DOOMED BATTLESHIP
VAIN ATTEMPTS TO EVADE PURSUIT AERIAL & OTHER TORPEDOES STRIKE HOME. THE BISMARCK’S LAST HOURS. (Received This Dav. 9.10 a.m.) LONDON. May 27. Our cruisers sighted the Bismarck and the new eightrinch gun cruiser Prince Eugen, passing Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland) on the night of May 2.3 and the Prince of Wales and the Hood intercepted them at dawn on May 24. It is not known what happened to the Prince Eugen, but measures have been taken in respect of her. Arrangements were made for effective battle before dawn on May 26. but the weather had deteriorated during the previous night and visibility had decreased. The Bismarck shook off the pursuit by making a sharp turn, but an American Catalina scout plane picked up the Bismarck shortly before noon on May 26. The Bismarck was then heading for a French port and the Admiralty macle a further disposition of the Fleet Air Arm. Torpedo-bombers and seaplanes from the Ark Royal made a succession of attacks on the Bismarck, which then apparently was alone without escort. It was learned about midnight that two torpedoes had struck the Bismarck, one amidships and the other astern. The second torpedo apparently damaged the Bismarck’s steering gear, for she not only was reduced to a very low speed, but was seen continuing to make uncontrollable circles in the sea. One of our flotillas then attacked her and two more torpedoes struck home, gradually bringing her to a standstill, while she was still far from help and far outside the range where enemy bombers from Franco could operate. The pursuing British battleships attacked the Bismarck shortly before dawn on May 27, when it appeared certain that torpedoes if not gunfire would finish her.
The Bismarck was the most powerful and newest battleship in the world and her removal is a very definite simplification of the task of maintaining an effective mastery of the northern seas and the northern blockade.
The Hood was struck by a shell, fired at up to a 23.000 yards range, and blew up with only a very few survivors.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 May 1941, Page 5
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350DOOMED BATTLESHIP Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 May 1941, Page 5
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