[battleship guns firing] NARRATOR: The most
powerful warship on earth is loose in the Atlantic. [explosion] The German battleship,
Bismarck, wield the firepower to crush any ship
in the Allied fleet. [blasting and crashing] The British must call on
courageous airmen flying outdated swordfish biplanes
to help them hunt down Hitler's super weapon and
pound her into oblivion. Now, the remarkable
computer animation-- it's a dog fight on the sea. [helicopter whirring] [heavy explosions] The incredible story of the life
and death of Germany's greatest warship and the air power
that turned the tide. [battleship guns firing] Experience the battle. Dissect the tactics. Relive the hunt
for the Bismarck. [helicopter whirring] [music playing] [battleground sounds] [action music playing] May 24, 1941. Dawn. Two lethal German warships
raced through the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. The heavy cruiser of Prinz
Eugen leads the formation. Behind her looms a
fortress of guns and steel, Battleship Bismarck. Bismarck, the largest
warship afloat is on her maiden voyage on a
top secret mission codenamed, Exercise Rhine. The Germans plan? Steal into the
Atlantic undetected and attack ally convoys. NICK HEWITT: Convoys
are absolutely vital. These are Britain's lifeline. Without them, Britain will fall. If it's a ship like the
Bismarck finds a convoy, none of the escorts that
the convoy has a big enough to take her on. NARRATOR: Ernst
Lindemann is captain of the great battleship, but
the mission is so important. A battle tested veteran,
Fleet Admiral G nther L tjens commands from the bridge. Heinrich Kuhnt is a
24-year-old machinist's mate. HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: On Bismarck,
we eagerly anticipated the mission. We knew Bismarck was the most
powerful battleship afloat, but we also knew the British
outnumbered us and wondered as we put to see
what will happen. HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] [music continues] NARRATOR: Unknown
to the Germans, 30 miles to the southeast,
two British ships steer an intercept
course at full speed, the battleship Prince of Wales
and the pride of the British Navy, HMS Hood. Admiral Lancelot Holland
commands the operation from Hood. Ted Briggs is an
18-year-old signalman. TED BRIGGS: Hood's
reputation was fantastic. She was the be all and end all
as far as we were concerned. Without a doubt, she was
the most famous warship of any kind of any country. [suspenseful music] NARRATOR: Admiral Holland's
battle plan has already suffered a setback. He had hoped to beat the Germans
to the mouth of the Denmark Strait and cross their T,
positioned to fire all his guns in full broadside. [battleship guns firing] But during the
night, the British lose contact with the enemy. The morning finds
them out of position. The Germans now
have the upper hand. The Germans find that they
have achieved completely, by accident, the tactical
advantage that sailors since Nelson have
been looking for. They are effectively
crossing the T of the enemy. This means that Bismarck can
bring all her guns to bear, whilst the British
is steaming in column and only their forward
guns can bear initially. NARRATOR: But the
British team in unafraid. Hood is the embodiment
of British sea power. At 5:52 AM, 14 miles from the
Germans, Hood shoots first. [battleship guns firing] The shells land off Prinz
Eugen starboard bow. [swooshing and blasting] [suspenseful music] A salvo from Prince of
Wales quickly follows. [battleship guns firing] The British shells
missed their mark. British armor-piercing
shells plunge into the sea. [swooshing and blasting] Huge columns of water erupted
around the German ships, but Admiral L tjens
holds his fire. HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: We went
to action stations, and we're waiting
for orders to fire. The anticipation was unbearable. We knew we were under attack,
but why weren't we shooting back? [battleship guns firing] [swooshing in water] JAMES DELGADO: L tjens'
job, as he saw it, was not to fight warships. His job was to destroy commerce. If he was badly damaged,
he'd have to return to port. His mission over. [battleship guns firing] NARRATOR: The
British blast away. Shells scream over
the German ships at almost 2000 miles per hour. [swooshing in water] But L tjens still
refuses to return fire. [distant battleship guns firing] Finally, a frustrated captain
Lindemann steps in and says, "I will not have my ship
shot out from under my ass." Bismarck opens fire. [battleship guns firing] Lethal one ton shells
tear toward Hood. Germany has unleashed the fury
of the most powerful warship on Earth. [classical marching music] February 14th, 1939. Hamburg, Germany. It's a glorious day
for the Third Reich, christening Hitler's
mightiest triumph, the battleship Bismarck. [classical marching music] German newsreels proudly claim
the great ship weighs 35,000 tons, the legal limit set by
international Naval treaties after World War I. The truth
is a closely guarded secret. Bismarck weighs an
astonishing 50,000 tons. [suspenseful music] [speaking german] INTERPRETER: When we
saw Bismarck in Hamburg, we were tremendously
surprised at its size. Some compartments on Bismarck
were three stories high. I'd never seen a
ship so impressive. [suspenseful music] NARRATOR: She's nearly
a 6th of a mile long. Her sides are armored
with 13 inches of steel, and her 118 foot beam creates
a uniquely stable platform for her eight 15 inch guns. OTTO SCHLENZKA: Not only was
I extremely proud to get back ships of that size. It was the biggest and was
the extreme sign of power. [action music] NARRATOR: On May 18th 1941,
Bismarck secretly embarks on Exercise Rhine. But three days later, a
Royal Air Force Spitfire photographs Bismarck
near Bergen, Norway. The Royal Navy quickly
dispatches battleship Prince of Wales and Britain's
largest warship, HMS Hood. [action music] When commissioned in 1920, Hood
was the longest and fastest warship in the world. She's 860 feet long
and weighs 48,000 tons. Both Hood and Bismarck are armed
with eight 15 inch guns that can hurl 1700 pound
shells over a 15 miles. But Bismarck newer guns can
fire three shells a minute to Hood's two. The critical
difference is armor. Bismarck, a battleship
is heavily armored; Hood, a battlecruiser
built for speed is not. [action music] NICK HEWITT: They were designed
to hunt down and sink enemy cruisers. They were never designed to
stand up in the line of battle against battleships. NARRATOR: The armor on Hood's
deck is no more than 3 inches thick. Shells dropping from a steep
angle called plunging fire, can easily punch through
and explode inside. She was always intended
to go improve a full refit, to have the deck armor
fortified but unfortunately, war was declared and she
couldn't be spared. [action music] [battleship guns firing] NARRATOR: Now on May 24th, 1941,
Hood and Bismarck opened fire. [battleship guns firing] HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: When
the big guns fired, the entire shot staggered. It felt like it was bending
and was pushed sideways in the water. It was amazing. The guns were so
incredibly powerful. [speaking german] [suspenseful music] NARRATOR: Hood and
Prince of Wales are here. Bismarck and Prinz Eugen
are here, 13 miles away. Knowing the threat of plunging
fire to Hood, the British race in, trying to get close enough
to force the German gunners to fire at a flat trajectory. The shells will hopefully
strike Hood's 12-inch hull armor rather than the thin deck. [battleship gun firing] Bismarck's first salvo
barely misses, exploding just off Hood's starboard bow. [swooshing in water] [distant battleship gun firing] Bismarck fires again. [battleship gun firing] The German gunners zero
in with deadly efficiency. [swooshing in water]
[battleship guns firing] The pride of the Royal Navy is
squarely in their sights. [swooshing and exploding] [swooshing in the water] May 24th, 1941. The most powerful warship
afloat, the German battleship Bismarck and heavy
cruiser Prinz Eugen, exchanged fire with the pride
of the British Navy, HMS Hood and Prince of Wales. [BATTLESHIP GUNS FIRING AND
EXPLOSIONS] Bismarck and Prinz Eugen
are here, northwest of Hood and Prince of Wales. The Germans have the advantage. They're able to fire a full
broadside while the British are only able to use
their forward guns. [suspenseful music] Just four minutes
into the battle, the Germans draw first blood. [battleship guns firing] A shell rips through
Hood's ammunition locker, exploding 4-inch
anti-aircraft shells. [fire blazing and explosions] A hurricane of shrapnel cuts
down the men on the deck. From the compass platform, the
highest point of Hood's bridge, Ted Briggs witnesses
the carnage. [distant battleship guns firing] TED BRIGGS: That hit penetrated
at the base of the main mast, and it caused a fire around the
4-inch ready-use lockers, which was creating one hell
of a mess and killed quite a lot of people. [battleship guns firing] NARRATOR: Another shell strikes
Hood close to her main tower. [swooshing and explosion] The situation is desperate. At 8 miles, Admiral Holland
orders a hard turn to port to bring her full
broadside to bear. FRANK ALLEN: At this point, Vice
Admiral Holland probably felt that he had closed the
range sufficiently enough to be out from under the
danger of plunging fire. NARRATOR: But Holland
has miscalculated. Bismarck fires her
eight 15-inch guns. [BATTLESHIP GUNS FIRING AND
EXPLOSIONS] --a rangefinders locked on Hood. [distant battleship guns firing] HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: The enormous
blasts rocked the ship back into the water
due to the recoil. HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] [battleship guns firing] HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: We knew if the
shells hit their target, there would be
tremendous damage. [action music] [battleship guns firing] [foreboding music] NARRATOR: After 20
seconds in flight, a single 1,700-pound
armor-piercing shell plunges through Hood --dead center. [swooshing explosion] The armor-piercing
shell penetrates deep into the bows of the ship. The powder in a main
magazine ignites. British crewmen on Prince of
Wales watch in muted horror as a geyser of flames spewed
from Hood's ruptured deck. This massive amount of
powder in that magazine did something we
call deflagration. It's like a giant Roman candle
burning in an enclosed space. NARRATOR: Then, a huge
explosion buckles the hull-- [METALS ERUPTING AND HEAVY
EXPLOSION] --twisting and shearing
the mighty ship in half. [heavy explosion] The bow lifts vertically into
the air as her midsection sinks. TED BRIGGS: She'd gone about
30, 40 degrees, I suppose. We realized that she
just wasn't coming back. There was no order
given to abandon ship. It wasn't necessary. NARRATOR: Ted Briggs and the
men on the compass platform struggled to escape. The flag lieutenant
was just in front of me. The squadron navigating
officer, commander [inaudible],, stood to one side to
let me go through. He just went like that. (INHALES DEEPLY)
Can't forget that. NARRATOR: Across the
water, the Germans look on at their stricken adversary. OTTO SCHLENZKA: The
ship broke into pieces. We were sure an
explosion of that kind must have killed everybody. NARRATOR: As Hood slides
beneath the waves, her forward turret fires
a final defiant salvo before slipping into darkness. [battleship gun firing] [slow sinking sound] I managed to get out of the
starboard door of the compass platform, down the ladder
to the admiral's bridge, which was directly underneath. And I was about halfway
down that ladder and I became level
with the water. And it was dragging me down. NARRATOR: Briggs is
pulled deeper and deeper by the sinking ship. TED BRIGGS: I honestly
thought I'd had it but it was then that I suddenly
seemed to shoot to the surface. I came up and looked around. There was a ship about
50 yards away like that. I panicked. I turned and try to swim
over as best I could. When I looked around
again, she'd gone, and there was a fire on
the water where she'd been. [distant battleship gun firing] [slow sinking sound] There were only three of
us that came to the surface of the other 1418-- were lost. HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: When we heard
that the Hood was sinking, we were celebrating
what we accomplished, but then we were horrified
at the devastation that was happening. We recognized that
on Hood, there were many sailors must have
suffered a horrible death from the explosion. [speaking german] [action music] [battleship gun firing] NARRATOR: In less
than 10 minutes, the massive guns of
Hitler's super weapon have obliterated the
pride of the British Navy. [MACHINE ERUPTING AND HEAVY
EXPLOSION] It's a stunning victory. Bismarck now turns her
attention to prince of Wales. With the loss of the
flagship, the British were suddenly in a terribly
weak tactical position. The HMS prince of
Wales is alone. She is a brand new ship. She is inexperienced,
and she is also experiencing significant
mechanical problems with the machinery. NARRATOR: Prince of Wales
wields plenty of firepower, 10 14-inch guns, but
eight of her guns are housed in complex new
quadruple turrets that are untested and malfunctioning. [action music] Bismarck and Prinz
Eugen are here. The Prince of Wales is
here just 8 miles away. The Prince of Wales captain,
John Leach orders a hard turn to starboard to avoid
Hood's wreckage. Bismarck and Prinz
Eugen train her guns on the lone British ship. It was so very extremely
easy for the Germans to operate to switch targets. A tiny, minute alteration to
their stereoscopic rangefinders brought their fire to
bear on Prince of Wales almost immediately. NARRATOR: The German
strategy is simple, put shells on the target. [distant battleship guns firing] Bismarck and Prinz Eugen
rapid fire their main and secondary armament. [battleship guns firing] The results are devastating. [battleship guns firing] FRANK ALLEN: The first hit
struck the compass platform where Leach himself
was standing. It killed everyone there except
for himself and two others. The second hit struck a
director control tower just to the rear of the
compass platform. Next series of hits
would strike the ship, under aircraft crane, her
funnel, in the boat deck, and three below the waterline. [battleship guns firing] NARRATOR: But the
withering German assault is too much for the
battered battleship. She suffered seven
devastating hits. 14 men are dead. Their guns are jammed. There was really no way
that she was in a position to take on two German fleet
units that were trained and worked up. NARRATOR: After firing 23
salvos, Prince of Wales make smoke and retreats
to the southeast. Admiral L tjens aboard
Bismarck chooses not to follow. She suffered three damaging
hits from Prince of Wales, 2000 tons of seawater flood
her forward compartments, and her fuel tanks are ruptured. She's hemorrhaging precious oil. Admiral L tjens must find a
port and put in for repairs. [action music] At 6:14 PM on May
24th, 1941, Bismarck breaks away from Prinz Eugen
and steams for sanctuary in Nazi occupied France. OTTO SCHLENZKA: Bismarck
vanished in the direction of west, and that was the
last time we saw the Bismarck. NARRATOR: For the Royal
Navy, the loss of Hood is devastating, but the tragedy
only strengthens their resolve. With unrelenting
determination, they deploy every weapon in
their arsenal including a fleet of antiquated
torpedo bombers to avenge the loss of foot
and sink the Bismarck. [distant jet roaring] tles] May 24th, 1941. Hitler's newest super
weapon, battleship Bismarck, has obliterated the symbol of
British sea power, HMS Hood, and crippled the
battleship Prince of Wales. [battleship guns hitting water] The tragic news spreads rapidly. The reaction in Britain
to the loss of the Hood was a mixture of
fury and a desire for revenge, an absolute shock. This was the pride
of the Royal Navy. This was the unsinkable ship. This was the mighty Hood. The effect on the
morale in Great Britain was absolutely catastrophic. [marching sound] NARRATOR: The British respond
quickly and decisively. Prime Minister Winston
Churchill vows, "Bismarck must be sunk at all " CPO HAD TURTLE: We all
want to revenge the Hood. There's no doubt about it. Every ship, [inaudible]
the smallest ship, the biggest ship in the Navy,
wanted to revenge the Hood, and that's what
we're sent out to do. NARRATOR: Within hours
after Hood's sinking, nearly every warship
in the North Atlantic is sent to reinforce fleet
Admiral John Tovey's command. Bismarck is now 2000
miles from France. The wounded Prince of
Wales shadows Bismarck with the cruisers
Norfolk and Suffolk. Tovey himself commands the
operation from the battleship King George V. His battle group
is 300 miles east of Bismarck. A detachment, known as Force
H, steams in from the south. Tovey, hours behind
Bismarck, determines his best weapon for a quick
counterattack is an airstrike. [distant jets roaring] [action music] May 26th, 11:30 PM. This far north is still light
as the fleet air arm launches a flight of Swordfish
torpedo bombers from the aircraft
carrier Victorious. [jets hovering sound] Cruising at 85 miles
per hour, the Swordfish use a primitive
onboard radar system to navigate toward Bismarck. Built by the Fairey
Aviation Company in 1934, the Swordfish, affectionately
known as the Stringbag is a lightweight biplane with a
metal frame covered in fabric. The aircraft carries a crew
of three, a pilot, observer, and rear gunner. [jet whirring] The dual wing design
gives it incredible lift, allowing for very short
takeoffs from the decks of small carriers. DAVID MORRIS: People
viewed the Swordfish as being outdated
or even obsolete at the start of the
Second World War. --outdated perhaps,
yes. -outclass no. JOHN "JOCK" MOFFAT: It was the
most maneuverable even down to very slow speeds of
[inaudible] about 60 knots. You are still in control. NARRATOR: The plane's primary
armament is one Mach 12 18-inch torpedo, packing
a powerful 388 pound charge of TNT. A year earlier, Swordfish
sank five battleships during the attack
on Taranto in Italy, helping to demonstrate the
new thinking in Naval warfare. Airplanes can
dominate battleships. Now a fleet of eight Swordfish
speed toward Bismarck. [jets roaring] They break into three attack
groups, flying and single file. They dive steeply down to 200
feet, banking into the target and fanning out
parallel to one another to split antiaircraft fire. As the planes approach,
the steel fortress erupts, opening up with
her 52 anti-aircraft guns. [battleship guns firing] DAVID MORRIS: An entire ships
worth of armament the barrage was being focused on just
this poor selection of very antiquated biplanes scurrying
in towards the ship, in the hope that they
could get their one torpedo launched and score some
kind of effective blow. NARRATOR: The German
gunners use a clever tactic. [battleship guns hitting water] They fire Bismarck's main
armament into the sea, creating massive walls of water
in front of the tiny biplanes. The courageous Swordfish
pilots pressed their attack, dropping to just 60
feet above the waves. They're flying so low and slow. Bismarck is unable
to train her guns. The Swordfish pilots punched
the torpedo release button on their throttles. [disarming] Mark 12 torpedoes
accelerate to 40 knots and close on the battleship. HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: British torpedo
planes started to attack us. Our captain ordered
many quick violent turns to dodge the torpedoes. [action music] [BATTLESHIP GUNS FIRING AND JETS
WHIRRING] NARRATOR: Bismarck
evades the first wave. [battleship guns firing] Then, a Swordfish, piloted by
Lieutenant Percy Gick with air gunner Les Sayer and
navigator V. K. Norfolk, sweeps in and fires. [disarms and swoosh on water] [distant battleship guns firing] A massive column of water
soars 150 feet in the air amid ships on Bismarck. [heavy explosion] HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: One torpedo
exploded against the armor belt. The massive concussion
threw us off our feet. [heavy explosion] And the jolt triggered the shut
off valves in the turbines. We had to quickly
restart the engines. HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: During the
attack, the boatswain's mate Chief Petty Officer Kurt
Kirchberg was thrown into the airplane
catapult and died. HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] NARRATOR: Bismarck has
suffered its first fatality, but the torpedo has struck
the thick armor belt and done little
structural damage. [heavy explosion] Having dropped their
single torpedoes, the Swordfish pull
in to cloud cover and returned to their carrier. The aviators have
sent a message. As long as Bismarck
is shadowed, Tovey will keep sending waves
of aerial assaults. [action music] For Admiral L tjens
aboard Bismarck, his next move is clear. He must shake the British
ships from his tail. L tjens knows the British are
steering in a zigzag pattern to avoid possible U-boat attack. When they're at
their furthest point, Bismarck turns
hard to starboard, looping back over
her own weight. The British lose radar
contact and steam right past the German ship. For the next few hours,
British radar operators work frantically to re-establish
contact but to no avail. At 5 AM, 24 hours after
the sinking of Hood, the cruisers send an
ominous message to Tovey, "Have lost contact with enemy." --and so L tjens and
Bismarck slip away. Tovey moves in the
opposite direction. And it seems that in
this game of chess, that these two admirals are
playing in the high seas. L tjens is now winning. NARRATOR: The biggest
battleship on earth is now steaming for the
safety of Nazi occupied France undetected, hiding somewhere
in the vast storm tossed seas of the North Atlantic. May 26th, 1941. For 30 hours, ships and planes
of the British home fleet have scoured the North Atlantic
for some sign of battleship Bismarck, but Bismarck
has simply disappeared. CPO HAD TURTLE: We're
very despondent Everybody, everybody, and I mean
everybody from the lowest boys to the highest officer
onboard was in a terrible state because we lost the Bismarck. NARRATOR: Aboard Bismarck,
the crew hopes by morning to be within 200
miles of France, waters controlled by
the German Luftwaffe. Desperate to
re-establish contact Fleet Admiral Tovey dispatches
Catalina flying boats or PBYs. They're American aircraft,
Lend-Lease to Britain to support the war effort. Their incredible 2,500-mile
range makes them ideal for long distance searches. They comb the seas for hours. Then, at 10:30 AM, 36
hours after losing her, a PBY crew spots a dull black
shape moving across the water. Bismarck has been found. [marching music] Bismarck has been
spotted here, 700 miles from the coast to France. Admiral Tovey's battle group is
here, 130 miles directly north. Tovey must slow Bismarck down
to get in range to strike. In perfect position
for this mission is a task group steaming
in from the south known as Force H, which includes the
aircraft carrier Ark Royal. [action music] May 26th, 1941. 7 PM. Eight hours after
finding Bismarck, 15 Swordfish torpedo
bombers from Ark Royal speed toward the
German battleship. Lieutenant John "Jock"
Moffat pilots one of the Fairey Swordfish. We were told to go in
there and do our best and get as many torpedoes into
her as we could possibly do. NARRATOR: Moffat and his
crew break through the clouds and descend on their target. JOHN "JOCK" MOFFAT:
My first impression of the Bismarck when I saw
it on my starboard side about two miles away,
it was really awesome. NARRATOR: Moffat's flight
of three Swordfish close in at 115 miles per hour. 6,000 feet off, all of a
sudden all hell was let loose. [BATTLESHIP GUNS FIRING AND JETS
ROARING] NARRATOR: Bismarck's
anti-aircraft gunners desperately fill
the sky with flak. [JETS WHIRRING AND DISTANT
BATTLESHIP GUNS FIRING] JOHN "JOCK" MOFFAT: I
had no doubts about what was going to happen,
and I was scared stiff. [action music] I thought the only
way I could survive was to get as low as possible. And the nearer I
got to the ship, I was hoping that they wouldn't
be able to get the guns down low enough. NARRATOR: Moffat closes
to within 2000 yards and prepares to launch. There was a voice who suddenly
says to me, not yet, Jock. And this was my observer. And I thought, what's happening? And he kept saying
it, not yet, not yet. And then out of the
corner of my eye, I happened to turn
slightly to the right, and there was a friend of mine
hanging outside this aircraft with his bottom in
there, but I don't know how he did it in fact. But he was leaning right
outside the aircraft, with his head right
underneath the fuselage. And he was shouting,
not yet, not yet. And then it dawned on me why. [jet whirring] NARRATOR: In these high
seas, Moffat's observer knows that if a torpedo
hits the top of the wave, the impact could
veer it off course. With only one torpedo, he
has to make the shot count. He hangs upside down,
judging the wave height, waiting for the right moment. If you could release
the torpedo just went into a trough of a
wave, then you had a chance. And that's when he
said to me, let her go. And when I let her go, he
said, Jock, we've got a runner. NARRATOR: Bismarck makes
a hard turn to port to avoid the torpedo. It's a fatal miscalculation. 51 seconds after Moffat
launches, the deadly missile strikes Bismarck's
port side on her stern. [battleship guns firing] The violent explosion tears
a huge hole in the hull. [rupture and explosion] HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: The shock was so
strong that rivets flew off the bulkhead, and there was a
sound like the ship was tearing apart. [speaking german] NARRATOR: Bismarck unarmored
twin rudders, angled for the hard turn to
avoid the torpedo, jammed 12 degrees to port. HEINRICH KUHNT: INTERPRETER: They sent two
men down in diving suits to try to fix the
rudder mechanism, but the water was rushing
in too fast to the big hole. So we all had to come back up. [speaking german] NARRATOR: The Swordfish have
crippled the mighty battleship. With rudders jammed,
Bismarck can only steam back toward her enemy. [speaking german] INTERPRETER: We knew
that all efforts failed to steer the ship. We were alone
surrounded by enemies. [speaking german] NARRATOR: Admiral G nther
L tjens signals Berlin, "Ship unmaneuverable. We will fight to the last shell. Long live the f hrer." [battleship guns firing] The British close in. [heavy explosion] The hunt for the Bismarck
steams toward a bloody climax. [battleship guns firing] May 27th, 1941. [TORPEDO DISARMING AND
SWOOSHING] The battleship
Bismarck, crippled by courageous Swordfish
pilots, steams helplessly toward the waiting
guns of her enemies. Air power has
demonstrated its supremacy over the mightiest warship. [JETS WHIRRING AND DISTANT
BATTLESHIP GUNS FIRING] The British surface fleet
closes in for the killing blow. Finally, there is an
opportunity to avenge the Hood, and the British go
into action confident that they can achieve this. NARRATOR: On King George
V, Fleet Admiral John Tovey plots his tactics. [marching music] His plan? Force the cornered German
ship to divide its fire against multiple targets,
then turn his ships broadside, unleashing
massive firepower. Battleships Rodney
and King George V speed within 12
miles of Bismarck. At 8:47 AM, Rodney's
16-inch guns fire,-- [battleship guns firing] --then, King George V. [battleship guns firing] Shells rained down
around Bismarck. [battleship guns hitting water] The British cruise stuff
cotton in their ears to deaden the sound. Their throats sting as they
breathe in the cordite fumes after each salvo. The desperate German
battleship strikes back. [battleship guns firing] L tjens first act was to open
fire on the aged battleship Rodney. It's been suggested by some
that like Hood, he saw her as an older ship and
thought perhaps, weaker. He could take her out and
lessen the odds against her. [battleship guns firing] NARRATOR: Both sides
missed their targets. [battleship guns firing] With each salvo, the gunners
adjust their rangefinders. [battleship guns firing] With her rudders jammed,
Bismarck can't maneuver. She's an easy target. [battleship guns firing] Rodney scores the first
hit on Bismarck at 9:02 AM. The British have the range
and let loose with everything they have. [EXPLOSIONS AND BATTLESHIP GUNS
FIRING] CPO HAD TURTLE: We
were firing broadside. We're firing 10 shells at
a time, 10 14-inch shells. We're going all over. [explosion] And that's a hell of a lot of
shells for one ship to take. NARRATOR: Two British cruisers,
Norfolk and Dorsetshire, join the fight. [swooshing and exploding] Bismarck is being
pumped from all sides. [speaking german] INTERPRETER: Shell splinters
rained through the air ducts that supplied our fresh air. The shells were hitting
us fast violently. [swooshing and explosions] NARRATOR: Then, King
George V's 14-inch guns make a critical hit. [heavy explosion] HEINRICH KUHNT:
[speaking german] INTERPRETER: A shell hit
the gunnery control and also the main battery. The men screamed because
of all the sulphur steam. It scalded them terribly. NARRATOR: Bismarck is
now a slaughterhouse. The huge dreadnought fires a
final salvo, but at 9:31 AM, her mighty guns fall silent. [speaking german] INTERPRETER: As
Bismarck's gun stopped, shells were hitting everywhere. Pieces of the ship
were blasted away. [speaking german] [distant battleship guns firing] CPO HAD TURTLE:
In the end, it was painful to see really because we
knew she wasn't firing anymore. NARRATOR: Tovey's warships
fired over 2,800 shells. [battleship guns firing] 400 hits reduced Bismarck
to a ravaged steel inferno, but the great battleship,
--her flag still flying-- remains afloat. At 10:21, Tovey ceases fire. The cruiser Dorsetshire
moves in to sink Bismarck with torpedoes, but the
commanding officers left on Bismarck have other plans. [speaking german] INTERPRETER: They
announced over the PA that we should set
scuttling charges and open the sea valves. We were going to sink her
ourselves and abandon ship. [speaking german] [swooshing] NARRATOR: Before the
scuttling charges take effect, the Dorsetshire fires
three 21-inch torpedoes into Bismarck. At 10:39 AM, Bismarck sinks by
the stern into a watery grave. [jets roaring] During the fight,
Swordfish flew in but couldn't make attack runs in
the fury of the surface battle. Now, Jock Moffat flies
above the carnage. [distant jet whirring] I was a witness to a scene
which haunted me for many days. All those hundreds of poor
sailors bobbing up and down in gale waters is
not a pretty sight. And when we got
back to the ship, there was no euphoria because
we thought to ourselves, they are sailors, we're sailors
and there by the grace of God. NARRATOR: Out of Bismarck's
crew of 2092, only 115 survived. Among the dead are Admiral
L tjens and captain Lindemann. [action music] Bismarck's only combat
mission lasted just 215 hours. [battleship guns firing] She proved a formidable
enemy against surface ships. [swooshing and heavy explosions] But ultimately,
courageous British pilots in antiquated biplanes
proved that dreadnoughts were vulnerable to air power. It was the death knell
of the battleship. [battleship gun hitting water] Though U-boats would
continue to attack convoys, Hitler never again allowed
the German surface Navy into the North Atlantic. The tragic fate of the
giant Bismarck was proof. The sea was now
controlled from the sky. [action music]
I'm pretty sure I watched this or something like it 10 years ago.
At this point you're much better off watching Drachinifel or other YouTube historians than the History channel.
Edit: episode aired on January 30th, 2007.
The video's blocked on my country :(
lol Video unavailable