http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 635 May 27, 1941
British battleships HMS King George V & HMS Rodney approach German battleship Bismarck from the Northwest and begin firing at 8.47 AM. Bismarck is an easy target, almost stationary & illuminated by the sun rising behind her. Loss of steering & a port list render her firing inaccurate. Bismarck is hit several times putting her guns out of action, without registering any hits on the British. King George V & Rodney plus heavy cruisers HMS Norfolk & HMS Dorsetshire close in, firing 2876 rounds including 719 14-inch & 16-inch shells. About 400 shells hit Bismarck, turning her into a burning hulk but she does not sink until the crew blow scuttling charges in the boiler rooms (she is also hit by torpedoes from HMS Dorsetshire). Bismarck sinks at 10.39 AM. Dorsetshire & destroyer HMS Maori begin rescue 110 survivors but then leave on a false sighting of a U-boat. German weather ship Sachsenwald picks up 5 survivors next day. In all, 2091 German sailors are killed.
abb won’t be joining us this morning to update the day-by-day story of Bismarck vs. the Royal Navy (some lame excuse about work or something - nothing really important like bass fishing.) But he was kind enough to drop off a couple links to sites with the current state of research into the wrecks of the two main characters. If someone wants to check them out and post some juicy tidbits on this thread it would be appreciated. Or from the other sites that abb and others have linked to over the last several days. I would try but I have my own work-related issues to attend to.
Homer
http://www.kbismarck.com/wreck.html
http://www.hmshood.com/hoodtoday/2001expedition/index.htm
Bismarck withstood an incredible pounding without sinking.
Just as in the Battle of Britain, the decisive British superiority in radar played a key role in sinking the Bismarck. German Admiral Lutjens commented a day or two ago on the inferiority of his radar. In contrast, even the near obsolete Swordfish biplanes had onboard radar.
The other key British advantage was their high frequency direction finding (Huff-duff). Admiral Lutjens foolishly broadcast long messages back to Germany, thus giving away his position.