The most interesting comment at Youtube is this:
You can clearly see the inacurate opening salvos of Hood well ahead and aft of Bismark, using the slow and fatally time losing Royal Navy technique of stradling the target.
Using the Ziess optical range finding system Bismark opened up very accurately almost on target with her first salvos. This was referenced by Esmond Knight, who was fall of shot spotting for Hood, from his position on the bridge of Prince of Wales.
Mr Knight said the first falls of shot from Bismark on Hood were "far too close for comfort."
Having "disposed of the Hood, Bismark turned her devastating fire power on Prince of Wales and a 15 inch shell from Bismarck passed directly through Prince of Wales' bridge killing everyone except the Captain , a couple of other crew" and blinding Lt Esmond Knight RNVR.
In the film Sink the Bismark (clip available on You Tube), Knight (an actor before WW2 ) actually was asked by the Director to act the role of Captain of the Prince of Wales, and duffle coated in the film on the bridge of the Prince of Wales removes the binoculars from his blind eyes having watched the destruction of Hood. Immediately after this moment he was blinded in the real action.
The Bismarck could have easily taken another 1/2 dozen torpedoes amidship and have continued to battle.
ReplyDeleteA complete fluke of being hit in the rudder doomed her.
The Tirpitz and Bismarck were colossal wastes of German resources.
Sad to watch the death of the British sailors
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