@@infinitecanadian yes and? they were sailors - just like any other nation. They were naval personnel. Loss of life should be sympathised. I don't know what you make of my comment but to die on a ship must be terrifying! for all sides of the war.
@@marblox9300 There was some real footage but most where models very good models . I would love to see these models just like the models used in movie Tora Tora Tora .
"shoot" comes from the days before guns, it was the order given to archers.... The order to fire the early guns was "give fire". Open fire or shoot, depends who was saying it.
While this is a great film, have to say they did the German Kriegsmarine, Admiral Lutjens, and Captain Lindemann dirty. Lutjens was a fatalist and even before he left home to board the Bismarck, he confided in friends and family that he suspected he would not return from Exercise Rhine. He knew before the final battle that Bismarck was too far away from shore for the Luftwaffe to reach them, he had been carefully checking and double-checking Bismarck's progress towards France, and when Bismarck was crippled in her rudders and stuck turning in circles, he knew they were still a couple hours from the maximum reach of Luftwaffe bombers. Also, Lutjens, Lindemann, and the bridge crew were killed early in the battle by a salvo from Rodney which knocked out Bismarck's Captain's Bridge, Forward Range Spotter, and Turrets Anton and Bruno.
It was unfortunately a product of it's time to demonize the enemy. That's why Lütjens was portrayed as a diehard Nazi, but he along with most of the Kriegsmarine saw themselves as servants of the nation, rather than the controlling party. They used the traditional naval salute instead of the Nazi salute whenever possible. Großadmiral Raeder even refused to dismiss some Jewish officers. Sadly, Bismarck was doomed before he even dropped anchor in Norway.
The Brit's let them have it or what. Just like they did to the French at Mers El Kebir, in 1940. They were ruthless, showed no mercy. They ganged up on the Bismarck, and just kept coming.
To be fair, the first order by the captain as the Bismarck was torn apart was “Have Dorsetshire stand by to pick up the survivors.” They weren’t THAT inhumane.
A historical inaccuracy. During this scene the Rodney is seen astern of KGV. The actual battle had KGV raining shells from approx 16000 - 20000 yards. Rodney was pummeling Busmarck at 4000 yards. Effectively point blank.
Ironically that made her hits inefficient as they were so close in such rough seas that the shells moving horizontal accross the sea meant they often bounced loosing hitting power and though she scored many hits they were nearly all high up in the superstructure which was already anahalated and not causeing flooding
KGV opened up the range to get plunging hits on the deck with armor-piercing shells. Rodney closed in and fired "common" high-explosive shells at the superstructure and control positions.
I wonder how this battle would have went if the Bismarck did not usher out its 2 cruiser escort in belief that the Luftwaffe would arrive to escort them the remainder of the way into port
I do not think 2 cruisers would have made much difference. Maybe fought their way back to port to sit out the rest of the war waiting for air strikes? Or try and 'break out' again; to only fail again?? There was no real hope for this ship.
Only one Cruiser, the Prince Eugene. Prince Eugene’s sister-ship Hipper would have sailed with them if (IF!): 1) Bismarck’s sister-ship Tirpitz was ready for deployment and 2) Hipper’s engines were fixed. But Tirpitz was just beginning her work ups (I’m not sure that Tirpitz was even finished fitting out) and Hipper’s engines were still being overhauled.
"What are you saying Captain, This is the BISMARK" The Bismark up against the KGV and the Rodney lol ok, good luck Bismark. Even with her rudder working fine she wouldn't have stood a chance against those two.
*My question how did Prince Of Wales and Rodney have a capable of sinkin' the BISMARCK, but BISMARCK is the most powerful and undefeated battleship at that time on WW2?*
You can go to Drachinifel's RU-vid channel and look up his info on Bismarck. In short, it was a design that could have been better. It was well armored against at least 15in shells at closer ranges (because the North Atlantic has rough seas and crummy weather) but somewhat vulnerable to 14in shells from long range. Hence, after Hood blew up in the earlier battle from a 1 in a 1000 shot it was down to Prince of Wales and their 14in guns. At the range they were fighting the 14in shells managed to punch though enough armor on Bismarck to crack a fuel tank, leaving their fuel contaminated with sea water and stopping Bismark's commerce raiding mission. Prince of Wales withdrew, partly because some of its guns malfunctioned (the King George Vs 14in guns were not terribly reliable). In this final battle Bismarck shot first, but the first hits were scored by the Rodney and King George V. While King George V had only 14in guns the range was long enough where they could do some good while Rodney had 9 x 16in guns which, I believe, could punch through Bismark's armor. Another curios flaw in Bismarck is that their fire control apparatus was outside the armor, which meant that hits the armor repelled still seriously degraded Bismarck's targeting, hence the ship becoming a big floating target. When the British battleships got closer they stopped doing as much damage since Bismarck was design for a shorter range duel, but by then Bismarck was finished. I heard that after Bismarck sunk about 1/2 of King George V's guns were non-functional from jams and other problems and NOT from Bismarck.
Bismarck wasn’t the most powerful battleship at that point, The Rodneys had superior guns, and the North Carolinas were coming online. Besides Bismarck already lost maneuverability earlier. She’s was undefeated but since she only had one battle it’s not that impressive.
At the time the Royal Navy was the only navy that could have stopped the mighty Bismarck and the RN did it. I'm no Royalist but can't help feeling proud of the RN. The best navy on the world and for all time. Hearts of Oak.
Anyone else wonder if Prince Eugene stayed with Bismark if the outcome would have been different? I know she was a cruiser but I think Bismark would have done better even though she was crippled.
Yeah.Tragic. They would have got Warspite as well if the British admiral had not been so careful. Horribly efficient those Nips....but the women are gorgeous.❤
Makes u proud to be British sinking of the biggest warship in the German fleet and should no Mersey in blowing it to bits and sending it to the bottom of the ocean
Helllo all ye naval warfare afficionados. Suppose just suppose what would have happened if Hitler had put together a fleet consisting of Bismarck, Turpitz, Scharnhorst, Gneisnau, Deutschland, Graf Spee, Prinz Eugen plus destroyer and U-boat screen? How would the RN have hndled it. Another Jutland? Trafalgar? Impossible to say. But my money is still on the RN. Rule Brittania!
Drachinifel's RU-vid channel had a supposition if Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, Gneisinau, and Prinz Eugen would have all tried breaking out at once. The only British ships fast enough to catch them would have been King George V, Prince of Wales, Hood, Repulse, and Renown, as well as a gang of heavy cruisers. The supposition is that the British would have won. Adding the "armored ships" (Deutschland, Graf Spee, Scheer) may have made it more difficult for the British but the "armored ships" were really just over gunned heavy cruisers and would have been hunted down and killed by Hood, Repulse, and Renown. Bismark and Tirpitz were the only ones armed heavily enough to possibly punch through British armor (15in guns) while everyone but Prinz Eugen had 11in guns which might be dangerous for Renown and Repulse, and Prinz Eugen, with 8in guns, would have been easy prey for the British battleships/battle cruisers, and swamped by a large number of equally good British heavy cruisers. It would have been the biggest battleship battle of the Second World War, and MUCH smaller than Jutland (which I believe had over 60 battleships total).
@@richardthomas5362 meh....perhaps a possible strategy on paper; but I strongly doubt the German Navy could support such an operation at any time during WW2. I mean I do not think that in 1940 nor any time thereafter the Kriegsmarine would they have been able to literally support such a task force at sea with fuel and supplies.
@@GrumblingGrognard They might have been able to support them for the one mission, after which there would have been no more need to supply them since they would all get sunk by the Royal Navy. After the loss of Bismarck Hitler was bright enough to realize that surface raiders were no longer relevant or cost effective. He figured, correctly, that having Tirpitz and Scharnhorst stationed in Norwegian fjords would tie up more British ships because of the "threat of force". He was furious when Scharnhorst went on an actual mission to sink a convoy was got sunk by Duke of York. The British now had only one battleship to worry about (Tirpitz) which freed up some British naval assets to do other things.
@@richardthomas5362 I would be very hesitant to say Herr Hitler was "right" in this at all. Sure "raiders" were not going to work in 1942+; BUT, ANY single-one of those ships ready to sail on June 6, 1944 would have had Eisenhower shittingbricks. ...or better yet try to remember it was his idea to build up the surface navy in the first place (way back in the 30s, for propaganda, jobs, and MANY things other than military usage in a global war against the UK). How many subs could have been built in lieu of that surface fleet if they had been doing so since 193x???
*The BISMARCK can still stood and win the battle, even with her rudder's workin' or not workin'. 'Cause the reason that they'd loosed in the battle is the CAPTAIN thinks that he loosed hope to win, the thing that i mean is the BISMARCK'S speed was 10 Knots, not enough speed to dodge the shells, if they're speed was faster than it, they've could won the battle, R.I.P. BISMARCK.* *Correct my comment if i'm wrong* 👎
Bismarck would have had trouble with just fighting HMS Rodney, even if it hadn't suffered any damage. Rodney was more heavily armed, with both her main, and secondary armament, and she was more heavily armoured than Bismarck.
@@weonedirection8205 Oh, so now you say that Bismarck "can easily take out Rodney WITH Tirpitz." yes, they probably could, but Tirpitz spent it's life hiding in fjords. Rodney was 15 years old at the time of this battle, Bismarck was a new ship on its first operational mission, that lasted EIGHT days, and Rodney tore it to shreds.
@@daneelolivaw602 *Correct! Do ya' know the battleship FS SUPER ALSACE, it's my favorite ship, it can beat the biggest ship ever the YAMATO. I'll tell you later cuz I'm busy, cya bro.*
