Originally Posted By: hotwheels
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
I just watched "Sink the Bismark" on YT over the weekend, and could see why the era of the big battleship had to come to an end. The Bismark sunk the Hood with 3 salvoes, but was disabled by a torpedo to her rudder launched from an antiquated Fairey Swordfish biplane. If a fragile wood, wire, and fabric "stringbag" worth about $8000 can render a capital ship useless, it no longer makes sense to waste money on the big battle wagons.
This is true. Though the Brits couldn't sink her. The Germans had to scuttle it to get her to go down. Blew the magazine.
What amazes me was the ineptitude of the Bismarck deployment. Originally the two Bismarck-class sister ships were to sail together but Tirpitz wasn't ready to sail and Hitler was impatient and so the plan was basically scrapped and Bismarck sailed with a small group of U-boats and Prinz Eugen. As with many of these scenarios one wonders how differently they would have played out without the epic blunders.
I highly recommend Léonce Peillard's Sink the Tirpitz! an excellently researched and thrilling novel (docudrama) based on eyewitness accounts and involved in the events leading up to and including the sinking of the Tirpitz. The tale of how Churchill made sure the Tirpitz, which he called "The Beast," his bête noire, would be destroyed at all and any cost. It's a riveting story about spies, torpedo riders, mini-submarines, and the development of special bombs that could puncture the Tirpitz's armor. The story is told from both sides, and it is clear that the command staff of the Tirpitz was at odds with the plans the Kriegsmarine had for the battleship. The book is from 1965, and Peillard researched and interviewed involved people with their memories relatively intact. Really a must-read for naval history buffs.
hotwheels
That sounds very good! I'll be sure to try and source it, thanks!