[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
German Assault on Crete, May 1941
North Africa – Rommel’s First Offensive, 24 March-15 June 1941
Marcks’ Plan, August 5, 1940
Operation Barbarossa (Dir. 21), December 18, 1940
The Mediterranean Basin
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941 – The Imperial Powers, 1 September 1939

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance

[agere_contra]

Hanson Baldwin’s analysis of torpedo tactics & damage was detailed and (as it turns out) prophetic.

The Swordfish biplane had a very good war, and one of its high points was the hunt of the Bismarck.

Bismarck had already been reduced to 20 knots by damage to its reserve fuel supply during the Battle of the Denmark strait (where Hood was sunk). A successful torpedo strike on the 24th May led to another 4 knot reduction in speed.

The decisive torpedo hit was on the 26th, which jammed rudder and steering and made the Bismarck effectively unfightable. On the 27th of May: Rodney and King George V, along with heavy cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire sank the Bismarck.

An excellent blow-by-blow account of the full chase is available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck

As Admiral Tovey recorded in his memoirs: “The Bismarck had put up a most gallant fight against impossible odds, worthy of the old days of the Imperial German Navy, and she went down with her colours flying”