String Bags Help Sink The Bismarck

Capt Eve pulled back on the control column and the vibrating Swordfish began climbing over the choppy Atlantic Sea.  Capt Eve looked through the spinning propeller at the overcast May sky.  The wind picked up which battered the cloth that was stretched over the wooden frame work.  The knots gauge on the instrument panel was struggling to maintain 90knots (110Mph).

Beneath the String Bag was a MK XII torpedo it vibrated slightly in the North Atlantic breeze.  Capt Eve grabbed the speaking tube and spoke to the rear gunner/Navigator,

“You ok Tom? I’ll climb till 5,000ft as ordered then we need to find the Bismarck and drop our fish (Torpedo)  Then hopefully we will sink the bastard”

Tom nodded his head and put his thumb up.  Secretly Tom was scared out of his skin in this antiquated bi-plane.  The 15 Swordfishes made 5,000ft and levelled off in a loose formation.  The navigators were scanning the sea below for the Bismarck or a wake of a big ship.

Suddenly the intercom came alive with reports of sighting the Bismarck below steaming towards France and safety.  The formation dived for the sea their attack height was 18ft!  Capt Eve was the third Swordfish to line up on the huge Bismarck.  Wind and sea spray soaked his face as he fire walled the throttle on the string bag. 

 A Swordfish flying over HMS Ark Royal

The knots gauge barely registered 100knots.  Flak shells began bursting in front of the formation of Swordfishes tiny pieces of red hot iron splinters cut through the stretched Irish Linen and splintered the wooden framework of the vibrating bi-plane. Onboard the impressive Bismarck the gun crews were franticly trying to hit the lumbering British bi-planes.

The Bismarck sported a state of the art computer to range her guns with pin point accuracy.  The problem the ships crew had was the computer could not align the guns to hit any aircraft flying below 150knots! The gunnery computers were made assuming no aircraft would fly that slowly! The gun shells exploded in front of the Swordfishes as they expected the Swordfishes to be further forward in their attack run than they were!

As the formation of Swordfishes neared the Bismarck smaller calibre anti aircraft guns opened up on the bi-planes, the shots that hit the aircraft passed straight through the fabric wings and fuselage causing little if any damage.  The Swordfish being so antiquated was out foxing the Bismarck purely by luck!

Swordfishes lined up with wings stowed on HMS Ark Royal.

The formation began dropping their torpedo’s many of the torpedo’s had faulty detonators and exploded on impact with the ocean.  Capt Eve had the huge Bismarck in his sights,

“Tom here we go on my mark drop fish!, steady, steady, right release fish!”

The torpedo hit the sea but didn’t explode the onboard propulsion unit fired up and the Torpedo MKXII sped towards the Bismarck.  Luckily the torpedo made a direct hit on the Bismarck’s steering gear, the rudder was jammed at 12 degrees to port.

The last moments of the Bismarck.

The Bismarck was stuck in a circle and continued to make revolutions as not to become a sitting target.  Several British battle ships closed in for the kill, Bismarck was hit with over 500 shells! She sank with the loss of over 2,000 sailors. This engagement was a success due to the obsolete Fairey Swordfish Torpedo aircraft, which nobody took seriously.

Lord Banks