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00:06May 1941, the world's biggest and deadliest warship, the Bismarck, roams the seas.
00:15Its mission, to cripple Allied shipping.
00:26Its first victim, HMS Hood, is sunk in just eight minutes.
00:32We couldn't believe it. Just couldn't believe it.
00:35We're only three survivors.
00:39This is a devastating blow to the Allies.
00:42Hood had been the pride of the Royal Navy.
00:44So to lose her quite so suddenly was a very, very shock indeed.
00:56What follows is one of the biggest hunt and destroy missions in naval history.
01:01Course 135.
01:03Course to intercept 135.
01:06Using never-before-seen testimony from the veterans of the British fleet who took part in the battle.
01:12The Bismarck was getting hit regularly.
01:15There was smoke. There was fire. There was everything. Oh, God.
01:20I was scared, certainly. You'd be a fool not to be.
01:26Take nothing away from the Germans. Their gunnery was out of this world, really.
01:32And powerful recreations of the battle.
01:38We would be straddled with 15-inch shells. And then it was all smoking out as fast as we could
01:44go.
01:47It was quite a day you'll never forget. You'll never forget the date. You know, the 27th. Never.
01:56This is the story of the dramatic final 24 hours of the German battleship Bismarck.
02:17It's 1941.
02:22Germany's navy is destroying thousands of tons of merchant shipping, carrying essential supplies to Britain.
02:28There was a major threat to shipping in the Atlantic.
02:34There were several east-west convoys in the Atlantic.
02:39Hitler's plan is to win the war by starving the Allies.
02:46The convoys were being destroyed so easily and so badly that England was hungry.
03:00In fact, we were almost on the point of suing for peace because we were so hungry.
03:09Two massive German battleships, the Scharnhorst and Neisenau, are already decimating convoys.
03:16Scharnhorst and Neisenau rampaged around the North Atlantic, off to Africa, came back.
03:23They sank 270,000 tons and sank 48 vessels.
03:27Now, the Nazis unleashed the mighty Bismarck into the Atlantic.
03:3541,700 tons, 241 metres long, it is armed with eight 15-inch guns.
03:43It has a range of nearly 10,000 miles and has a top speed of 30 knots, faster than any
03:51British warship.
03:53It's the most formidable battleship yet built.
03:56And for this mission, it's accompanied by the light cruiser, Prince Ugin.
04:00Their first target is HMS Hood.
04:07The Hood could do little against such might.
04:15Bismarck landed a 15-inch hit under the armour belt of the vessel.
04:22That penetrated an ammunition magazine aft at the back of the ship.
04:27This then detonated and there was a chain explosion all the way through the ship that tore Hood apart.
04:35In just eight minutes, the British ship is lost, along with the loss of 1,415 crew.
04:43Hood had been a flagship of British naval supremacy.
04:47So when that vessel was destroyed in a matter of minutes, it was profound.
04:56The terrible news reaches Britain.
04:59Hood had been the pride of the Royal Navy.
05:02So to lose her quite so suddenly, it was a very great shock indeed.
05:16The British Navy acts quickly.
05:19And within hours, the carrier HMS Victorious locates the Bismarck and launches its torpedo bombers in a desperate attack on
05:27the battleship.
05:29But they were up against one of Germany's finest commanders, Admiral Gunther Lutyens.
05:35He's considered by his contemporaries to be the ablest, most logical and shrewd Admiral in the German Navy.
05:43Gunther Lutyens is a formidable commander.
05:46He oversaw Operation Berlin as an Atlantic raider, sinking 22 Allied merchant ships and commanded the battle fleet during the
05:54invasion of Denmark and Norway.
05:57The British didn't really have an idea what he was going to do next.
06:01Was he going to prey on the convoys up to the Atlantic?
06:04Was he going to turn back towards Norway like some of the raiders had done?
06:08Or was he going to make for France like the Scharnhorst and the Neisner?
06:13The valiant torpedo bombers scored one hit, but failed to disable Bismarck.
06:23Barely 24 hours after the sinking of the hood, amid mountainous seas and poor visibility, Admiral Lutyens slips the hounds
06:33on his trail.
06:36So once again, Bismarck is on the loose.
06:48Churchill orders the Royal Navy to find Bismarck.
06:52There were two ways, really, that the Royal Navy could track her.
06:57By sending out an aircraft that would search a particular area of sea and spotting it with the eyeball.
07:03Or a ship escorting a convoy or out there patrolling on the hunt for a might-see-her coming over
07:10the horizon.
07:13The hunt is on.
07:23The women's Royal Navy service intercepts wireless messages sent from a German warship to its naval headquarters and Hitler.
07:36Lutyens had verbal diarrhea.
07:38He couldn't stop sending these wireless messages.
07:42The Wrens identify Bismarck as the source.
07:46We'd already identified to the person who the sender was of that wireless message.
07:52And that enabled us to get bearings on Bismarck.
07:57They decided that Bismarck had to be going to the southeast.
08:00So that meant that Royal Air Force Coastal Command aircraft were sent out to search certain areas of sea.
08:07Using this information, an RAF Catalina reconnaissance plane is sent to confirm the German warship.
08:14Around 690 miles to the west of Brest.
08:19The discovery of Bismarck seals its fate.
08:23It only has 24 hours left to live.
08:33The Admiralty orders warships across the Atlantic to converge on Bismarck's position.
08:39Sailing up from Gibraltar is Force H, a battle fleet that includes the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.
08:47Coming down from the north is the Home Fleet, led by Admiral John Tovey aboard HMS King George V.
08:54He commands the British forces hunting Bismarck.
08:59Tubby is a classic example of the sort of product that the Royal Navy produced from the start of the
09:05century.
09:06He's solid, he's dependable, he's professionally very adept.
09:12Among the vessels seeking to join the home fleet and confront Bismarck is the battleship HMS Rodney,
09:18commanded by Captain Dalrymple Hamilton.
09:23Captain Dalrymple Hamilton was from a distinguished military family of Scottish aristocrats,
09:29who knew the Bode Lyons family well and indeed Dalrymple Hamilton had known Queen Elizabeth since childhood.
09:35To the south, Force H is approximately 75 miles to the east of the German warship.
09:44Aboard HMS Ark Royal is 21-year-old Terry Goddard, one of the observers in a squadron of swordfish torpedo
09:51bombers.
09:54Terry Goddard is typical of the aviators of his day, very pragmatic, matter-of-fact, there's a job to be
10:00done and he's just going to get on and do it.
10:02We were well aware that Bismarck had to be stopped.
10:11Swordfish aircraft are launched by HMS Ark Royal to maintain contact with Bismarck.
10:17The main thing was to keep track of her until the warships could get close enough.
10:30When they arrive, the swordfish are spotted by German lookouts.
10:37And whenever they get in range, Bismarck's anti-aircraft guns open fire.
10:43The planes weave and dodge the flak.
10:48Admiral Lutyens now knows that enemy warships are on his tail.
10:53He must escape the Allied pursuers and reach safety.
11:02Meanwhile, the British fleet is facing a fuel crisis.
11:06Weather conditions are extremely bad and the warships moving at high speed are rapidly burning through precious fuel.
11:16Conditions were very bad for that time of year.
11:20By this stage, you've got very high seas.
11:22King George V, Rodney, all suffering and they're running out of fuel.
11:33Aboard HMS Ark Royal, the swordfish have returned from their reconnaissance mission.
11:38The crew are now preparing them for a torpedo strike on the Nazi radar.
11:44The British biplane is affectionately nicknamed the string bag because it can carry just about any weapon.
11:54The swordfish could carry a whole variety of weapons and was very difficult to shoot down.
11:59So, although looking like some kind of World War I aircraft, the swordfish was relatively modern and also quite formidable
12:06in its roles as a torpedo bomber.
12:11Despite atrocious weather conditions, orders are given to launch the swordfish.
12:28In poor visibility, they spot what they believe is the Bismarck and begin their attack.
12:37But in fact, this is the British cruiser Sheffield, which is shadowing Bismarck.
12:44Now, for heaven's sakes, the Sheffield is a two-stack, 11,000-ton cruiser.
12:53Bismarck is a single-stack, 50,000-ton battleship, three times the size of Sheffield, and they attack the Sheffield.
13:07The Sheffield's commander, Captain Charles Larkin, manages to avoid the torpedoes, and he restrains his anti-aircraft gunners from firing
13:16on their own planes.
13:18They're terribly sporting and not firing on the idiots that were attacking them.
13:31Bismarck has another lucky escape, but the relentless clock, counting down to doom, is still ticking.
13:57The swordfish biplanes have returned to Ark Royal after their mistaken attack on HMS Sheffield.
14:05Admiral Tovey is now burning precious fuel as his fleet battles rough weather, trying to catch up with the Bismarck.
14:13Admiral Tovey and Captain Darren Hamilton were both worried that if they went too fast, then they would simply have
14:21to stop the pursuit of Bismarck,
14:24because you can't have a battleship running out of fuel in the middle of the Atlantic.
14:29The British warships converge from all directions.
14:34Aboard his flagship, King George V, Admiral Tovey now has the concentrated firepower necessary to destroy his target, the Bismarck.
14:43If he can just catch up.
14:51Now, a Luftwaffe Condor long-range scout plane discovers the home fleet.
14:57It sends a message to Bismarck identifying HMS Rodney as one of the approaching ships.
15:05The home fleet is now aware that they've been located.
15:09Their greatest fear is an attack by German U-boats before they can reach the Bismarck.
15:16On board the Bismarck, Admiral Lutyens is informed.
15:23Admiral, a British ship was captured.
15:28Which one?
15:30The Rodney.
15:34Do you know that the ship is charged with 16 soldiers?
15:39Do you know what they can do with that?
15:41We are also charged with the best.
15:46Admiral, the Rodney lies 200 miles behind us.
15:51200 miles?
15:53In Ordnung.
15:56How long have you been to war?
15:59The Rodney is slow.
16:01Even at full speed will she not be able to get one.
16:06Then we'll see.
16:10As Lutyens attention is focused on the Rodney to the north,
16:16he is unaware of HMS Sheffield steaming ahead of Force H coming up from the south.
16:24Sheffield is now in visual contact with Bismarck.
16:28She cautiously edges her way around the distant German battleship.
16:33Sheffield reports the speed and position of Bismarck to the home fleet.
16:39Now Admiral Toby knows that the Bismarck is travelling too fast for the British fleet to catch her.
16:48New orders are issued.
16:50The Swordfish torpedo bombers must target the propellers and rudders in a bid to disable her and slow her down.
17:00This is a highly dangerous mission.
17:02The mighty Bismarck bristles with guns.
17:05All will be brought to bear against the Swordfish.
17:09The odds are stacked against the pilots.
17:14I think we knew we were living fairly fast.
17:17I don't think we had any fear of dying.
17:21Generally, the guys who bought it just got married or just had a baby.
17:33We knew perfectly well we were gonna fly.
17:37Because if we didn't fly, there would be no tomorrow for us.
17:48Once again, despite the stormy conditions, Ark Royal's aircraft launch.
17:54As far as flying off the Ark Royal, there's no other aircraft could possibly have taken off and landed in
18:02the conditions which we did.
18:04And while three squadrons of Swordfish head towards the German warship.
18:12Enemy commanders in France have ordered its U-Boats to rendezvous with the Bismarck.
18:18First on the scene is U-556, commanded by Captain Herbert Wolfhard.
18:25U-556 is so close, the German U-Boat almost has its periscope crushed by the Ark Royal.
18:35My God!
18:36Prior to Bismarck's sailing, she had sunk 30,000 tons of shipping.
18:43But she'd also used all her torpedoes up.
18:47It's really ironic that U-556 is very close to the action, but she's run out of torpedoes.
18:56So she can only report what is going on.
18:58She can't actually save her big brother at this stage.
19:02If I had just a few torpedoes, I wouldn't have to maneuver.
19:06We are perfectly positioned for an aircraft.
19:12Wolfhard reports the position of Ark Royal and Force H to U-Boat Force Headquarters.
19:19Now the Nazis know the powerful aircraft carrier can do decisive damage to Bismarck.
19:31The squadron of British torpedo bombers begin their attack runs.
19:37And then we went, ice peeling off the wings.
19:44The altimeter is spinning, spinning, spinning.
19:49And then we break into the clear about 600 feet.
19:58And there's Bismarck on her starboard bow.
20:06She was a fire-spitting monster.
20:23All around us there is thundering noise.
20:31The whole aircraft shook.
20:35As if a number of express trains were roaring by us.
20:48She was just ablaze with everything firing at us.
20:55And she was illuminated.
20:58Awesome.
21:00But this ship was just magnificent.
21:06It looked exactly like a battleship should look like.
21:11I mean, scary and everything, but oh, it's just a beautiful ship.
21:18The flak was bursting well above us.
21:21Despite their enormous firepower,
21:24the Germans are finding the British planes difficult to hit.
21:27The swordfish presented them with a very difficult target
21:32because it flew slowly and then would act like a leaf,
21:36going from side to side, floating up and down.
21:38They found that very difficult to shoot down.
21:44The swordfish is one magnificent airplane.
21:48Now they must hit the steering and disable Bismarck at any cost.
21:54You're not thinking you're going to be killed.
21:57You're going to hit the bastard and that's it.
22:01We got as low on the deck as we could, which was low.
22:06And went straight in.
22:10At about 1200 yards, we dropped the torpedo.
22:20Did a violent turn.
22:25I see a large black and white explosion.
22:37It's high and wide.
22:42Obviously, it's a torpedo hit.
22:45There is no other aircraft anywhere near us
22:48and there's no doubt that it was the torpedo that we had just brought.
22:53The returning swordfish crew excitedly claim a strike against Bismarck.
22:58But doubts remain.
23:03Command, but very reluctant to believe that we had scored a hit.
23:11They wanted more confirmation than just these young, enthusiastic aviators claiming they had the glory.
23:20They wanted to do it.
23:21Then a report comes in from Sheffield.
23:24Bismarck is steering erratically and has changed course from southwest to northeast
23:30on a collision course with the British fleet.
23:33When Bismarck suddenly turned and instead of heading away from the oncoming British battle fleet,
23:40she sailed towards it or appeared to be sailing towards the enemy and this seemed a bit of a crazy
23:46thing to do.
23:52Bismarck's change in direction could not be deliberate.
23:56In fact, she seems to be steering in a series of crazy S-turns heading away from France and straight
24:03towards the British fleet.
24:05There can only be one conclusion.
24:08That meant Bismarck had very little control over her destiny, even though her propulsion was working.
24:16She couldn't steer.
24:28It's clear to Admiral Tovey that the Swordfish's mission was successful, wrecking the Bismarck steering as intended.
24:37But news of the damage to Bismarck had yet to reach other units.
24:42And aboard Rodney, Captain Dalrymple Hamilton makes a broadcast from the bridge.
24:49Attention all hands.
24:52Ark Royal's attack has failed.
25:00But then he receives new orders from the flagship.
25:05Sir.
25:06King George V signals that Admiral Tovey is ordering a course to intercept the enemy.
25:10Ring on. Full speed ahead.
25:12Revolutions for 23 knots.
25:15Course 135.
25:16Sir.
25:19Course to intercept 135.
25:22Very good.
25:23Course 135.
25:31As Rodney steams towards its destiny with Bismarck, the crew take up battle stations.
25:37We never went to bed.
25:39We stayed at our action stations, sat round a gun all night and you couldn't sleep.
25:44What you call sleep really is too drinking cold anyway in the turret.
25:53Meanwhile, Bismarck's crew worked frantically to repair the damage to the stricken vessel's rudder.
26:00In the hours after the fateful hit on the steering, they did try and unjam the rudder.
26:06They tried to put divers down into the compartment to free the rudders.
26:10They even talked about putting people over the side.
26:13But the weather was so bad that they were being flooded in the engine compartment.
26:1920-year-old Len Nicol sees the Bismarck floundering.
26:24She was wallowing around in circles.
26:27She was a setting duck as far as we were concerned.
26:30After that torpedo strike, her fate was sealed.
26:35Bismarck is now unable to escape a battle.
26:38An injured animal with a pack of wolves gathering to tear her to shreds.
27:01Bismarck has been seriously damaged.
27:03Its rudders smashed by a swordfish torpedo bomber.
27:16Steering out of control, its heading straight for the British fleet.
27:22Admiral Lutgin sends a signal to German naval headquarters in France.
27:28The ship is not maneuverable.
27:31We fight until the last grenade.
27:34We fight until the last grenade.
27:35The life of the fire.
27:39But although wounded, his ship is still a fearsome battleship.
27:44And the British must advance with extreme caution.
27:49Admiral Tovey's plan is to stage a daylight attack using the weather as cover.
27:54His vessels will be obscured by gloom in the west as King George V and Rodney go into the attack,
28:01with the climbing sun in the east silhouetting Bismarck.
28:09The order is given to fire at will.
28:20She was firing the 15 inches.
28:22She didn't hit us, but very close.
28:27We made two or three attempts to fire torpedoes going head on into the sea and then turning and firing
28:35head on.
28:37We would be straddled with 15 inch shells and then it was up smoking out as fast as we could
28:43go.
28:43And the Arsene was going all over the place.
28:51From U-Boat U-556, Captain Herbert Wolfhardt watches the onslaught.
29:05The commander of U-556 must have been very frustrated, but there was nothing he could do.
29:10He had no weapons.
29:11He couldn't participate in this battle at all.
29:15But U-556 will not be alone.
29:18Captain Wolfhardt is informed that other U-Boats are on the way.
29:23British intelligence is also aware that German submarines could be in the area.
29:29The Admiralty sent out a signal which the warship captains at sea could tune into,
29:34which said there were four U-boats known to be in the vicinity.
29:39The British warships have very little time to attack and destroy the Bismarck
29:43before they are attacked by Nazi U-boats.
29:54Aboard Bismarck, Admiral Lutyens believes all hope is lost
29:58and signals to have his war diary collected by a U-boat.
30:03One of the things that Lutyens was really keen to do was that his war diary should survive.
30:08To show the high command that he's done exactly the right thing in every case.
30:14His message is transmitted to German high command.
30:21As the home fleet prepares for the coming battle, Len Nicol considers his chances of survival.
30:29If the Rodney was, say, heading straight towards the ship, through the enemy,
30:36and they fired and hit the Rodney up for it,
30:41it could have caused the same damage as it did to the hood.
30:52From HMS Rodney, the obscure shape of Bismarck on the horizon looms into view.
30:58To me, it was quite a day you'll never forget. You'll never forget the date, you know, the 27th, never.
31:06The British fleet take up attack positions.
31:10King George V and HMS Rodney move in from the west,
31:14with Dorsetshire coming from the east,
31:17and heavy cruiser Norfolk joining the battle from the northeast.
31:25Bismarck is confronted with the chilling sight of King George V and HMS Rodney.
31:41We've fired the first shot about 8.30.
31:45A single shell is hurled at the Bismarck to test accuracy, the range around 13 miles.
31:55It splashes wide at the target.
31:58Then, with calculations adjusted, Rodney's big guns send their shells towards Bismarck.
32:1160 seconds later, the King George V fires a salvo with her 14-inch guns.
32:20The British shells miss their mark, creating gigantic splashes around the Bismarck, but causing no harm.
32:27Captain Lindeman concentrates on knocking out the most dangerous of his opponents, HMS Rodney.
32:41I must admit I was scared to death.
32:46I was just waiting, sort of expecting the whole time.
32:53Rodney's gunner, Len Nicol, watches from his turret.
32:57Take nothing away from the Germans.
33:00Their gunnery was out of this world, really.
33:07You could see the shells coming towards you, and you could see our shells going away from us.
33:15You could be blown away any minute.
33:22As Bismarck's shells plunge in, smoke obscures the fate of HMS Rodney.
33:28Due to very clever manoeuvring, our captain, Dalrymple Hamilton, avoided shells.
33:38The Bismarck fails to score a hit on the Rodney, a testament to the skill of Captain Dalrymple Hamilton.
33:44You'd get a sailor landing all around you, and he would just shift his ship, almost as if he knew
33:53where the next shot was coming.
33:56He was very astute.
34:10By now, the home fleet is engaging in a fearsome battle with the Bismarck.
34:25It was a long battle, and very frightening.
34:32I was 20, I think, at the time.
34:35And I must admit I was scared to death.
34:41The fleet is firing on Bismarck with high-explosive shells.
34:46With high-explosive, a shell will go in and then explode inside the ship.
34:50But they aren't very effective, because the German battleship is so well protected with armour.
34:57The order is given to switch to armour-piercing shells.
35:03Armour-piercing shells will literally do what it says on the tin, they'll go through.
35:07And with a ship like Bismarck, some parts were so vulnerable that the armour-piercing shells went straight through, like
35:14a knife cutting through butter.
35:16They would just go in and cause carnage.
35:17The torrent of shells from British guns inflicts serious damage on Bismarck.
35:24We noted that our shells, which were one tonne in weight and the biggest in the world at sea,
35:33were making quite a number of hits on Bismarck.
35:38The Rodney is the closest to Bismarck.
35:42I would say she was about 2,000 yards away from us. No more.
35:48Some of the lads on the AA guns could have hit her with potatoes if she was that close.
35:57When the shells from Ex-Mas Rodney came in, they destroyed most of the command team
36:02and also the communications and what's called command and control.
36:06And another officer in the ship described this as having Bismarck's brains blown out.
36:13But Lutyens is determined to stay fighting, carrying out his orders from Admiral Raeder at German High Command.
36:19Raeder had said quite explicitly, if you're cornered, you fight to the death.
36:51A BEINGaldraith
36:54fish to fly Terry Goddard is circling Bismarck by the time we arrived she was
37:03being mercilessly pounded Bismarck was obviously out of control
37:17after her long dash from the south the heavy cruiser Dorsetshire storms into
37:22the fight swinging broadside she fires all her eight-inch guns the bridge and the
37:33gunnery command positions in the forward section of the Bismarck are being shredded
37:49I actually saw the back of the e-turret explode and flipped up in the air like a penny
38:00shelling is relentless
38:13they were creating dreadful havoc
38:22the Bismarck was getting hit regularly there was smoke there was fire there was everything oh god
38:37quite a lot of the shells actually tore into Bismarck from short range from King George the fifth and
38:42Rodney there's no question about that I saw the ship itself burning from stem to stern
38:55we did a tremendous amount of damage
39:05it's highly likely that Lindemann and Lutyens were killed within 20 minutes or so or the battle
39:11started so when the brains were blown out that included the command team all Bismarck's big guns
39:19are now silent once you get a lot of percussive shells hitting a ship particularly armor-piercing ones
39:26it distorts the ship you can't get through hatches people are disorientated
39:31the battle is turning into a massacre
39:35hundreds of German sailors were jumping off the burning inferno that was the Bismarck desperate to
39:41escape but with little chance of survival
39:46some people aboard Rodney and I think including the captain but rather sickened by the whole process and
39:53wanted it to end
39:58it was ugly it was dirty in my opinion you might almost classify it as murder it was slaughter it
40:09was
40:09dreadful to see
40:15Paddy came on the bridge and it said to the captain to stop desist just firing shells at a ship
40:24that can't reply
40:27Captain Hamilton said you can mind your own business and get off by the bridge
40:37Captain Dalrymple Hamilton has no choice but to continue firing as he has strict orders to sink Bismarck
40:43but also Bismarck is flying its battle flag a sign that it's not surrendering it's still ready to fight
40:52I recollect I recollect it seems to be in my mind the battle flag flying above this smoke
41:00they have this swastika on the main mast and this great big one on the foremast
41:11this is war you can't aim to wound you've got to aim to kill
41:22the Bismarck had to be sunk it wasn't just to be left crippled should have been repaired and got out
41:32again
41:33Time was also running out for the British fleet they know German u-boats and warships are heading towards them
41:41King George the fifth and Rodney and all the other ships want to finish the job because they're running out
41:45of fuel
41:46They do not want to be out there in the Atlantic at the mercy of u-boats
41:51This is a mighty battleship that so far has resisted being sunk you want to get rid of it
41:56There's no question about that. So the signal went out then for anybody with torpedoes to go in and end
42:02the Bismarck's agony
42:12HMS Dorsetshire delivers the final blows
42:26I wouldn't have liked to have been on that ship
42:34The dying moments of the Bismarck are witnessed by Terry Goddard
42:39The bridge was gone the island was gone there was just a big black hole billowing black smoke
42:49She started to go down by the stern
42:53Up came the bow as if to say a few horrors
42:59Mr. Great big mass of bubbles she went down
43:07Over 2,000 German sailors lose their lives
43:13The water was full of hundreds of bobbing sailors
43:18The attack turns into a rescue mission
43:24There are pictures of German sailors being hauled on board alongside Dorsetshire other destroyers are looking for survivors
43:34But the rescue mission is abruptly brought to an end
43:38There is a perpetual fear of U-boats and then someone thinks they see a submarine periscope
43:46The British are wary they don't want to get sunk
43:50The captain of the cruiser that was picking these trucks up
43:57Realized that you know he had to move away
44:01Otherwise, he'd be sunk as well
44:05Admiral Tovey orders the home fleet to withdraw immediately
44:11Leaving these people in the water really sad
44:15Because once your enemy has been defeated the law of the sea the custom of the sea requires you to
44:21stop and aid your enemies
44:25It was heart-rending really to sort of leave all these sailors in the icy sea who were obviously going
44:36to die
44:38Just drown
44:50The sinking of the bismarck has far-reaching consequences for germany
44:59The effect of the sinking of the bismarck was to stop atlantic raiders
45:04Coming in like the admiral sheer like turpets or the sharnhorst and naisenow ever doing that again
45:12With the sinking of the bismarck america realizes that the british cause is worth helping with crucial war supplies
45:19Ticking of the bismarck was a pivotal moment because it showed not only the world
45:24That britain wasn't a lost cause
45:26But ending bismarck encouraged president roosevelt to carry on supporting the uk
45:34On the evening of the 27th of may 1941
45:38President roosevelt makes an address to the american nation in which he declares an unlimited national emergency
45:47roosevelt tells his nation that the usa will help the british with american naval escorts for the convoys
45:54i say that the delivery of needed supplies to britain is imperative
46:02i say this can be done
46:05it must be done and it will be done
46:10we will not accept a hitler dominated world
46:16and we will not accept a world
46:20like the post-war world of the 1920s
46:24in which the seeds of hitlerism can again be planted and allowed to grow
46:43so
46:49you
46:50you
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