"Han" wrote in message
...
harry wrote in news:e23006f4-6e3d-4083-928e-
:

The Bismarck was sunk on
it's maiden voyage less than three months after launching

The Bismarck was scuttled by her crew after a torpedo hit by a lucky WWI
Swordfish plane jammed her rudder (and other damage from a prolonged
battle).

True, but by the time she was scuttled, she was beyond repair, was no longer
seaworthy and was being abandoned.

Did the Dorsetshire's torpedoes sink or her or did the scuttling crew? The
Bismarck with its jammed and unfixable rudder was alreadly defeated and
would not be able to make safe haven so I am willing to give the credit to
the Brits on this one. They certainly paid for the victory in blood when
the HMS Hood was sunk. IIRC, the Ballard expedition did find that the inner
hull remained intact and that the "torpedo bulges" had indeed absorbed much
of the torpedo blast so it seems likely opening the seacocks sank her. At
least that's what the German survivors claim. Still, they wouldn't be
opening any seacocks unless they were dead already. It's sort of like
jumping out of 10th story window and then shooting yourself on the way down.
Cause of death: largely irrelevant. (-:

If there was ever anything that convinced me of the utter futility of war it
was the reunion of the survivors of the Bismarck and the British sailors
involved in the battle. It was so heartbreaking to see all those men in
their 70's and 80's weeping for the men lost on both sides of the battle.
The grief was still fresh and enormous, over 50 years later. Sadly I don't
think we've seen the end of the sinking of huge naval ships. Or war.

--
Bobby G.

"Robert Green" wrote in
:

"Han" wrote in message
...
harry wrote in news:e23006f4-6e3d-4083-928e-
:

The Bismarck was sunk on
it's maiden voyage less than three months after launching

The Bismarck was scuttled by her crew after a torpedo hit by a lucky
WWI Swordfish plane jammed her rudder (and other damage from a
prolonged battle).

True, but by the time she was scuttled, she was beyond repair, was no
longer seaworthy and was being abandoned.

Did the Dorsetshire's torpedoes sink or her or did the scuttling crew?
The Bismarck with its jammed and unfixable rudder was alreadly
defeated and would not be able to make safe haven so I am willing to
give the credit to the Brits on this one. They certainly paid for the
victory in blood when the HMS Hood was sunk. IIRC, the Ballard
expedition did find that the inner hull remained intact and that the
"torpedo bulges" had indeed absorbed much of the torpedo blast so it
seems likely opening the seacocks sank her. At least that's what the
German survivors claim. Still, they wouldn't be opening any seacocks
unless they were dead already. It's sort of like jumping out of 10th
story window and then shooting yourself on the way down. Cause of
death: largely irrelevant. (-:

If there was ever anything that convinced me of the utter futility of
war it was the reunion of the survivors of the Bismarck and the
British sailors involved in the battle. It was so heartbreaking to
see all those men in their 70's and 80's weeping for the men lost on
both sides of the battle. The grief was still fresh and enormous, over
50 years later. Sadly I don't think we've seen the end of the sinking
of huge naval ships. Or war.

--
Bobby G.

Agreed!!
Possibly the scuttling was to prevent German technology from falling into
Allied hands.

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

"Robert Green" wrote in message
...
"Han" wrote in message
...
harry wrote in news:e23006f4-6e3d-4083-928e-
:

The Bismarck was sunk on
it's maiden voyage less than three months after launching

The Bismarck was scuttled by her crew after a torpedo hit by a lucky WWI
Swordfish plane jammed her rudder (and other damage from a prolonged
battle).

True, but by the time she was scuttled, she was beyond repair, was no
longer
seaworthy and was being abandoned.

Did the Dorsetshire's torpedoes sink or her or did the scuttling crew?
The
Bismarck with its jammed and unfixable rudder was alreadly defeated and
would not be able to make safe haven so I am willing to give the credit to
the Brits on this one. They certainly paid for the victory in blood when
the HMS Hood was sunk. IIRC, the Ballard expedition did find that the
inner
hull remained intact and that the "torpedo bulges" had indeed absorbed
much
of the torpedo blast so it seems likely opening the seacocks sank her. At
least that's what the German survivors claim. Still, they wouldn't be
opening any seacocks unless they were dead already. It's sort of like
jumping out of 10th story window and then shooting yourself on the way
down.
Cause of death: largely irrelevant. (-:

If there was ever anything that convinced me of the utter futility of war
it
was the reunion of the survivors of the Bismarck and the British sailors
involved in the battle. It was so heartbreaking to see all those men in
their 70's and 80's weeping for the men lost on both sides of the battle.
The grief was still fresh and enormous, over 50 years later. Sadly I
don't
think we've seen the end of the sinking of huge naval ships. Or war.


Apparently a reconstruction of the events, based on the condition of the
wreck, indicate that the Bismarck was scuttled.

"Attila.Iskander" wrote in message
...
"Robert Green" wrote in message

stuff snipped

Apparently a reconstruction of the events, based on the condition of the
wreck, indicate that the Bismarck was scuttled.

It's one hell of a "cold" crime scene. That tends to make it hard to get to
the moment of sinking and what, exactly happened.

I just read the report by Bob Ballard about the sinking and indeed, the hull
was far more intact than previously reported/recorded. I'm of the mind that
the scuttling sank the ship but I wonder if the Brits would have boarded a
ship that was so badly damaged and reportedly listing 20 degrees before the
seacocks were opened to try to recover any military secrets. He did find
that the two hull design (an outgrowth of "torpedo bulges" - additions to
the hull meant to absorb the impact and blast of a torpedo)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-torpedo_bulge

had served the Bismarck well. There was no damage to the inner hull that he
could find. It's not certain whether the flooding of the inner hulls was
serious enough to cause sinking although it apparently caused the serious
list.

Bottom line to me is that the Brits get the credit for forcing the Bismarck
into a situation where scuttling was the only option. Another thing is
clear: it took one hell of a pounding and still stayed afloat even though
it had been rendered useless in military terms.

--
Bobby G.