End of the Bismarck

Southland Times, Issue 24447, 29 May 1941, Page 4

End of the Bismarck

THERE have been spectacular naval battles in this war. The River Plate, Narvik and Cape Matapan are names which carry associations of skill and daring in the best traditions of the Royal Navy: they represent the return in modern times of that spirit which has been expressed in such phrases as “Drake’s Drum” and “the Nelson Touch.” Future historians may hesitate when they come to classify the hunting of the Bismarck. This was not a fight against odds; indeed, that role was thrust upon the enemy, desperately though he tried to escape it. Nor was it a battle on even terms between powerful squadrons. It was an act of vengeance and at the same time the scientific elimination. of a deep-water menace to merchant shipping. The loss of the Hood was a heavy blow which must have brought dismay to every officer and rating in the British fleet. From the moment the waters closed over the wreckage scattered by that dreadful explosion the Bismarck was a doomed ship. Even if the Hood had survived, the presence in northern waters of Germany’s newest and most powerful warship would have been a sufficient incentive to pursuit. But the tragedy off Greenland added to the chase a grimness and a tenacity that could not be denied their ultimate satisfaction.

There were chances of escape. By making for Brest instead of for Norwegian waters, the captain of the Bismarck gained access to wide seas; and if he could have been favoured by the weather he might have slipped through the net, or reached waters that could have been dominated by German bombers. But the net was drawn too close. From all points of the compass British battleships were converging on the prey. It was not a blind chase. Powerful ships were following just out of range, and if they lost touch the searching planes quickly found the target and flashed its position to the pursuing squadrons. More than once aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm, demonstrating the value of tactics already justified in the Mediterranean, launched their torpedoes and forced the wounded ship to reduce her speed. The end came after a final clash 400 miles from Brest. For Britain it meant the removal of a dangerous raider, a simplification of naval strategy in the battle of the Atlantic. For Germany it meant the loss, at a single blow, of 25 per cent, of her tonnage in capital ships. There were four vessels of the Bismarck class —two in commission and two building. The sister ship, Tirpitz, is intact; but the two battle cruisers, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, are nursing their wounds in Brest. In the meantime, therefore, Germany’s strength in capital ships has been drastically reduced. This is an important gain, and will be recognized as such at the Admiralty. In the squadrons of the Royal Navy, however, the news will be welcomed for other and more personal reasons. The Hood has been avenged.