HOW BISMARCK MET HER DOOM

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 124, 29 May 1941, Page 5

HOW BISMARCK MET HER DOOM

LONG PURSUIT PLANES DO GOOD WORK CHASE OVER 1750 MILES OF SEA London, May 27. • The pursuit and sinking of Germany's newest and largest battleship! Bismarck is graphically told in Au- \ imralty communiques, giving details! of repeated attacks on the Bismarck until she was finally stopped and sent , to the bottom. A reconnaissance by Coastal Com-I maud aircraft revealed that a German . battleship and cruiser which they hac; ; previously located in the Norwegian • port of Bergen had sailed. Certain dispositions, therefore, were ordered ; and as a result H.M.S. Norfolk, Hying : the Hag of Near-Admiral Wake : Walker, and H.M.S. Suffolk were ordered to take up a position in the Den- : mark Straits. i On the evening on May 23, Kea.'-i Admiral Wake-Walker reported sight- I ing an enemy force of one baitlcsn.p ; and one cruiser proceeding at hign ; speed to the south-westward. Visibility in the Denmark Straits was bad . and extremely variable. The range oil the enemy was only six miles when j he was first sighted, and storms or! snow and sleet and patches of mist at i times reduced visibility to one mile.l Despite the difficulties of visibility, ! the Norfolk and Suffolk shadowed the ! enemy successfully throughout the I night. Meanwhile other units of the Royal I Navy were taking up dispositions at; high speed, with a view to intercept- , mg the enemy and bringing him to , action with our neavy forces. Early I on the morning of Saturday the! Hood, flying the nag of Vice-Aomiral. H. H. Holland, with H.M.S. Prince of I Wales in company, made contact I with the enemy. Action was imme- j diately joined. During the ensuing engagement the Bismarck received damage and was at one time seen to he on lire. The Hood received a hit ’ in the magazine and blew up. The. Prince of Wales sustained slight damage. The chase was continued on a southwesterly course, with the Norfolk and the Suffolk shadowing the enemy and maintaining contact, despite all his efforts to shake off pursuit. It appeared at this time that the enemy’s speed had been slightly re-I duced, and reconnaissance aircraft of j the Coastal Command reported that she was leaving a wake of oil. On the evening of Saturday, the! Prince of Wales again made contact j with the enemy, and action was join- i ed for a short time. Hit by Torpedo. The German ship at once turned' away to the westward, and then i swung round on to a southerly course, with our forces still in pursuit. Other j of our naval forces were now ap-1 proaching the enemy, and during night torpedo bombing aircraft from : the Victorious delivered a torpedo i attack on the enemy from a consider- I able distance. One torpedo was seen | to hit the Bismarck. The Norfolk, the Suffolk and the; Prince of Wales continued to shadowi the enemy successfully until shortly after 3 a.m. on Sunday. Touch with! the enemy was now lost in low visi- ; bility. The enemy was then approxi- i mately 350 miles south-south-west of | the southern point of Greenland.' Searching dispositions were at once! taken up by other units of the Royal Navy. i The main body of the Home Fleet, I I under the command of Admiral 1

Tovey, with his flag flying in H.M. .King George, was steaming at high ( speed in a south-westerly direction jfrom northern waters. Another force, ‘ under Vice-Admiral Somerville, with i his flag flying in H.M. Renown, was i steaming north-westwards at high ■ speed from Gibraltar. The Rodney and the Rami Hies, who were escorting .convoys in the North Atlantic, pro- , ceeded to move in the direction of the enemy. Again Located. Extensive air searches were organised by the Coastal Command ana by the Royal Canadian Air Force stationed at Newfoundland, but it was not until about 10.50 a.m. on Monday that the enemy was again located. AL that time the BismaruK was sighted

i by a Catalina aircraft of the Coastal .■•command in a position about 550 miles west of Land s End. Tnis airj craft was attacekd, and as a result • lost touch with the enemy battleship half an hour later, but at 11.15 a.m. the Bismarck was sighted from the <Ark Royal. Only the battleship Bismarck was seen, and she was then Learning on an easterly course. At this time the King George V .and the Rodney were approaching the 1 area, but were not yet sufficiently ; close behind to bring the enemy to ■ action. As soon as the Bismarck was J sighted by the Ark Royal’s aircraft, ■the cruiser Sheffield was detailed to [make contact with and shadow the I Bismarck. During the afternoon a ■ striking force of naval aircraft was [ despatched from the Ark Royal to [attack with torpedoes, but this proved [ unsuccessful. Shortly after 5.30 p.m. -the Sheffield made contact with the Bismarck and proceeded to shadow I her. More Torpedo Hits. j Within 20 minutes another striking i force of naval aircraft was flown off ■by the Ark Royal. This force attackled successfully, and one torpedo was seen to hit the Bismarck amidships. A (second hit was obtained by a torpedo (on the starboard quarter of the Bisi marck. It was subsequently reported that on being hit during this attack, the [Bismarck made two complete circles ■ and her speed was again reduced. ( During the evening some of our [destroyers of the Tribal class made 'contact soon after 11 p.m. Between 111.20 a.m. and 11.50 a.m. on Tuesday. I the Bismarck was attacked with tor- | pedocs by the Kulu, Maori and Cossack. The Cossack and the Maori each hit with one torpedo. After the Maori’s attack it was reported that there was fire on the forecastle of the (Bismarck. i One hour after these attacks by our (destroyers, it was reported that the .Bismarck appeared to be stopped. She (was then about 400 miles due west lof Brest, and had been pursued by [our force for over 1750 miles. It was ( subsequently reported that the BisImarck was again under way, and had made a good eight miles in one hour [and still capable of heavy, accur- [ ate gunfire. [ At daylight on Tuesday another striking force of naval aircraft was j despatched from the Ark Royal, but ■ this attack had to be cancelled, owing ■ to lbw visibility. i Shortly after daylight the Bismarck I engaged our destroyers by gunfire. I The Norfoil; was in action with the I Bismarck almost immediately afterI wards, and very soon the Bismarck was being engaged by our heavy 'ships. Details of this phase of the action ■have not yet been received. It is [known, however, that the Dorsetshire : was ordered to sink the Bismarck I with torpedoes, and the Bismarck [sank at 11.01 this morning. | As far as is known at present, the I only damage sustained by His i Majesty’s ships other than the Hood is (slight damage to the Prince of Wales. U.P.A.