RIP.
In May of 1941 the war had just begun
The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns
The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the sea
On her decks were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees
Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood
And every British seaman he knew and understood
They had to sink the Bismarck the terror of the sea
Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees
We’ll find the German battleship that’s makin’ such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us
Yeah hit the decks a runnin’ boys and spin those guns around
When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down
The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day
The Bismarck started firing fifteen miles away
We gotta sink the Bismarck was the battle sound
But when the smoke had cleared away the mighty Hood went down
I was going to post that lyric (sung by Johnny Horton), but you beat me to it.
So here’s the parody of the song, that came out a few years later, and was actually recorded (I remember hearing it on the radio, but don’t know who sang it, and haven’t heard it since my childhood).
Way back in nineteen-forty-two or maybe forty-three,
I sailed with Captain Tuna, the chicken of the sea.
We didn’t sink the Bismarck , no matter what they say,
For when we seen the German ships, we sailed the other way.
We seen torpedos comin’ and we saw a periscope.
We were full of fightin’ spirit and our souls were full o’ hope.
The captain yelled, “Now hear this!” He really flipped his lid.
We haven’t yet begun to fight. What’s more, we never did.
Oh, we didn’t sink the Bismarck and we didn’t fight at all.
We spend our time in Norfolk and we really had a ball,
Chasin’ after women while our ship was overhauled,
A-livin’ it up on grapefruit juice and sickbay alcohol.
Then they made me a frogman on the demolition team.
I sunk a battleship, a cruiser, and a submarine.
I blew up ammunition dumps. I did my best to please.
I did it all before the Navy sent me overseas.
Tony, our Italian cook, was a-settin’ on the deck,
And we were a-peelin’ ‘taters. We must ‘a’ peeled a peck.
The captain yelled, “Hey, Tony! Is that a U-boat I see?”
Tony says, “It’s not-a my boat; it’s-a no belong to me.”
Oh, we didn’t sink the Bismarck and we didn’t fight at all.
We spend our time in Norfolk and we really had a ball,
Chasin’ after women while our ship was overhauled,
A-livin’ it up on grapefruit juice and sickbay alcohol.
And now the war is over and our story can be told
About our captain’s fightin’ and the young ones and the old.
We stayed in San Francisco , away from the battle scenes.
We spent our time on Treasure Island a-fightin’ the Marines.
Oh, we didn’t sink the Bismarck and we didn’t fight at all.
We spend our time in Norfolk and we really had a ball,
Chasin’ after women while our ship was overhauled,
A-livin’ it up on grapefruit juice and sickbay alcohol.
I was the only girl at school who read it too, and was considered "OK" by the boys as a result.
No Cooties-:)
Anyway, I'm glad that Ted Briggs lived to have a long life after this horrific incident.
We will never know what horror these men endured, and can never repay the debt we owe.