In response, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued the order “Sink the Bismarck!”,[3] spurring her relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy.
Subsequently, What does Sink the Bismarck mean?
“Sink the Bismark” (later “Sink the Bismarck”) is a march song by country music singer Johnny Horton and songwriter Tillman Franks, based on the pursuit and eventual sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941, during World War II.
Keeping this in consideration, What ship hit the Bismarck first?
Prince of Wales struck her target first. She would ultimately hit Bismarck three times.
Beside above What did Churchill say about the Bismarck? “I don’t care how you do it,” said Winston Churchill. “You must sink the Bismarck.” Sixteen British warships joined the chase. The British Admiralty ordered them to hunt the Bismarck down, even if they risked running out of fuel.
Why did the British want to sink the Bismarck?
Determined to avenge the sinking of the “Pride of the Navy” HMS Hood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the British committed every possible unit to hunting down Bismarck.
19 Related Questions and Answers
How many torpedoes hit the Bismarck?
Eight torpedoes were fired at the Bismarck and one hit home amidships. It did no damage to the ship but it may well have undermined Lütjens’ self-confidence as he announced to the ship’ crew that 27 aircraft had been shot down.
Did the Bismarck sink the hood?
On May 24, 1941, Germany’s largest battleship, the Bismarck, sinks the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood. … Commanded by Admiral Gunther Lutjens, commander in chief of the German Fleet, the Bismarck sunk the Hood, resulting in the death of 1,500 of its crew; only three Brits survived.
Why was the Bismarck so feared?
The reason why the Bizmarck was feared was the combat record of the following German ships: Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Graf Spee and Admiral Scheer. Admiral Scheer in its Atlantic sortie (which included time in the Indian Ocean) sank 17 merchant ships and at least one Royal Navy escort.
How far could the Bismarck Fire?
The 15 cm guns fired a 45.3 kg (100 lb) shell at a muzzle velocity of 875 m/s (2,871 ft/s). At maximum elevation, the guns could hit targets out to 23,000 m (25,000 yd). As with the main battery guns, Tirpitz’s 15 cm guns were later supplied with time-fused shells.
Can the Bismarck be raised?
If raising dreadnaughts was possible in the 1920s and 30s, certainly the Bismarck could be raised-probably much easier. But it would be very costly and as a war grave illegal and immoral. Dan Van der Vat documents the raising of the High Seas Fleet in his book “The Grand Scuttle.”(1987).
Who was captain of the Bismarck?
Johann Günther Lütjens (25 May 1889 – 27 May 1941) was a German admiral whose military service spanned more than thirty years and two world wars. Lütjens is best known for his actions during World War II and his command of the battleship Bismarck during its foray into the Atlantic Ocean in 1941.
Which is deeper Titanic or Bismarck?
In 1989, the German battleship Bismarck, which had been sunk in 1941 by the Royal Navy, was found sitting upright, just as she had on the surface, at a depth of 15,700 feet — half a mile deeper than the Titanic.
How far could the Bismarck shoot?
The turrets allowed elevation to 30°, which gave the guns a maximum range of 36,520 m (39,940 yd). The guns fired 800 kg (1,800 lb) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 820 meters per second (2,690 ft/s).
How did Bismarck sink hood so quickly?
When the German battleships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen broke out into the North Atlantic in May 1941, the Hood and battleship Prince of Wales were sent to hunt them down. … The photos revealed that a detonation in the rear magazine, holding the 15-inch shells and cordite propellant for those guns, sank the Hood.
Is the Prinz Eugen still radioactive?
The wreck of the Prinz Eugen, with USNS Salvor and tanker Humber anchored above. … The Navy determined in 1974 that neither Prinz Eugen nor the oil inside the wreck is still radioactive. The oil retrieval process is now ongoing, a joint project of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and the Republic of Micronesia.
Was the Bismarck feared?
The Bismarck was the most feared battleship in the German Kriegsmarine (War Navy) and, at over 250 metres in length, the biggest. Yet, despite its presence, it would sink only one ship in its only battle. … The Bismarck could reach over 30 knots, almost 35mph.
Was the Tirpitz bigger than the Bismarck?
Tirpitz was the second of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine (navy) prior to and during the Second World War. … After a series of wartime modifications she was 2000 tonnes heavier than Bismarck, making her the heaviest battleship ever built by a European navy.
Was the Bismarck ever found?
In 1989 an expedition led by American oceanographer Robert Ballard located the wreck of the Bismarck. The battleship was found lying upright at a depth of more than 15,000 feet (4,572 metres).
What if the Bismarck never sank?
So, if Bismarck was not sunk during its first sortie, the RN would have kept all its KGV battleships with the home fleet to guard against a sortie by both German battleships. That would include PoW. So, no Force Z to Singapore at the end of 1941. And PoW and Repulse are not sunk by the Japanese off Malaya.
What made the Bismarck so powerful?
Like any battlewagon, Bismarck’s firepower lay in its main gun batteries. Bismarck had eight fifteen-inch guns in four large turrets, each capable of hurling a 1,800-pound armor-piercing, capped projectile 21.75 miles. This gave it the ability to penetrate 16.5 inches of armor at eleven miles.
Was the Bismarck a real ship?
Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched in February 1939.
How big was the Bismarck compared to other ships?
Bismarck and her sister ship Tirpitz were 821 feet long and displaced up to fifty thousand tons, making them up to fifty percent larger than the largest German World War I battleships, the Bayern class. Bismarck’s twelve Wagner boilers drove three turbines, making her capable of steaming at just over thirty knots.
