HMS Victorious Attacks Bismarck #history #navalhistory #battleship #bismarck

Many are familiar with the Swordfish attack from HMS Ark Royal, which dealt the crippling blow to Bismarck's rudder - but few know about the first Swordfish strike by HMS Victorious.

[concise]

The one thing that a Swordfish didn't do was 'appear swiftly'! ("Climbed, cruised and crashed at 90 kts!" - Winkle Brown)

[gruntopolouski]

Flying without radios, GPS, etc.

At night.

Over the ocean.

From a “carrier”.

Shudder.

EDIT: I’m told below that the swordfish did have a radio in the rear seat. That still wouldn’t convince me that it was remotely easy to land in any kind of bad weather. Like darkness.

[SNATCHYDBS]

I will never forget what that English sailor said about the Battle " and I quote We were angry and wanted nothing but to avenge the HOOD " .... Bismarck "
... She fought like a wounded Lion,

But we were to many and her damaged steering gear made it impossible for her to Escape

But when i saw german sailors running along her superstructure jumping into the frigid seas and the burning fuel oil I felt ashamed of my joy at seeing Young men go to there Deaths choking on fuel oil sucked into there lungs It was at that moment I realised they were just sailors like me serving there country ....


We Had to Sink her she was a very Dangerous foe and Would have been a deady threat to any and all ships in the Theatre .... His voice trembleling he Said, " I saw sailors disappear under the waves .... And he then ended with the words

I took no pleasure in watching those lads perish .... God rest there souls .... 🙏

[walterkronkitesleftshoe]

The Fairey Swordfish were designed & built in Britain from 1935 onwards, originally for the Greek navy, But when trialled prior to delivery they were seen to be so capable that the Royal Navy bought them instead.

They were biplanes for a very good reason. At the time they were designed existing aircraft engines were of relatively low power (especially for the British fleet air arm which was ALWAYS low down on the engine & aircraft "priority list") so to enable a carrier aircraft to carry aloft heavy loads needed a large wing area. Their biplane wing area was SO great that they could take off fully loaded WITHOUT the use of a carrier's catapult. This meant that in the stormy North Atlantic where the Royal Navy mainly intended to operate them, instead of being forced to take off at the carrier's bows (where the catapults are) and which is the part of a ship that rises and falls by the greatest amount in heavy seas, the Swordfish could take of from the middle of the carrier's decks close to the bridge where the pitching and rolling was the least.


It was for this reason in May 1941 that they were able to take off from HMS Ark Royal to attack Bismarck when the Ark Royal was struggling through an Atlantic gale in MOUNTAINOUS seas, with her bows rising and falling by nearly 60ft !!! Try to imagine how terrifying it must have been for the brave young crews flying them in those conditions. Those weather conditions would have prevented all other allied carrier aircraft of the era from flying and instead seen them safely lashed down inside the hangar deck.

They were also incredibly adaptable and throughout WW2 they were adapted to carry, bombs, depth charges, torpedoes, extra fuel tanks and even eight anti ship rockets as well as the world's very first naval airborne radars. They are widely regarded to have ended the war as the aircraft with the GREATEST amount of enemy shipping tonnage sunk, and were HUGELY loved by their crews.

They WERE to have been replaced mid war by a succesor, the Fairey Albacore, but the "stringbag" (as the Swordfish were affectionately known) were so ubiquitous that they outlasted the Albacore in service.

[kevinhunkin]

The swordfish (string bag) was the most deadly torpedo bomber ever sinking more tonnage than any other plane

[edtrine]

You forgot to mention that Prince of Walses did a mission kill on Bismarck? Hitting Bismarck in the bow contaminating her fuel thus limiting her range.

[charlessmith]

I once saw an interview of one of the swordfish pilots. He was asked “how were you able to find Bismarck in the dark?” He simply said “It was easy, we just followed the tracer rounds that were coming at us from Bismarck”. Amazing & brave!

[aforeignertellingtruthinph]

Looking back now I think the Officers who sent those flyers at Bismarck in Swordfish bi planes were insane.

[mikegracie]

They talk about biplanes and show a picture of a PBY

[mikemattick]

Also because the sword fish were slow the radar controlled gun couldn, t lock on to them because they were slow

[elijahhodges]

Biplanes, it is still the greatest story of the English Navy during WWII.

[DevonRomero-sb]

What film do these video clips come from?

[davidtaylor]

The Swordfish that damaged Bismark weren't from HMS Victorious. They were from HMS Ark Royal.

[ModB]

Apparently😊, The Bismarck's anti aircraft batteries were trained and synchronized to hit 🎯 planes attacking at😊over Swordfish have more leisurely😊 approach to warfare❤

[lukebrown]

That one hit disabled the rudder though.
Prompting the Germans to scuttle bismarck

[markbrandon]

Instead of hand cranks the Bis AA guns used electric motors to adjust windage and elevation and had 4 or 5 diff speed settings the problem was the swordfish had a top speed of 90 MPH against a strong wind there was no speed setting that could track a plane that slow

[robertmadea]

Shells penetrated planes without explosions. He didn't manage to shoot down any, but all been damaged with the death of few pilots. The torpedo hit the worst point. Bismarck slowed down to around 10 knots.

[viking]

That one Torpedo hit spelled Doom for the Bismark. It hit and damaged Bismarks steering gear jamming the Rudders which enabled the British to catch up to and ultimately cause so much damage to Bismark the surviving German crew Skuttled their own ship.

[EugeneMurray-zb]

Thank you for saying
'HMS Victorious'

And not

'The' HMS Victorious! ✌️

[jamesrose]

Jock Muldoon...flying nearly blind from the weather and the shelling...Muldoons Radion man...one foot on the right wing root..safety wire stretched taut...hung out past the propeller spinner....saying, "No now Jock..No now Jock....NOW!" Jock pulled the lever....and his torpedo struck Bismarks Steering was damaged...forcing her to turn North...after fleeing South East to Brest....Bismark was doomed....King George V & Rodney came out of the mists and blew the Bismark to Hell