The Bismarck | Teen Ink

The Bismarck

April 4, 2018
By AtomicOblivion SILVER, Madison, Georgia
AtomicOblivion SILVER, Madison, Georgia
5 articles 0 photos 0 comments

February 14, 1939. The Bismarck is a military masterpiece. Four fifteen inch guns, and six double guns. The bottom blood red. As you go up. you get some nice silver with a black line separating the colors. This is a clear violation of the Treaty of Versaille.


May 20, 1941. Stockholm, Sweden. A british officer, the naval ambassador to neutral Sweden, sits alone eating dinner. A man interrupts him with an urgent phone call. He puts the phone down, his face turns paler than a scots. He rushes out of the restaurant to the embassy. A swedish officer gives him the information. 15:00, two large war ships escorted by three destroyers, five ships, and from ten-twelve aircraft in the north east. The Nazi war banner flies high. The pursuit on the Bismark has begun.


May 21, 1940. Scapa Flow. John Tovey was commanding his fleet in . Metal birds had been marking british boat positions for days. Scapa Flow was the only thing keeping Britain alive. If the british lose the base, the blockade would fail, giving Germans free range on the Atlantic. They would sink all American ships bringing supplies to the british. The satanic ship that would end this all was the Bismarck.


The Bismarck was not just a military masterpiece. It was also a statement of political power. Hitler had to jumpstart the economy, and the Bismarck was visible proof of the economic miracle. The country had a one-hundred percent employment rate, not including oppressed groups.


Scapa Flow. Several intelligence agencies report to london that the Bismarck is heading that way. Tovey issues an order to refuel and stand by.


13:15 hour, a british reconnaissance plane takes a photograph of the Bismarck accompanied by a cruiser. British intelligence in scotland confirms these ships, the cruiser is the Prinz Hougen. Tovey’s fea has been solidified. The worst part of this is the weather. It gets very foggy overnight.


Tovey Issues Lancelot Holland to take his fleet to iceland to intercept the Bismarck at any coast of the island. Tovey was to stay at Scapa Flow incase the Bismarck tried sneaking around the northern side of britain using the fog as cover. Cruisers stayed in the denmark strait to look for, and shadow the bismarcks moves, and radio in to have Holland intercept it.


May 22, 02:00 hour, bombing raid on the last known position. No sign if damage or anything.


20:00 hours. Admiral tovey sits in fear by a phone. He finally gets a message from the admiralty. A reconnaissance plane has gone down far enough to break the force of the fog. Bismarck nowhere in sight. All other planes are grounded due to weather. The fleet to go to iceland immediately. They must fill any gaps in their stream. He radio’s holland, the bismarck might be coming their way. The germans could have covered 600 miles in the 30 hours that they haven’t been able to track it.


May 23, 19:22 hours, Denmark Strait. Sister ships are on patrol. They have been searching for 50 hours. Two ships come out in the snowy distance. At first they are thought to be British. A second glance sends him sprinting to his commanding officers. His eyes say the blood colored german battle flag only seven miles away. Well in range of the 15 inch guns. Every man is now working to get out of the firing range. Sirens scream. The officers abandon pre-dinner drinks. The crouser makes a hard turn for the fog. Their 8 inch guns  do nothing to the german war machine.


Soldiers stand silent for  three agonising minutes awaiting imminent destruction as their little ship moves slowly into the mist. But Bismarck's  shells never arrive. The ship uses the opportunity to track the ship with its superior technology. They can use radar to track the ship. Solely radar. No one had ever done it before. The crew relays all the information to the sister ship. The sister then relays the signal to the rest of the fleet.


20:30 hours, Denmark Strait. A cruiser is rushing through the fog at top speeds. As it clears its way through the fog it almost crashes straight into the bismarck. The ship turns around deploying a smoke screen. This time the bismarck fires. One of the Nazi shell lands right behind the stern. The other lands 50 yards short. The cruiser barely escaped. The twins decide to go in behind Bismarck, and Prinz Eugen. Staying hidden, yet still in the 10 mile radius of the radar. Quietly giving the position to the other ships.


21:00 hours, Interception Fleet, Denmark Strait. Admiral  Holland charges toward the bismarck. The sea is rough,some destroyers are getting submerged. Some must fall back. This is going to be a two on two battle. He has the new Prince of whales, and the Pride of the royal navy, The HMS Hood, by his side. Two capital ships, one battle.


24th of May, 05:37, Denmark Strait.  People have been repairing the Prince of Wales guns. They know they will intercept the bismarck. Though the recruits are scared, the presence of the HMS Hood  calms their nerves. Smokes in the distance. That smoke is Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. The rest of the fleet gets a ciphered message. “Enemy in sight am engaging.”  He was running parallel to both ships converging south west. This is no good. He needs to get in between the bismarck and the atlantic, but the shells would rip strait through the hood. If he turns and charges to the bismarcks side he’ll be hard to hit, but he will lose half the fire power.


05:52  hours. Holland orders prince of whales to hit the lead ship. Yet one of the watchers has made a vital discovery. The Hood is going for the wrong ship. It's too late. The hood has already fired, and the smoke could be visible from miles away. The gunnery officer defies Hood’s order and firesat the Bismarck. The officers look at their watches, waiting.


50 seconds into the waiting, and boom. Pillars of water leap ip in front of the german ships. The salvo’s are steaming, and worst of all, a gun in the prince of wales B turret has malfunctioned. Both ships adjust aim, at flashes of light come from the german boats. The battle has begun.


Two minutes into fighting a hole is forced into the hood. The shell hit an ammunition locker, burning some of the crew. Sailors could hear the screams of their dying ship mates through the voice pipes. Holland keeps calm, but columns of water rise in front of the ship. He finally figures out he's been firing at the wrong ship. Holland order to turn the guns to the Bismarck, and a turn to port. He knows this will expose the side, but they should turn right in the 9 mile mark of it’s range. The first turn comes right in time, as the shells barely miss. With all sights on the hood, the prince of wales has been able to get close to the ships, and get a hit, but the four gun turrets can't hold the strain. Every few salvo, a gun goes haywire. They turn into the same position as the hood. Then the hood was hit on both sides. One shell goes in. The shell sinks.


2 seconds later the middle of the ship erupts in flames. A explosion occurs breaking the ship in two. Bodies start falling off the ship, bumping into  things as they plunge into the waters below. The ship leans. There is no need for an evac order. Single file at the port side hatch The navigating officer lets junior seaman go before him. One crew member looks at admiral holland, emotionless, going down with his ship. The hood sinks in a V formation. One Turret fires on last Salvo before sinking into the depths of the freezing Denmark Strait. The Prince of wales orders a defensive maneuver. They watch as the hood sinks. The pride of the royal navy, at the bottom of the sea. The malfunctioned ship, now in hoods former position makes it to where the germans barely have to move their guns. But one salvo hits the Bismarck. Now they can finally, BANG. A compartment above him. He speaks in voice pipe seeing if anything is alright. No answer, then a stream of blood dribbles out. He stands at the bridge. All but two officers are dead.Three hellish minutes pass as the Prince of whales is pounded by shells.  The armour belt taes many hits as the deck is set aflame. Ome shell lands still live next to a sailor. They are told to wait for ordnance disposal, butt they don’t feel like it, so they pick it up, and throw it overboard. Leech knows the battle is lost, so he withdraws. The bismarck refuses to follow. He goes back to the tracking team signaling, “Hood has blown up”


An hour later a destroyer goes by to look for survivors. On deck they have hundreds of rafts, lifebelts, and blankets ready. Medical crew prepared for hundreds. Instead they pick three oiled slicked survivors out of the water. There were about 1,418 men.


10:22 hours, The Admiralty. Faces are grim in the war room. These were not just caused by the hood, but the fact german ships were now in position to prey on the convoy’s necessary for the islands survival. But horror becomes determined rage. The phone rings, Churchill gives a direct message. It was sent to To admiral tovey, to Ark Royal, to the battleship rodney headed towards boston for a refitting turns it’s 16 inch guns towards europe, this message goes to every able ship.


Sink the Bismarck. Sink the Bismarck. Sink the Bismarck.


The author's comments:

I was bored so I learned about Nazi Germany's biggest war ship and how it sunk britains best ship.


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