Sinking of the Battleship Bismarck - Animated

Operation Rheinübung, 18–27 May 1941 - The new and dangerous battleship Bismarck sets sail into the Atlantic to attack convoy shipping. The Royal Navy must find and sink her, or she will do untold damage to the British effort.

All uncredited images are public domain

 NOTE - there are a number of theories as to the cause of the swift sinking of HMS Hood, of which a deck armour penetration is one. Please see the following references in regard to other theories:
Jurens, William; Garzke, William H.; Dulin, Robert O., Jr.; Roberts, John; Fiske, Richard (2002). "A Marine Forensic Analysis of HMS Hood and DKM Bismarck"
Preston, Antony (1979). "Sea Power: A Modern Illustrated Military History"

Also - yep, Bismarck is a HE

[TheOperationsRoom]

Hello Ladies and Gents. Your positive comments really are appreciated. I create these videos in my spare time around a full time day job. Each one takes around 60-70 man hours of effort to produce, even longer on complex videos like Schweinfurt-Regensburg and the Battle of Midway.

My goal is to reach 100k subscribers by the end of 2020. If you enjoy The Operations Room, it would be awesome if you could please subscribe!

[Digmen]

My uncle went down with the Hood. He was a stoker. My mum never forget him. He was so proud to be on the Hood.

[internetstrangerstrangerofweb]

No wonder why the British prioritized taking down the Bismarck. It’s 500 miles long!

[wamyxNz]

I heard a story that Bismarck survivors were treated well and some even offered rum. That's the difference between infantry fighting and sea fighting. In a land war you are face to face with your enemy and it is kill or be killed. In a sea battle all sailors share a common enemy: the sea itself.

[hywel]

My Grandad was an officer on HMS Dorsetshire, he was incredibly proud of their involvement. I can’t imagine the bravery and heroism from both sides displayed in this exchange. They were an incredible generation, still fills me with pride almost 80 years later

[tfranken]

LESSON ONE never consider your ship unsinkable. They seem to sink

[ndkombat]

1 thing that amaze me is not how Bismarck hold on its own but the amount of warship that the Royal Navy were able to field & call upon.

[kmsbismarck]

How to sink a ship:
Name it "unsinkable" and wait

[susandemetry]

I can't help but feel deep remorse for the sailors on those ships who lost their lives, regardless of which side they were on.

[Kevin-mxvi]

Many years ago I worked with a man who served on H.M.S. Rodney at the time. From his station on deck he could see Rodney's shells in flight and witnessed the disabling hit on Bismarck's B turret. He told me that the shell struck between the guns, penetrated, and blew the turret's back out.

[andycrockett]

Thank you. My uncle that I never met was on the Dorsetshire, and went down with her in 1942 - I have his medals. Thank you for telling this story so evocatively, and so clearly. RIP all brave seamen lost, on both sides.

[suffern]

Bloody hell, 14 seconds in and I can already see how difficult it was to sink it, look at the size of it on the map!

[tastyfoodspicyworld]

Ngl i have a lot of respect for the Bismark crew, "we shall fight to the last shell" wow, that is determination

[sgtrpcommand]

A sad irony is that the message intercepted by the British was regarding a Luftwaffe Officer asking if his son serving on Bismarck was still ok after the first battle.

[Trek]

Good of you to mention the Polish ship - that was a right tough girl and closed in to point blank range and even signalled "I am a Pole" before firing three salvos at her Bridge

[oldgitsknowstuff]

In 2012 I asked my dear old Mum (a Blitz & Battle of Britain Veteran, and Honorable War widow) about the sinking of HMS Hood and what effect it had on the people of Britain. (I recall the sinking of HMS Sheffield during the Falklands conflict and how it upset me) .
Her reply was that the destruction of HMS Hood was, in her words, 'like a dagger through the heart of the nation'.
So.. Jerry hurt us badly and I realise why Winston Churchill gave the order to 'Sink the Bismarck'.
There are no cries of 'Hurrah', This was a job that had to be carried out without pity or mercy, and for the morale of the British public.
No judgement, no condemnation, war is hell and I hope we have learned from this encounter.
Respects to all of the fallen sailors on either side, Bloody Politicians, we do their dirty work and die in the process.
Respects to them all.

[crayzmarc]

My grandfather was stationed in Iceland on a merchant recovery Tug. They had orders to go and pick up survivors from the sinking of the Hood, but out of the 1418 only 3 survived.  A year or less before he died he mentioned seeing dead bodies and limbs floating in the water, he'd never spoken about this before and it was as if he was purging himself of these negative memories before he left us.  It clearly traumatised him and he held it in for almost 80 years.

[stevehall]

Those Swordfish pilots were beyond brave. The biplane was very slow, and needed to hold a straight line for long enough, and be in close enough to effectively drop the torpedo. They had a high attrition rate, and were totally outclassed if attacked by German aircraft. Great depiction of the battles TOR.

[DyslexicSolMusic]

"2, 000 men & 50, 000 tons of steel,
Set the course of the Atlantic with the allies on their heel".

[Cancun]

0:52 Love how the German ships plowed straight through the island of Anholt.