"With her steering jammed and her speed slashed by torpedo attacks, the Bismarck and her crew of 2,200 were a sitting duck for the Royal Navy. And in two hours the German battleship was a helpless wreck of twisted metal, raging fires and dead and dying crew. But the ship’s agony was not over. After the bombardment by British battleships, she was finished off by torpedoes, slipping under the Atlantic with all but 200 of those aboard. For the Royal Navy it was a triumph – revenge for the Bismarck’s destruction of the pride of the fleet, HMS Hood, days earlier. But the son of one of the British sailors who saw Bismarck’s end 70 years ago today has come forward to claim that the battle might have ended very differently – because the German crew tried to surrender at the height of the bombardment. Tommy Byers, a sailor on the British battleship Rodney, maintained until he died that the ship hoisted a black flag – the naval sign calling for parley. He and a second seaman also saw a Morse code flash, which they interpreted as surrender, along with a man waving semaphore flags conveying the same message." Should we have sunk the Bismarck? Tormented sailor reveals how German sailors tried to surrender before ship was destroyed costing 2,000 lives | Mail Online
Interesting, but I don't buy it. After all these years, and with thousands of sailors and airmen watching her go down, only two have come forward to say that the Bismarck hoisted a black flag, appropriate signal flags AND sent out morse code messages? I am being led to believe - sadly- that the veteran's son is just using his dad's wartime record to get his "15 minute of fame".
Yeah, i just finished reading "I sank the Bismark"...and the Swordfish pilot (whos torpedo flooded the steering control room - not damaging the rudder) said the ship was engulfed in black smoke and one could barely see the ship...Some of her guns were also active so i wouldn't have gone anywhere near her personally...
this all could have been avoided if Captain Ernst Lindemann abandoned the mission and sent the Bismark in for propper repars after its encounter with the HMS Hood instead of continuing the mission to intercept Brittish covoys, and also another point what would have happend if the Bismark had its sister ship the Tirpitz with her at the Battle of The Denmark Strait and later when the Bismark was sunk by the Royal Navy?
In Lindemann's defense we must remember that he argued for just this course of action, but he was overruled by Admiral Günther Lütjens, who was in command of both Bismarck and Prinz Eugen.
Good question... An extensive survey was done of the battle and it was determined that only two swordfish could have fired the torpedo...The guy who its credited to, doesn't take much pride in the fact...He siad not a day has gone by that he doesn't think of the sailors he saw in the water...
I read the book "Bismarck" by Michael Tamelander, and it re-iterates what you read. In fact, nearly every account I have read says the same basic thing - the Bismarck was engulfed in smoke, the decks were covered with debris, and she was being shelled to oblivion. Movement above decks was difficult, and men were being cut down in every direction. The specific problems I see with each of the "surrender signs" is as follows: Signal Flags: Near-zero visibility would make a flag very difficult to see, and nearly impossible to see from "2 miles away" (as the author claims Rodney was). Add to this the fact that the decks were a disaster (and it was being heavily shelled at the time), I find it very hard to believe that a crew member would have been able toclimb to the top of a gun turret - completely exposed - to display the appropriate flags amidst heavy gunfire. Signal Light: This is the only feasible signal in my opinion, mainly because it says that the message wasn't completed because the light was knocked out by shellfire. Still, given that the ship was engulfed in smoke, it would still be a push to see this from another ship. "Black Flag": This could be mistaken identity - the naval ensign could have been blackened by the smoke - appearing black. Still, I haven't heard of anyone else making this claim. Alternatively, If the ship was covered with black smoke, would it not be extremely difficult to see a black flag flying above it - not to mention the added difficulty of the rough sea conditions?
I think it did go for repairs and sent its escort (I think Prinz Eugene) onto the atlantic to carry on the mission of causing havok among the convoys...I doubt the Tirpitz and the Bismark would have been strung together, bit of unecessary overkill...she had a bunch of pocket battleships and large cruisers with her...
Hello; Another thing about the Bismark surrendering is that she would have been the only one ever to do so . The Graf Spee 's captain scuttled his ship to save his crew and to prevent his ship from potentially falling into enemy hands. The battlecruiser Scharnhorst sunk after a brave battle with superior British forces and as far as I know never attempted to surrender. The World War 1 German Grand Fleet after surrendering to the Royal Navy scuttled all their ships instead of handing them over to the British, I could not see how any German Officer would turn over the pride of their navy even battered and on fire to the British.
It's also not clear he could have made it back to Norway. I believe that Rodney, KGV, and a British carrier were in position to cut potentially cut him off if he tried.
They could have been planning on surrendering and initiating the scuttling charges. From what I've read Bismarck continued to fire as long as she was able. One would think that ordering a ceasefire along with the signals would be in order if one truly wanted to surrender.
