BISMARCK (May 27, 1941)
Hitler’s greatest warship commissioned in August, 1940. Fully loaded she weighed 52,600 tons. After her encounter with HMS Hood (20 years older than the Bismarck) she headed for St. Nazaire, the only port on the coast of France with a dry dock big enough to hold her. An order was given by Churchill to "Get the Bismarck". The hunt for the battleship dominated the world’s press, the chase lasting four days and covering 1,750 sea miles. Spotted by a Coastal Command Catalina flying boat, her position was reported to the Royal Navy ships. Finally, on May 27, the mighty battleship met her end after 277 days of war service. Severely damaged by salvos from the battleships HMS King George V, HMS Rodney, and by torpedoes from the cruiser HMS Dorsetshire, she was finally scuttled by her crew. Casualties amounted to 2,097 officers, men and cadets lost including Admiral Lutjens and Captain Lindemann. There were 115 survivors, picked up by the
Dorsetshire and the destroyer Maori. In 1989, the wreck of the
Bismarck was found. She lies intact and upright at 4,763 metres about 602 miles off the coast of Brittany.
Germany's greatest warship, the battleship Bismarck