THE HUNTING OF THE BISMARCK
OPERATION RHEINUBUNG
HISTORY OF THE BATTLE:
THE FIRST ASSAULTS TO THE BISMARCK
(Drawn from: "Great German battle ships of the Second World war" of M.J. Whitley, 1989)
In the afternoon of May 24 Bismarck and Prinz Eugen continued toward south and the admiral Wake-Walker it followed the wake of fuel in gone out of the leaks in the reservoirs of the battleship with Norfolk, Suffolk and Prince of Wales. The German ships had been being favorite for the time that went deteriorating himself/herself/itself, but, thanks to the radars, the enemy maintained that contact that Lutjens intended to interrupt for allowing his/her cruiser to continue the mission. It communicated to the Captain Brinkmann that to the opportune moment, in a squall, the Bismarck would have veered to west, while he had to continue on the same rout for 3 hours, to supply him of fuel and to begin the operations. In the meantime the admiral Tovey with the Home Fleet, King George V, Victorious, Repulse and the cruisers of the II Squadra, sailed southwest for intercettarlo.
Over that the relationships of Wake-Walker, Tovey could exploit those some Coastal Command RAF, even if by now only the Catalinas could arrive on the enemy from Iceland. L 'L/240 located the Germans in the afternoon and the G/210 it did the last gotten. Lutjens opened the fire against both more than once uselessly, then, toward the 15.40, definite that the moment had come and, as it was invested by a squall, it ordered to perform the separation.
The Bismarck increased the speed to 28 knots, it veered to right-hand, but going out of the clouds was found really in front of the enemy and it was forced to rejoin him with the Prinz Eugen. The second attempt succeeded, instead at 18.14 o'clock, when, after having detached the cruiser, Lutjens hocked the Suffolk and the Prince of Wales in a brief clash to long distance, but not getting some result returned to make rout toward south.
The GROUP Ovest received an unhappy account: "the Prinz Eugen will be sent to make restocking", from which could not be understood that the manoeuvre had succeeded without the enemy if it realized of it, while the cruiser obviously maintained the silence radio.
Despite this first success, Lutjen despaired to free himself/herself/themselves some cruisers English; at 20.56 o'clock in fact it communicated to the general quartier that, not could escape the hostile radars, you/he/she would have aimed straight at Saint Nazaire to give him some fuel, abdicating to attract the pursuers in the zone of the U-boats.
L 'admiral Tovey was seen to escape, the Bismarck and you/he/she had to make to slow down it if he wanted to attach her/it with the big one of his/her ships, therefore in the first afternoon he sent before the aircraft carrier Victorious with the cruisers of the II quadrates commanded by the Admiral Curteiss (Galatea, Aurora, Kenya and Hermione) for an attack aerosilurante.
The Victorious had on board only 6 fighters Fulmar of the squadron n° 8002 and 9 bombardier-torpedo Swordfish of the squadron n° 825, but this thin contingent was due to the fact that the aircraft carrier was new and, as the Prince of Wales, had not had a lot of time for the verifications in sea. One of these, the transfer in Malta of 48 packed Hurricane, came really annulled by the appearance of the Bismarck and the aircraft carrier it set sail with some operational instruments of Machrihanish before having unloaded all the boxes.
The time was ugly when the Captain Esmonde brought in flight his/her Swordfishes armed with lanciasiluri from 45,7 cms (squadron n° 825); the wind blew strong from northwest and the bridge of flight it pitched up to more than 10 m. s
The antediluvian outlines of the biplanes brought him to 500 ms, then they made rout to the time of Lutjens to the solos 85 knots granted by the maltempo, while they were taking off the scouts Fulmar. The airplanes of the squadron English they located the Bismarck with the radars and they went down in beaten to check from near; going out of the clouds they were found davan-you the watch coasts American Modoc and they saw the battleship sun enemy 6 more miles to south.
The Bismarck immediately put on in alarm and opened the fire of defense. The instrument of Esmond was struck 4 miles away from the ship but it continued the attack, a second lost the contact and solo a bystander it advanced uninjured. The battleship responded activating all the guns, inclusive those from 38 and from 15 cms and zigzagando to 27 knots.
All and eight the airplanes attached with the torpedos and all, except one, from left. Only one, the last, succeeded in striking the Bismarck on the right side, but it arrived on the belt of caress and it didn't make some damage. To the calar of the evening Esmonde brought his/her airplanes on board of the Victorious without losses, while two Fulmars didn't make return anymore.
The artillerymen of the Bismarck believed to have demolished five aerial enemies and when the ship resulted uninjured, the moral one on board it subsequently improved despite the wounded and the loss of a man.
The manoeuvres to high speed had however submitted the parts of the hull damaged in the clash with the Hood that you/they started to hear again of to hard test I strive him/it. The pagliettis anterior turafalles opened increasing the bow inclination, while to half ship the breaking in the paratia among the room generating n° 2 (already flooded) and the second room boilers of left it subsequently widened. The leak became uncontrollable and you is had to also close the room boilers. Contemporarily speed was reduced to 16 knots to allow to mend the turafalles of bow.
L' Admiral Tovey didn't have the opportunity of knowing how much the torpedos had been effective, could found only himself/herself/itself on the relationships of the ships of Wake-Walker, that in this eventuality, for the first time, they allowed to desire.
The Suffolk pursued the Bismarck to 10,5 miles, zigzagando to 30° and it punctually lost the with - touch on one of the diagonals for then to regularly recover him/it on the other, until, during the middle watch of May 25, the radar of the Suffolk didn't succeed in finding again him/it anymore. The Germans it had - no eluded to the right the pursuers with a definite tacking toward the 03.00, aiming first to west and then continuing in circle in - I return to the hostile ship before taking back the rout for St. Nazaire.
Unfortunately, in lack of the books of edge of the Bismarck it is impossible to clarify the motives for which Lutjens ordered this manoeuvre, nevertheless it is probable that the German command was done a precise idea of the strategy of Wake-Walker after long times of observation of the hostile movements; it was evident above all that the ships English stazionavano to the left of the Bismarck and that the right side was open.