bismarck survivors

As the Prinz Eugen steamed away, the pursuers targeted only the Bismarck. During the morning of May 26, however, a British Catalina reconnaissance plane located us again. Not long afterward, Marisoa accepted a Bible study with two young Jehovah’s Witnesses who visited. However, the convoy was protected by HMS Ramillies and neither German ship could risk being hit by a ship that in other circumstances would easily be outgunned by both German ships.

Her captain, Leach, decided that the best course of action was to turn away under the cover of smoke and, along with the ‘Suffolk’ and ‘Norfolk’ continue to tail the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen.

However, Marisoa insisted that I accompany her to the Memorial celebration of Christ’s death, held once a year.

This was incorrect as the Hood and Prince of Wales had already sailed – though Lütjens thought otherwise.

I was in command of a 20-millimeter antiaircraft gun situated toward the starboard bow. * The Maschinengefreiter Gerhard Lüttich was picked up alive but died on board Dorsetshire on 28 May 1941 because of his wounds. Then the second night set in. Holland ordered the Hood to turn to the German ships and at 05.45 they were only 22,000 metres apart. The following table includes the name (alphabetically arranged), rank and age (at the time of Bismarck's sinking) of the 116 men who were picked up alive by the heavy cruiser Dorsetshire (86), the destroyer Maori (25), the U74 (3), and the weather ship Sachsenwald (2) after the Bismarck sank. Our group of ships was on a mission to raid Allied commercial shipping in the North Atlantic.

The survivors all crammed to the back of the ship, life jackets and safety belts firmly attached. Hunger and unemployment were everywhere. When I obtained my military pension in 1969, we set up home on the small island of Nosy-Be, five miles off the northwest coast of Madagascar. The Bismarck had fired from 17,000 metres and the elevation of her guns meant that the shells that hit the ‘Hood’ had a high trajectory and a steep angle of descent. Whether friend or foe, none who witnessed this terrible scene could remain indifferent. One of my brothers died from sickness, another lost his life in the mine, and yet another was killed during the invasion of Poland.

Dawn broke at last, bringing a third day.

We were parachuted all over the territory, day and night, to assist the soldiers of the French contingent. He took me over to my mother, who was lying on the sofa, paralyzed. The Norfolk and Suffolk also drew a blank.

In Germany I noticed many changes. The Bismarck displaced over 50,000 tons and 40% of this displacement was armour. The weather also favoured the Bismarck as it was deteriorating and visibility was reduced as the cloud as low.

At 18.10 the King George V and other ships turned to the Biscay ports. To get into the Atlantic, both ships had to pass north of Scapa Flow – one of Britain’s largest naval bases. They had fellow feeling for the seamen who were losing their lives. The day was drawing to an end. They took off at 14.30 in rapidly deteriorating weather.

Holland ordered that the ‘Hood’ should steer a course to the exit of the Denmark Strait and the battle cruiser steamed off at 27 knots. The Royal Navy also knew that the Germans would be forced to sail through a small area of sea and at 19.22 on May 23rd, the cruiser ‘Suffolk’ spotted both the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen.

For many, the end of the Hood and Bismarck symbolised the end of the time when battleships were the dominant force in naval warfare, to be replaced by submarines and aircraft carriers and the advantages these ships gave to naval commanders.eval(ez_write_tag([[468,60],'historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-3','ezslot_26',129,'0','0'])); The Bismarck displaced over 50,000 tons and 40% of this displacement was armour. Because I felt at ease with these people. The dead and wounded lay everywhere. However, the Hood suffered from one major flaw – she did not have the same amount of armour as the Bismarck. By 19.10, they were airborne once again. One torpedo hit us but caused only slight damage.

HMS Hood was a massively armed battlecruiser with what was thought to be armour equal….

But I know that the time will come when such memories, including those terrible days and nights spent during and after the sinking of the Bismarck, will enter my mind no more. I felt a sudden urge to pray, for I did not want to die. He hugged me tightly, took my face in his rough hands and said: “My son, you were dead, and now you’ve come back to us!” He burst into tears, and sobbing, we embraced. This led Tovey to believe that the Bismarck was trying to return to Germany through the Iceland-Faeroes Gap. I took the train to Strasbourg, a French town just across the Rhine from Germany. In charge of our mission was Admiral of the Fleet Lütjens.

At 20.22, the Norfolk spotted both German ships. Then a column of fire swept upward to maybe a thousand feet, releasing a cloud of dark smoke.

The Admiralty did realise its mistake and informed Tovey that the Bismarck was, in fact, making for the Biscay ports. Learning that we had entered the North Atlantic, British ships set out a couple of days later to intercept the Bismarck.

I was among those who leaped into the sea, with the wind behind us so as to avoid being dashed against the hull by the waves. Using directions from the ‘Norfolk’, the planes attacked through the cloud and found themselves attacking an American coast guard ship. In 1957 I was wounded and obliged to spend three months in a hospital in Constantine, eastern Algeria. Through no fault of his own, Tovey was wrong. Four days later Mother died. In fact, the Bismarck was doing the opposite – sailing east for a port in Biscay. Tangled metal was scattered all over the place. The British aircraft carrier Ark Royal sent off two strike forces that launched 13 torpedoes at us.

I remained in captivity until 1947 and on release returned home. Launched in 1939, the Bismarck carried a formidable array of weaponry 8 x 15 inch guns, 12 x 5.9 inch guns, 16 x 4.1 inch AA guns, 16 x 20mm AA guns and 2 x Arado 96 aircraft. The damage it did to the ship was minimal but it did mean that 1000 tons of fuel was no longer available to the Bismarck as the shell had cut off this supply. The ‘Bismarck’ fired back but a salvo from the ‘Rodney’ took out the two forward gun turrets of the ‘Bismarck’. At 05.35, the lookout from the Hood made out the Prinz Eugen and the Bismarck at a distance of 17 miles. In July 1954 our regiment left for Algeria, where the stage was being set for the war for independence. He intended for the Bismarck, the Prinz Eugen, the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau to operate in the Atlantic fully supported with supply and reconnaissance ships – with such a force, no convoy would be safe regardless of how many naval protection ships they had. . He was right. I was born on May 19, 1918 in Marienwerder, East Prussia.

Three torpedoes were fired at the ‘Bismarck’ and she sank at 10.40.

I thought of my dear father, who was a miner, and of my mother, my sister, and my three brothers. His flagship was the pride of the German Navy, one of the most powerful battleships afloat, the Bismarck. The Admiralty remained concerned for the safety of the convoys in the Atlantic as there was always the danger the ‘Bismarck’ might slip away.

I just know God can never forgive me for what I did as a soldier.” A little later my wife offered me a Bible in German, my mother tongue, and obtained a Watchtower subscription for me. I started praying again, begging God to help me survive. Regardless of this, Raeder ordered the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen to sail as planned. The Bismarck had already sunk HMS Hood before being sunk herself. After that, my mind dwelt less on past experiences, and I spent my time helping others learn Bible truths. To boost his fleet, Tovey ordered the ‘Victorious’ to sail on the 22nd May and on the following day the battle cruiser HMS Repulse sailed.

The fire this caused was not particularly dangerous for the ‘Hood’ even though it produced a great deal of smoke. Launched in 1939, the Bismarck carried a formidable array of weaponry – 8 x 15 inch guns, 12 x 5.9 inch guns, 16 x 4.1 inch AA guns, 16 x 20mm AA guns and 2 x Arado 96 aircraft. The ‘Suffolk’s report had reached the ‘Hood’ and Admiral Holland, on the ‘Hood’ concluded that there were 300 miles between his ship and the Bismarck. In this he failed.

There I joined the French Foreign Legion.

I would sit in a nearby room and listen to all that was being said.

The accounts of men escaping from the lower decks through the wreck are harrowing and graphic. I was trained as a parachutist and was sent to Indochina, of which present-day Vietnam was a part. At 06.00 a salvo from the Bismarck hit the Hood. He also informed Berlin that it was impossible for him to shake off the Royal Navy and that he was abandoning the task in hand to sail to St Nazaire as his ship was short of fuel.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'historylearningsite_co_uk-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_15',117,'0','0']));eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'historylearningsite_co_uk-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_16',117,'0','1'])); As the Bismarck sailed, she was tailed by the Suffolk, Norfolk and Prince of Wales.

The Bismarck had already sunk HMS Hood before…, HMS Hood was the pride of the Royal Navy. . Overwhelmed with fear and aching all over, I remembered that my grandmother had taught me the Lord’s Prayer. To overcome the fear of damage at sea, Raeder’s plan was for the German Navy to concentrate a powerful naval force in the Atlantic so that there would not be a concern about convoys and their protection. At 08.00, Swordfish from the Victorious were sent up to look for the Bismarck but found nothing. The sea got rougher and the waves surged higher. On May 21st, both ships docked at Kors Fjord, near Bergen.

The fact that the Hood was faster than the Bismarck by 3 knots was as a result of her lack of sufficient armour. Here I met Marisoa, the girl who was to become my wife.

The Prinz Eugen needed to refuel.

As a result, we lost control of our course and began going around in an immense circle. ” I fell to my knees at her side and wept like a baby. However, throughout the night the stricken battleship was harassed by destroyers under the command of Captain Vian.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'historylearningsite_co_uk-leader-3','ezslot_23',118,'0','0'])); The destroyers shadowed the ‘Bismarck’ and fed her position back to the ‘Norfolk’. When at long last day dawned, I was completely exhausted.

‘Exercise Rhine’ had been a dismal failure for the Germans as no convoy was attacked and her most feared battleship had been lost.

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