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May 27, 1941. Sinking of the Bismarck


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May 27, 1941. Sinking of the Bismarck

By: streiff (Diary) | May 27th, 2015 at 09:03 PM

bismarck.jpg

On May 18, 1941 the Bismarck and her consort Prinz Eugen sortied from the Pomeranian port of Gotenhafen, present day Gdynia, Poland, to raid British commerce in the North Atlantic. TheBismarck, displacing some 50,000 tons, had been launched in 1939 and was a formidable combatant carrying 8 x 15 guns as her main battery. When she entered service on August 24, 1940 the only European warship larger than Bismarck was HMS Vanguard. On May 20, a Swedish cruiser, Gotland, sited the pair and the Swedes, being the good neutral power that they were, promptly informed the British. The British were predictably and understandably exercised. Scissors-32x32.png

http://www.redstate.com/2015/05/27/may-27-1941-sinking-bismarck/

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OPERATION RHEINÜBUNG

 

By José M. Rico

 

bismarck25.jpg

The Bismarck alongside at Gotenhafen in May 1941, shortly before Operation Rheinübung.

 

Following the success achieved by the surface ships in the Atlantic during the winter of 1940-1941, the German Naval High Command decided to launch a much more ambitious operation. The idea was to send a powerful battle group comprised of the battleships Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau into the Atlantic to attack Allied merchant shipping. The latter two battleships were in Brest, in occupied France, since 22 March. They had just completed a successful campaign of two months in the North Atlantic under the command of the Fleet Chief, Admiral Günther Lütjens, in which they sank or captured 22 ships with a total tonnage of 116,000 tons. Unfortunately, the Scharnhorst had to enter dry dock in order to undergo machinery repairs and would be unavailable at least until June. In the Baltic, the Bismarck had almost finished her trials and would soon be ready for her first war cruise. However, the Tirpitz, which had only recently been commissioned on 25 February, had not yet completed trials, and it was unlikely that she would be available in the spring.

 

On 2 April, the same day the Bismarck received her last two Arado 196 aircraft, the High Command outlined the strategy to follow in its operation's order (B.Nr. 1. Skl. I Op. 410/41 Gkdos Chefs.1). With theScharnhorst in dry dock and the Tirpitz not ready for action yet, it was decided that Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen would be sent into the North Atlantic in late April under the command of the Fleet Chief. The Gneisenau would later sail from Brest to join them Scissors-32x32.pnghttp://www.kbismarck.com/operheini.html

 

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