Bismarck vs HMS Hood - Part 9

 
Day 7,1941

  Aboard the King George, Admiral Tovey was anticipating the next move of the Bismarck. He guessed correctly that the damaged ship would sail east to the nearest French port for repairs though still heading south and being trailed by two British
cruisers. With one maneuver the Bismarck managed to solve both problems. Both British ships were traveling in a zig-zag pattern to avoid German U-boats and when they were at their farthest point away Admiral Lutjens ordered a hard turn to
starboard, circled around, crossed her own wake and headed east. The move worked perfectly as the British ships sailed right past the Bismarck as they continued south. After thirty hours of trailing the Bismarck, the Suffolk radioed that they had
lost contact with the enemy. The cat had let the mouse get away.

  But for some unknown reason Lutjens thought they were still being followed and broke radio silence by sending several unimportant messages to Berlin. Aboard the Bismarck, Mulenheim-Rechberg could not believe what the Admiral had done, "It was totally unimportant for the present operation when radio silence should have been the order of the day and this led to the re-establishment of contact with the British!". The Admiral had shouted his new position across the Atlantic and with radio-direction finders, the British now had a rough idea of where the Bismarck was. But then Admiral Tovey made his own blunder when he mis-calculated his position and steered north towards Norway. By the time he realized his mistake and turned south again,the King George was one hundred and fifty miles behind the Bismarck.

  Aboard the German warship Admiral Lutjens was warning the crew of impending danger and for them it was victory or death. This announcement devastated the morale of the crew. Josef Statz recalls, "The message came over the loud speakers and we tried not to show any emotion on the outside. Inside of course was a completely different story. We were really down as this message told us we were not going home".
    By Monday morning the Bismarck had eluded the British for twenty-four hours. To help with the search, RAF Coastal  Command dispatched a Catalina BPY reconnaissance plane into the Atlantic. Catalinas could fly for twenty eight hours
without refueling but the chances of finding the Bismarck were slim. An American pilot, Tuck Smith, was part of the lend lease program with Britain and took turns flying the Catalina with a British pilot. "People who had been flying recon for any length of time knows your chances of finding what you are looking for are pretty small, particularly when you are looking in an ocean for one small ship". After six hours of flying Smith took control of the Catalina, "About fifteen minutes later, low and behold on the horizon was a strange ship called the Bismarck". They radioed headquarters while they flew in for a closer look. Breaking out of the clouds at two-thousand feet they were almost directly on top of the Bismarck when she opened fired with her anti-aircraft guns. She had been discovered once again as the Catalina escaped back into the clouds. For the next four hours the Catalina would continue to trial her until relieved by another Catalina.

  Day 8, May 26,1941 2pm

  By now the Bismarck was hours ahead of any British ship and seemed destined to make it to safety. Admiral Tovey realized that time was running out and the British needed a miracle. Ludovic Kennedy, HMS Tartar, "As we were chasing the Bismarck towards Brest at 150 miles or so, we knew we would never catch up with her. So there was nothing we could do but press on, hopeing for a miracle to happen and a miracle did happen".  On Monday afternoon Tovey launched an air strike from the Ark Royal but their torpedoes were mistakingly dropped on the HMS Schfield and fortunately all missed their target. Another air strike was ordered for 7 pm that evening and this time there was no case of mistaken idenity. The Bismarck was under attack again. One "fish" struck the Bismarcks rudder and jammed it to one side causing her to
lose her steering. Reports came in that the enemy ship had changed course and was steering away from France.  The miracle had occurred. Ludovic Kennedy, "We didn't know what had happened. All we knew was she was steering in our direction and there was a feeling of tremendous exaltation that we were going to meet her at last. She had been delivered into our hands". Karl-August Schuldt from the Bismarck, "The finding was made that there was no way to repair the damage. With this the death sentence had been read for the Bismarck". Officer Rechberg remembers, "All attempts
over the next few hours to repair the damage was not possible. Finally after midnight the news came through that we would have to remain on this spot and wait for what is coming to us". The final chapter in the brief life of the Bismarck was about
to be written, "The night was a very long wait and I thought only action could release the tension. Lets get to action as  soon as possible, its unbearable. The last battle must begin, the sooner, the better. With this waiting period we can do
nothing. I shall never forget this".