THE FAILED PLEDGE THAT SUNK THE BISMARCK

BY MIKE

MICHAEL WALSH DISSIDENT HISTORIAN: The U-boat’s captain was mischievous as he put his recently launched U-556 through its trials in the Baltic.

It was the winter of 1941 and from his point of view,, it had been a good war. Britain’s merchant shipping convoys ensured the survival of Bolshevik Russia. These sitting duck fleets plunged through the Arctic waters towards Soviet Murmansk on the Barents Sea. 

Across the darkening windswept waves of the Baltic Sea, the commander could clearly make out the superstructure of the German battleship Bismarck. At 40,000 tons it was the latest and largest battleship in the world. 

The warship was also carrying out exercises when it received a signal from the minuscule 500-ton U-556: ‘personal from captain to captain. A fine ship you have there.’

Wohlfarth’s impertinence did not go down too well with the commander of the Bismarck.  He signaled back, ‘From commander to captain; report the name of the commanding officer.’

‘Oh, Lord!’ exclaimed Captain Wohlfarth. ‘Now I’ve done it.’ He promptly signaled back. ‘From captain to captain – you try to do this!’  Within moments the skipper submerged his U-boat below the waves.

Lt. Commander Wohlfarth, wishing to make amends for his insolence, had meanwhile drawn up a ‘Certificate of God Fatherhood’ diploma. The U-556 pledged itself to act as a ‘godfather’ to the battleship Bismarck. 

He then personally called on the battleship’s commander where, amidst laughter, the document was received with good grace.

The special relationship between the world’s most formidable battleship and the diminutive submarine was born. When the U-556 submarine slipped out of the harbor for its maiden voyage, Captain Wohlfarth signaled again to the Bismarck: ‘Personal from captain to captain.  When you follow me, don’t worry.  I will see that you come to no harm.’

It was a pledge that the U-556 captain would bitterly regret when, months later, fate caused him to fail as a godparent to the great German battleship.  

U-556 was one of a U-boat pack patrolling the treacherous icy waters lying between Iceland and South Greenland. Their pack had so far sunk eighteen British ships.  A further three had been damaged and Lt. Commander Wohlfarth’s command was low on both torpedoes and fuel.

It was now time to return to their fatherland and at the same time pick up his Knight’s Cross from Admiral Karl Doenitz.  Making his leisurely way back across the North Atlantic the U-556’s captain attacked yet another convoy and loosed the last of his torpedoes.  He had no way of knowing that this small action may have snatched victory from Germany’s jaws. 

As the U-Boat commander resumed his interrupted journey the 40,000-ton battleship Bismarck and German battle cruiser Prinz Eugen, broke through the British blockade of German ports and sailed out into the Atlantic on a raiding mission.  

Aware of the threat the two behemoths posed all available British ships were ordered to intercept and destroy the marauders. If the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau under repair in Brest were joined by these formidable warships, the effect the three battleships and the cruiser would have on allied shipping would be devastating.  Britain could be starved into giving up its war against Germany.

Located by HMS Suffolk, a Royal Navy squadron of attack ships, including HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales, made contact with the German raiders.  This brief and bloody encounter resulted in the sinking of HMS Hood with the loss of 95 officers and 1,324 seamen.  The Bismarck had not emerged unscathed.  The German battleship headed for St. Nazaire for repairs leaving the battleship Prinz Eugen to continue its patrol.

In the hope of luring the Royal Navy into a trap the German battleship’s commanding officer, Admiral Lutjens, called for a line of U-boats to be stationed across his own line of approach and made ready to deal with his pursuers. 

Of the six U-boats able to answer his call two had no torpedoes and were low on fuel.  One of these submarines was Lt. Commander Wohlfarth’s U-556 which had pledged its protection. The small German U-boat raced through towering seas towards the damaged battleship.

Realizing that he couldn’t close with the German battleship unless its speed was reduced, RN Admiral Sir. John Tovey called up the Gibraltar squadron. 

The Royal Navy squadron consisted of the battle cruiser HMS Renown, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and Battle Cruisers HMS Sheffield and HMS Dorsetshire. 

Everything however depended on the Ark Royal’s aircraft. They could reach the Bismarck in time to strike with their torpedoes from the air.  If anything could prevent the HMS Ark Royal from closing with its target then the magnificent but crippled German raider would make it to St. Nazaire and safety.

On the evening of 26 May 1941, the U-556 watch reported the approach of warships. Lt. Commander Wohlfarth crash-dived and then, raising his periscope he spotted what must have been every U-boat commander’s dream.  The HMS Renown and the HMS Ark Royal were streaming directly towards him, their massive grey hulls plunging through mountainous seas.

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Commander Wohlfarth was overjoyed. It seemed the two great warships were steaming straight into his torpedo tubes.  All his crew was required to do was press the firing button.  This would likely send HMS Ark Royal and HMS Renown to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.   

Sadly, the last of the U-boat’s torpedoes had been used on a small merchant ship. Such an opportunity would never again present itself.  The British warships, unaware of their narrow escape prepared to rendezvous with the crippled German battleship.

Bismarck’s fate was sealed. Her protector who had so recently signaled its pledge of protection was in no position to protect the pride of the German Kriegsmarine.  

HMS Ark Royal and HMS Renown continued their course of destiny.  The British aircraft carrier closed on the Bismarck before launching an airborne attack on her. 

In poor weather conditions, nine Swordfish aircraft led by Lieutenant Eugene Esmond found the crippled Bismarck and launched torpedo attacks which resulted in dented plates, loosened bulkheads and punctured her fuel tanks.  The battleship was now taking in water.

Contact was then lost but a Catalina aircraft from the 209 squadron spotted Bismarck the next day. From HMS Ark Royal fifteen torpedo-carrying Swordfish aircraft were launched.

The Royal Navy aircraft soon chanced upon HMS Sheffield.  Mistaking their own ship for the German battleship the British attack aircraft launched twelve torpedoes which the British warship managed to avoid.

Admiral Somerville then ordered a second strike from HMS Ark Royal.  In appalling weather conditions, Royal Navy flying officer Lieutenant-Commander Jim Coode led Sub-Lieutenant Ken Pattison and Sub-Lieutenant Joey Beal to eventually discover the elusive German battleship. 

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On doing so the aircraft launched their torpedoes, one of which hit the Bismarck’s port boiler room.  Jim Coode’s ‘tin fish’ then hit the Bismarck’s rudder. This strike left the giant battleship circling helplessly in the Bay of Biscay.  A Royal Navy pilot, who was later to be killed on a training flight in North Africa, had sealed Bismarck’s fate.

As dawn broke on the 27 May, HMS King George V, HMS Rodney, HMS Norfolk and HMS Dorsetshire, positioned themselves and began to fire salvoes into the stricken German marauder. For three hours the Royal Navy pounded broadside after broadside into the crippled German battleship. 

In just 90 minutes an incredible 2,876 heavy-caliber shells were fired at the stricken behemoth. Adolf Eich, Heinz Jucknat and Franz Halke, survivors from the German battleship, described the lower decks as absolute carnage. Fires raged everywhere as magazines continually exploded.

HMS Rodney fired two torpedoes into the Bismarck’s hull but still, the great warship remained afloat. At 10.15 am the British Commander-in-Chief ordered the German battleship to be torpedoed again.

HMS Dorsetshire fired torpedoes into both starboard and port hulls of the Bismarck’s burning shell.  At 10.40 am the great battleship rolled silently on her side and began her descent to the bottom of the seas, her war flag still saluting the grey skies.

In a scene straight from hell, many hundreds of Kriegsmarine seamen found themselves tossed helplessly by the seas, swimming vainly in their attempts to remain afloat. High above the heaving grey superstructure of the HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Maori. Their scrambling nets cascaded down its sides in compliance with the international law of the sea.

Eager hands reached out for assistance. Rendered helpless by exhaustion and the action of the waves few of the stricken men were able to make it as far as the warship’s sea-swept decks. Of a crew of 2,221 men only 110 of the Bismarck’s crew were picked from the waters by HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Maori.

On both sides of the tragic conflict, there were singular acts of great heroism. Notably a young British sailor, Midshipman Brookes. The seventeen-year-old courageously climbed over the warship’s heaving side. Descending to the heaving waterline he manfully attempted to rescue a young German sailor who had lost both his arms and was trying to hold on to the rope with his teeth.

By this time ‘naval activity had allegedly been spotted in the distance.  The rescuing warships were ordered to get underway. The young British midshipman was placed under arrest for refusing to give up his rescue attempt and was threatened with execution.

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FULL MILITARY HONOURS – AND TEARS Only 115 of the Bismarck’s crew of 2,206 men survived. Several of those who later died aboard the HMS Dorsetshire were committed to the sea with full military honors. Typically, each of the dead servicemen was sent to a watery grave as a bugler played the last post. Both German and British sailors stood solemnly to attention.

The German survivors were given permission to salute their fallen comrades with the raised arm salute. In the background could be heard the plaintive strains of a borrowed harmonica playing the fallen German serviceman’s lament: ‘Ich hatt einen Kamaraden.’  (I once had a comrade). As each body was committed to the waves both German and British sailors wept openly. 

Of two debates surrounding the sinking of the Bismarck one has since been resolved. The Germans maintained that the battleship Bismarck was never sunk but rather scuttled to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Royal Navy. 

Subsequent investigation by the American oceanic explorer, Commander Ballard, who has since discovered the wreck of the Bismarck, confirmed that the battleship was indeed scuttled by its own officers.

With all but one gun destroyed and the sea battle effectively over it was imperative that the British should never learn of the battleship’s unsinkable structure.  British ships, subsequently built to its design, would almost certainly lead to the deaths of untold thousands of German sailors. 

The remaining great controversy centers on the Royal Navy’s rejection of nearly 2,000 German seamen, left to their fate in defiance of international law. 

This callous desertion has never been properly explained and one can only question deliberate reluctance to investigate the mystery. One cannot question the poignancy of the scene as the retreating ships left in their wake thousands of sailors struggling in the Atlantic waters. 

One British sailor described how, as the rescuing ships turned stern on, there was the most tragic wailing of despair from the multitude of men left floundering in the water.

Footnote: The Spanish Leader General Franco, on hearing of the tragedy, immediately dispatched the Spanish cruiser Canarias to the scene but no survivors were recovered. BEAT PRESS CENSORSHIP BY POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

Found at https://europerenaissance.com/2023/12/12/the-failed-pledge-that-sunk-the-bismarck/