Bismarck sunk by Royal Navy 1941
On February 14, 1939, the 823-foot Bismarck was launched at
Hamburg. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler hoped that the state-of-the-art
battleship would herald the rebirth of the German surface battle fleet.
However, after the outbreak of war, Britain closely guarded ocean routes
from Germany to the Atlantic Ocean, and only U-boats moved freely
through the war zone.
In May 1941, the order was given for the Bismarck to break out
into the Atlantic. Once in the safety of the open ocean, the battleship
would be almost impossible to track down, all the while wreaking havoc
on Allied convoys to Britain. Learning of its movement, Britain sent
almost the entire British Home Fleet in pursuit. On May 24, the British
battle cruiser Hood and battleship Prince of Wales intercepted it near Iceland. In a ferocious battle, the Hood exploded and sank, and all but three of the 1,421 crewmen were killed. The Bismarck
escaped, but because it was leaking fuel it fled for occupied France.
On May 26, it was sighted and crippled by British aircraft, and on May
27 three British warships descended on the Bismarck and finished it off.
(More Events on This Day in History)
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Cold War
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Crime
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Disaster
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General Interest
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Hollywood
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Literary
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Music
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Old West
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Presidential
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Sports
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Vietnam War
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World War I
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World War II
- 1940 British evacuation of Dunkirk turns savage as Germans commit atrocity
- 1943 U.S. Olympian Louie Zamperini’s plane goes down in the Pacific
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