The Sinking of the Bismark

Written by William L. Shirer

1962 - Random House - 178 Pages

Review by Roger D. Noriega

World War II - European Theatre, Early 1941. WWII has been raging for approximately 21 months and victory for the allies is not assured. At this time, France fell not a year prior, the entire western edge of the European Continent is under Axis control and Hitler's submarines are ranging far and wide into the Atlantic, Great Britain is feeling the pressure. In May of 1941, the United States has not yet entered the war and Adolf Hitler has yet to attack Russia, but under the evil Axis curtain, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, Yugoslavia and Greece had fallen. The British were threatened in the Mediterranean by both Germany and Italy although the Italians did get a major bloody nose in November of 1940 by the Royal Navy at Taranto. Times were dark and the light was not visible at the end of the tunnel. 

The German Navy could not take on the British Navy and it relied on submarines along with cruisers, battle cruisers, and pocket battleships to raid and destroy British commerce in the Atlantic sea lanes. While the Graf Spee was caught off Argentina in late 1939, most of the few German surface ships had not been caught. These surface ships were devastating British shipping and word was that a new battleship, the Bismark had finished her sea trials and we make to sea shortly. If the Bismark were to join up with the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the damage these three ships could cause would be unthinkable. The battle cruisers were fast and loaded for bear and could outran much of the British fleet capable of sinking them. Add the Bismark to this equation and the numbers looked bad, real bad for the British Navy and Great Britain. 

William L. Shirer paints a rich story that is full of detail and first-person detail that most documentaries can not come close too. As a matter of fact, the History Channel's documentary on the Sinking of the Bismark contains notable errors and it is distressing that most viewers accept this version as being correct without question. The errors may be oversights, but I had not read this book in 12 years and I picked up on the errors!

Mr. Shirer paints a picture of the desperation that the British Navy endured while trying to locate the Bismark and upon finding her, losing their proudest ship in the fleet, the Hood. I remember reading the book in middle school and an important moment has always remained with me, it is on the night of May 26, 1941 and it reads as follows:

Sir John Tovey (Admiral in command of the Home Fleet, tasked with the destruction of the Bismark) was a realist. In addition to facing the abandonment of the chase for the Bismark, galling as that was, he had to consider losing the King George V and the Rodney because of reduced speed on the way home. The Hood was sunk, the Prince of Wales cripple. His flagship was the only ship left in the British navy which could stand up to the Bismark in speed and gun power. In a few months, Tovey knew, the Germans would have the Bismark's sister ship, the Tirpitz, ready for action. As commander and chief, he could not risk giving the Germans complete superiority in fast, heavy ships. He must preserve the King George V at any cost. The future demanded it.

Later . . .

He had been after the Bismark for four days and nights. He had chased her for more than 2,000 miles through the stormy Atlantic. He had lost the Fleet's most powerful ship and seen one of its two newest battleships crippled and forced to return for repairs. He had come so near to his prey and then lost her. And because of a schoolboy's mistake in arithmetic, after radio-direction  bearings had relocated her, he had sailed off in the wrong direction and fallen behind in the chase. Now when he was only a hundred miles from the enemy, he must abandon the pursuit because of a shortage of oil. He must admit failure and defeat.

Destiny had not shined upon the British until later that evening when the same biplanes that crippled the Italian navy in Taranto not a year before, would strike one final time against the mighty Bismark.

It is amazing the decisions Captain's and Admiral's make during the heat of battle. While the British were searching in vain for the Bismark, Admiral Luetjens on the Bismark believed that he was still being shadowed by the British cruisers! He rattled off message after message to command about his situation. Later, when the Bismark was really lost, a lucky Catalina float plain found her in a certain area all because the pilot had a hunch.

Before the final attack by the torpedo-carrying Swordfish biplanes, the biplanes attacked one of their own cruisers. But it was these biplanes that would eventually cripple the Bismark in the one lucky place to slow her up just enough. The rest is, history.

The book is a quick read and simple for young ages and worthy enough for older, arm-chair historians. The book may not be worthy of your collection, but it is worth being read so that you can know the truth behind the sinking of the Bismark because the History Channel made a mistake here and there. 

The book rates a 3 out of 5.

Home