Swordfish V. Bismarck | Pilots Recall the Killer Blow (Part 3 of 3)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ธ.ค. 2023
- A few more than a dozen Fairey Swordfish flew off into a North Atlantic gale on May 26, 1941. No other aircraft was capable of carrying a torpedo to a target in that kind of weather. But the open cockpit biplane "Stringbags" had been designed to do exactly that.
Here the pilots and crew of the Swordfish that conducted the crippling attack recall that fateful day. As do those aboard HMS Ark Royal and HMS Sheffield, both of which were to play central roles in bringing Bismark to bay.
But the victory was not sweet. An enraged Admiralty wanted to avenge the devastating loss of HMS Hood by naval gunfire. But the guns of HMS King George V and Rodney weren't employed at optimum range. And the point-blank pounding they delivered to Bismarck's superstructure would not sink the ship.
As Ark Royal's Swordfish circled above, the ship's command staff were aghast when they heard HMS Devonshire had been ordered to deliver the coup-de-grace - and not the aircraft responsible for crippling the terror of the North Atlantic.
I did these interviews. I am so pleased you cannot hear me. I was determined not to make a sound so that only their voices could be heard.
Conrad Wood, December 15th 2023. I was an oral history interviewer working for the Sound Archive of the Imperial War Museum 1979- 2002.
I'm terribly sorry I only included a few snippets of your voice in your many interviews. It is so hard to find enough relevant footage to fill a video! But thank you so very much for winning the confidence of these men and prompting them to open up and recall so many details of their personal experiences. We would be so much more ignorant without your efforts. Thankyou.
Conrad Wood, good job, you saved history for the rest of time.
Hear hear! And his colleagues. The IWM does an amazing job.@@davidlafranchise4782
I remember years ago listening to the interviews from the IWM for hours and always wondered about who the interviewers were and how they felt about the stories. I can only imagine how tough it must have been to listen through some of the more gruesome ones.
Thank you very much for your valuable work. And for coming forward and giving your name so that people such as myself shall know it.
Amazing to hear those men talking about the whole action in such an understated way
British adults.
Yanks would have bragged like puerile infants.
Remarkable first hand testimony from the Swordfish aircrews.
Amazing to have such momentous events recounted with plain honesty by those who survived them. This is the best WWII naval channel on TH-cam.
As far as I'm concerned the Bismarck was Sunk not scuttled... The thing was a bashed up Hulk when the Swordfish torpedo planes and the Royal Navy guns demolished her...
As good as it gets from the most underrated channel on Utube!
This was totally engrossing for so many reasons. I had no idea that the Sheffield took casualties from Bismarck's artillery. Or that the Fleet Air Arm were so close to being the first force in history to sink a capital ship on the open sea. But then it was only a matter of 7 months before it happened, anyway.
Outmoded outclassed and yet unbeatable. Wonderful to hear these memories.
Such very brave men, makes me proud being a ex Navy Veteran. And all those brave men of H.M.S Hood R.I.P.
Interviews such as these put a human face on the sanitized accounts that show up in the history books.
The music on the news reels is crazy. I believe some of the crews were later killed attacking the Scharnhorst.
if you ever get to talk to old sea going sailers of the Royal Navy, as i have for years in Liverpool my home port, you will always get the feeling that they respect sailors that they have beaten and want them to survive. it was the ship that they were on they wanted to destroy not fellow sailors. a remarkable comeradeship of war.
Another Liverpudlian here whose father served onboard HMS Dorsetshire at the time of the Bismarck episode, and took part in the rescues of the 86 survivors picked up by HMS Dorsetshire after the sinking.
The day following the sinking, one of the survivors who had been picked up, a badly injured German sailor named Gerhard Lüttich, died on the operating table in Dorsetshire's sick bay. His body was then "committed to the deep" with full military honours complete with a Royal Marine bugler and both his German comrades AND sailors from HMS Dorsetshire. The remaining survivors were treated EXCELLENTLY by the crews of HMS Dorsetshire & HMS Maori, being given the same bunking arrangements as the crew (under guard of course), and provided with 3 hot meals a day for the 4 days they were on board. They were also given Grog (rum and water) which was usually only issued to the RN sailors, the survivors were also provided with sweets, chocolate and cigarettes by the RN crews, and this was just 3 days after the sinking of HMS Hood... the RN has always worked on the principle of "fight the ship, not the man".
Here is what Mullenheim-Rechberg wrote of British treatment of the Bismarck survivors.
""The fight that the Bismarck put up to the bitter end earned the admiration of British seamen, which probably accounts for the good accommodations we were given and the way we were treated onboard ship. The fact that Captain Martin was well treated as a prisoner of war in Germany in World War One may also have had something to do with this. When he made his rounds among our men he always told them, "As long as you are here with me, you'll have it just as good." And the attitude of his crew was the same. The British seamen were always pleasant and helpful. "You today, us tomorrow," they said.""
Dad later survived Dorsetshire's own sinking and along with the rest of the "HMS Dorsetshire association" members post war, was invited to various reunions with the Bismarck survivors through the 1960s and 70s.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 wonderful story. God bless your father and all that sailed.
Great video, love hearing firsthand accounts.
Wonderful stuff. Really fantastic stories.
Another great video showing off the various interviews
One detail left out of the story was the nationality of the pilot of the Catalina flying boat. He was Ensign Leonard B. “Tuck” Smith of the United States Navy who had been sent to train the RAF pilots. The United States was still neutral at the time, so this fact was kept secret, though Smith did receive the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions. In official records Smith was listed as co-pilot, but this bit of subterfuge would not have saved President Roosevelt from a possible impeachment inquiry if the truth had been known.
You will see him talk in Part 2 of this 3 part series:
th-cam.com/video/8fqa9Eo4UL0/w-d-xo.html
@@ArmouredCarriers Thanks, I look forward to watching it.
Amazing bravery,thank you for sharing this with us
I came across a bloke on YT who had hundreds of admirers because he climbed the Tyne Bridge and dodged the police, imagine him sitting down talking with these Swordfish crews!🙂
The tiniest detail can change the outcome of any battle. Bismarck, the most feared warship of WW2, was perhaps brought down simply because Swordfish flew too slowly, and too low for the German guns to lock on to them.
astonishing. How would I react if I was called upon to play my part in such a terrible conflict? remarkable film, as others have said its amazing to hear from those actually involved. brilliant documentary.
Thank you
Unbelievable bravery.
It's good to know the truth as opposed to the romantic BS of the movie. The bravery of all the crews and airman was and still is astounding, no wonder they are remembered.
Bismarck life of a butterfly
There should be be a statue of the galant Swordfish pilots
Polski niszczyciel PIORUN włączył z Bismarkiem.Wystrzelił torpedy i strzały z artylerii głównej.
Never forget them
My neighbors uncle piloted one of the Swordfish that attacked the Bismarck.
Did he fly from Victorious or Ark Royal?
I do suspect any captain that surrenders a brand new ship when it can stiil fight would be shamed foreverr in Germany and kriegsmarine. Besides an admiral was on board. Nobody goes on these missions without knowing they might not be coming back. Imagine if Germany had won and captain was liberated. It would be a disgraceful end.
I don't know a lot about battle ships but i have said this before could prinz Eugen towed the bismarck in to France to save her would it have been possible or could they have put a demo charge and from the inside got rid of the rudder and used her propellers to stear if anybody could tell me I would love to know
Prinz Eugen had been detached to undertake commerce raiding in the Atlantic so was not available.
Not in those seas, and even in a calm not quickly enough to escape the Home Fleet's battleships.
Bismarck couldn’t be sunk by guns, was finished off by torpedoes.
Tirpitz was flipped over by a Tall-Boy, in shallow water, and later cut up.
Prince Eugen took 2 nukes to sink it.
The USS Nevada took two nukes and didn’t sink.
The Bismarck has two 16 inch holes in its armor belt.
Firmly documented historical fact; it was turned into a blazing pile of scrap by British battleship's guns and would have sunk no matter what. The idea that it was shellprood is pure horseshit promoted by nazi lovers.
it still got sunk,,,,
@@Ron52G how many below the belt?
The biscmark was a complete wreck under the the guns of Rodney and KGV.
A floating burning charnel house.
Great luck for the British..
More than counterbalanced by the luck of the Germans.
You make your own luck.
The Swordfish was a 1930s biplane used as a torpedo plane. One lucky hit by a courageous pilot and a torpedo disables a mighty battleship that leads to its ultimate destruction. Must have irked Hitler and the Nazis to no end.
There was more than one hit
The captain of the Bismarck betrayed his crew by not surrendering after the rudder was disabled. His first duty is to his crew not Hitler. He should of known as prisoners his crewman would be well treated and been able to return home after the war.
If you had a point I'm sure someone else would have mentioned this, but no. Besides the Admiral onboard was almost as bad a Nazi as depicted in the movie, unlike Graf Spee.
@@robbielee2148 I have a valid point worthy of debate.
Not really no naval officer would surrender his ship while the ship still had the ability to resist. USN. 1968-71.
@@jammer3618 But armies will surrender when their is no hope of continuing on fighting and it is best to save lives. Why do sailors have to fight to the last man and soldiers don't? True not many ships at all surrender.
@@davidk2906 in this case the captain was a yes man for the Admiral onboard, who was a devout Nazi. The captain could have been dismissed if he suggested surrender, but he was a yes man following the lead Nazi. How do you propose negotiation, like surrender of ship, delayed charges, suicide volunteers?!? The Bismarck was full of top tier technology, no way you surrender a ship of such caliber somewhat intact, unthinkable.
They`re lucky they weren`t using American torpedoes.
You may want to watch Episode 2 ... and be thankful the UK also had torpedo troubles!
Now when some one a football field makes a good play,they act the fool.
Who said he sank the Bismark ?
About two thirds of the way through, Moffatt talks of how the guy behind him believes his torpedo was the one that crippled Bismarck.
@@ArmouredCarriers "Crippled" has different spelling to "sink" . The meaning is also a word apart, does not truth matter to you at all?
If the Bismarck was not slowed and steering damaged it would not have been sunk. It was the start of it being sunk!
@@anthonywilson4873Yes, the start, it was not he/they that sunk it, neither of them would claim that. The certainly played big part. but did they sink it? NO!
No one as yet has answered my original question, or even tried. Is the claim I asked about total fiction I wonder. Truth, here on you tube, plays a poor second fiddle behind sensationalism.
They should have radioed them & offered for them to surrender - since they were dead in the water. A shame all those young sailors had to die.
I wonder if the Bismarck planned to do that with the British convoys she was planning to slaughter?
Toe nail fungus advert whilst eating dinner watching this....not good.
The navy didn't sink the Bismark. An outdated but brilliant biplane and a few men almost on a 'death of glory' run did. However, it was a change to see a battleship fight another battleship instead of blowing some Japanese frigate or destroyer to bits and of course the odd rearrangement of island flora. Nevertheless, on many occasions, German sailors had behaved honourably and saved allied men. I think perhaps this was the beginning of the end of the battleship. I don't think Nelson would have approved once the Bismark was a helpless wreck.
German submariners rarely made any effort to save crews of ships they sunk. Surface raiders perhaps did, albeit id like to see a valid citation on that. You win wars by killing the enemy not saving them. Sad but true.
Was he immitating Roger Moore or less?
The Germans sank the Bismark
Bollocks.
The British Navy vs one ship. That eventually got scuttled by her own crew. That's not a victory but just oldschool propaganda...
That’s what happens when you take on a far superior navy.
The USS Lexington was scuttled by the US navy because it wouldn’t sink.
Two of the Japanese carriers at Midway were scuttled by the Japanese because they weren’t sinking. It seems if a ship is blown to pieces but won’t sink scuttling by its own navy isn’t uncommon.
It may or may not have been scuttled; that is anecdotal and has never been proven. What has been proven was that it was turned into a blazing pile of scrap by 2 British battleships on its first sortie.
And it did not take the whole British navy; only a small fraction were engaged in the hunt, and only a still smaller force sent it down.
The thing about nazi lovers is that they love to comment on the internet without doing any real research.
@@Ron52G True... these ships were built not to sink. One doesn't want them to fall in enemy hands. But in the Bismarck case. Politics wanted to show a naval victory to the public. But thing is, it wasn't.... Bismarck vs The Hood was a victory, and England still has a hard time admitting it in 2023...
how about Lunerburger Heide in 1945,,,, was that not a victory?, ohh wait "ze Chermans Scuttled them selves"?
@@keithskelhorne3993 Fact: the Germans scuttled Bismarck before HMS Dorsetshire fired her torpedoes. Popular history contradicts this but the wreck of Bismarck proves the British Navy wrong. Point. Look it up. Oh and my grandfather comes from Lunerburger by the way...