Tag: History

The Story of Bismarck (IV): Bismarck’s Knell

This article is the final part in a series of four articles about the battleship Bismarck

May 25, 1941: No one in the British Admiralty office slept that night; the disappearance of the German battleship from right under their noses was a tough pill to swallow. The British public would never forgive this slight, especially after the loss of their beloved Hood. Churchill had instructed Admiral Dudley Pound to convey all updates directly to him. More than a tactical move, the search for the Bismarck became a prestige issue- the Hood needed to be avenged.

In the Atlantic, Bismarck was on course southeast towards Brest in occupied France. Lutjens had managed to shake off his pursuers, but tragically, he didn’t know of his success. He overestimated British radar capabilities, believing that while he had put some distance between the Norfolk and others, he was still on their radar. And so, inexplicably, he broke radio silence multiple times, sending information to the German headquarters about his intended route to Brest and requesting Luftwaffe air assistance. The code being used by Lutjens was similar to the one found aboard a captured U-Boat a few months earlier. This allowed British cryptologists at Bletchley Park to decode vital information. Most notable among these was Alan Turing, who broke the naval Enigma code.

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The Story of Bismarck (III): The Battleship Disappears

This is the third part of a four part series on the battleship Bismarck.

The next day’s newspapers around the world carried but one news:

0525-hooda

The short but shattering battle with the Royal Navy in the Denmark strait had left the German sailors in awe of their ship and of naval combat in general. Admiral Lutjens, though calm on the surface, was alarmed. He knew of the Hood’s fame, and was under no illusions about what the British would do next. The reassuring news was that while the Bismarck had lost a bit of speed, it was still cruising at  at least 28 knots, which was on par with the fastest British battleships. As long as Lutjens could maintain distance, he was not under immediate threat.

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The story of Bismarck(II): The Denmark Strait

This is the second of a four part series on the Battleship Bismarck

In the early hours of May 19, 1941, the Bismarck departed Gotenhafen, escorted by 3 destroyers (or small torpedo boats); the Prinz Eugen had already departed a few hours earlier. They wove across Kattegat and Skagerrak in poor weather, but were seen by Gotland, a Swedish cruiser, who forwarded the report to the Allied Naval HQ. For his part, Admiral Lutjens was sailing blind, since the same poor weather that was supposed to facilitate the Bismarck slipping unseen out into the Atlantic also prevented German aerial reconnaissance. The Gotland was also spotted from the Bismarck, but the Germans were not sure if the neutral Swedes would relay the information to Britain. However, it became clear that the Operation Rheinübung was no longer a secret.

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Alexander ante Portas

Alexander III of Macedon (a principality in Northern Aegean), would grow up to become the founder of the world’s first cross-cultural empire in the true sense; an empire spanning 5,200,000 km2, with Greek, Persian, Egyptian, Indian and other subjects would compel history to confer on him the epithet of “ὁ Μέγας ” (ho Mégas/the Great). The breadth of his achievement is nothing short of breathtaking, taking into account both the constrained logistics of transport of the times, as well as the young age at which he died. It can be safely assumed, today, that he was almost perpetually on the march, save for recuperation after a particularly difficult siege. His forces were almost always outnumbered, yet he was defeated only by his own mortality, which finally enveloped him in the grand palace of Nebuchadnezzar II at Babylon (323 BC).

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