Shipbucket

http://www.informationdissemination.net ... marck.html

interesting post

_________________
Supreme Commander of the Astrofleets

Surely if it was trying to surrender it would've been even better for the RN, the Bismark would have made for a magnificent prize ship.

Especially after she sunk the Hood...

_________________
Fryssian AU with Lt.Maverick 114
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9802&p=193331#p193331

Embarked on: HNLMS Karel Doorman A833
To do list:
-Zeven Provincien class cruiser
-Joint support ship all sides
-F124 Sachsen class frigate
-F125 Baden-Württemberg class frigate
-Clemencau class aircraft carrier
-Zeven provincien class frigate
-Poolster class AOR
-Amsterdam class AOR
-Minas Gerais aircraft carrier

The difficulty of trying to return her to a British port would have been tremendous. Any tow would have been extremely slow, especially considering her damage, and highly vulnerable to U-boat and long range air attack and I would think the Germans would make a maximum effort to sink her before she got to port.

_________________
"If you want to have dinner with the Devil, make sure to bring a long spoon!"
The New Wolf's Shipyard
The New Wolf's Shipyard Forum

Surrendering in naval combat hadn't been a viable proposition for a long time. The best you can do is to abandon ship under fire. Bismarck kept firing to the end AFAIK.

I had heard of this many years ago on a TV documentry, also the possibility that her crew scuttled the ship.Many units of the Home fleet were desperately short of fuel after the long high speed chase especially Rodney,so the RN wanted to get the job over quickly in U boat infested waters.If Bismarks radios/masts were knocked out which is highly probable signal flags would not have been possible to read at that distance with all the smoke.As to the scuttling theory I can't see that being necessary after being hit with 40-50 14''/16'' shells and at least 5 torpedos.The last point is Churchill was closely monitoring the situation and instructing Tovey from afar and I don't think he would have allowed it.

If you see the pictures of the Bismarck's hull after Ballard found it and then Cameron went back to the wreck the hull was pretty intact. The deck showed no signs of heavy shell impact. The Rodney and KGV came in so close that there main guns were just a few degrees above zero elevation so their main rounds were shooting through Bismarck's superstructure. The hull showed little signs of serious torpedo damage as well. Reinforcing the idea of the ship being scuttled.