Warships’ Fiery Doom

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 4 August 1941, Page 8

Warships’ Fiery Doom

HOOD AND BISMARCK Yivi.j stories of I lie destruction of HALS. Ilooil and the German hatlleship Bismarck were told by eye-wit-nesses of both actions. Reuter’s special correspondent, who was <.n the bridge of one of His .Majesty’s ships, described how he saw the Hood go down only two or three hundred yards away with her guns still tiring. ! The end of the •'mighty Hood” was ! an almost unbelievable nightmare, lie said. .Shortly after the engagement began shells hit. the 21-year-old battlecruiser; there was a bright sheet of Haim*, and the ship blew up. Farts were thrown hundreds of feel into the air, and in a few minutes all that remained was a patch of smoke on the | water and .some small pieces of wreckQuick Tragedy “o|H*n lire” was ordered by signal, ! and almost simult!i!ieonsl\ with the order orange-gold 11ame belched with a roar from the Hood’s forward guns. Within three seconds puffs of black smoke shot out from the Bismarck—she had also opened up. The Prince of Wales’s guns then began tiring. Dense clouds of yellow cordite smoke enveloped her bridge, momentarily blotting out the view. Then suddenly flie Hood, surging forward two or three hundred yards away, was hit. The shell or shells appeared to fall just ahead of one of her after loin, gun turrets, and a large lire broke out, with thick, black smoke. The Hood continued to lire and to race forward. What happened next was a sickening sight. There was a terrific explosion, and the whole of the vast ship was enveloped in a llush of fin me ami smoke which rose high into the air in the shape of a giant mushroom. Sections of funnels, masts, ami other parjs were hurled hundreds of feet into the sky, some falling on the ship. The Hood’s bow tilted vertically into the air, and three or four minut.-s after she was hit all that remained, apart from bits of wreckage, was a dicker "f flame and smoke on the water’s surface. A destroyer was diverted to rescue work, and picked up three of the ship’s company—two seamen and a midshipman—the sole survivors. Against Heavy Odds Tribute to the courage and tenacity of the crew of the Bismarck, who went ’ on fighting when their position was hopeless, was paid by an officer of one of the British vessels responsible for ; her destruction. • “I informed my ship’s company that I was afraid we would not be able to ■ catch the enemy in time, but almost , immediately afterwards we got word that the Bismarck was steaming north ! at only 12 knots, and was putting out - a smoke screen. Wo at once began to ’ steam at full speed towards an interi ception point. “During Monday night and t lk? early hours of Tuesday our warships were . all round the enemy ship, which was ■ I dearly silhouetted against the rising ! i sue. At dawn the big ships went in an.; amid squalls of rain closed to with- ■ | in I.j miles. iiotb sides fired simultaneously, but - i it ' as soon evident that the Bismarck w;i.- in trouble. Although she was on an even keel she was yawing from side j to side and seemed scarcely under conM trol. She never hesitated, but we were I not hit. Her first salvo fell about 1000 1 yards short, her second straddled its, and her third, owing to measures we ‘ thought necessary to lake, fell over. 1 1 “In the early stages of the action I the funnel and gun smoke from the I-Bismarck hampered the fire of the at- ■ I tacking British ships, but later our ship turned and the wind blew the I smoke away from us, giving us more favourable conditions for accurate lire. The Bismarck took terrible punishment ! for fully a quarter of an hour, and I 1 1 >aw that her fore turret was out of Auction with the guns cocked up uselessly in the air. ,| Great Bravery 1 “There was a great lire raging amidI shifts and momentarily we expected an explosion that would blow the ship to i pieces and end the action. The Geri mans have great faith in their system I of centralized control of gunfire, but the central control system had been 1 j smashed, and towards the end only one ! turret was firing intermittently and in;l accurately. 1 “With bombs and torpedoes from tin* air, and torpedoes and gunfire from the ships, the Fleet closed in on the doomed vessel, which, with her steer- ; ing gear destroyed, was circling at about 12 knots out of control. We thought she would surrender, but she did not, and our ships had to continue firing at her. It was a pretty uuplea■j sant job, but finally the Bismarck I was dispatched by torpedoes and that was the end of the action. “The enemy fought with great firavj ery, but he had a hopeless position to J maintain. The Bismarck was a magui- ; licent ship, and she seemed to me to j be nearer 50.000 tous lhau the 35,000 , tons given out officially as her meaj surenient.” Another officer describing the chase of the enemy said:—“Till she was nl--1 tacked by torpedo bombers 1 imagine J the Bismarck felt she was in no dau--1 ger. It was after this attack that she t decided to take drastic action to escape ! find started out on a course lor Brest. | Bismarck’s End “Her gunnery against the Hood had j been good, and was also very good j later, but fell off badly when firing on | our battleships. Musi of her damage must have boon above water. The Bismarck received eight or possibly nine ioitkmlu hits before the torpedoes which sank her.” Once her guns were silenced if would probably have needed much time and ! an undue exiiendiime of ammunition to sink her by gunfire. A well pruMclod ship such as a batrloshij)— and the Germans have always devoted a large proportion of weight in their bartleships to protection—might be buttered for a lung timo at clo.se range wiiJoni fio- , ing sent to the bolloiu, >u that n- use the* obvious coiirVo. ’ j went ijuwi aas described as cxtraor* ; dinary. I “Suddenh all over the hull.” .mid the ! officer, “we could see :i number of ] black dots--hundreds of lit cm it seemed —tJic.v Mure men makiim a laM cf ; fort to avoid death. As tin- shin Pooled | over farther and farther the dot* i crawled i.10.i- the hull anywiioi-e out j of tile reach of I lie water. Tin- \e.*st I j took a la-r and >.;nk >!■•- .. seen on ;l e Lire of :be water. Just over 100 wore saved. The German officers and men all Ik*'ieved that the Bismarck was actually insinkable. and just before she sank they were still hoping for relief from the land where, they had been told. : ! 201) auroplmio* had been sent out to j tlieir assistance.