Editing German battleship Bismarck (section)

==== Sinking ====
{{main|Last battle of Bismarck}}
[[File:The Royal Navy during the Second World War A4092.jpg|left|thumb|Splinter damage on the rear director tower of ''Sheffield'' caused by a near miss of the ''Bismarck.'']]
With the port rudder jammed, ''Bismarck'' was now steaming in a large circle, unable to escape from Tovey's forces. Though fuel shortages had reduced the number of ships available to the British, the battleships ''King George V'' and ''Rodney'' were still available, along with the heavy cruisers ''Dorsetshire'' and ''Norfolk''.{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|pp=271–272}} Lütjens signalled headquarters at 21:40 on the 26th: "Ship unmanoeuvrable. We will fight to the last shell. Long live the Führer."{{sfn|Müllenheim-Rechberg|1980a|p=182}} The mood of the crew became increasingly depressed, especially as messages from the naval command reached the ship. Intended to boost morale, the messages only highlighted the desperate situation in which the crew found itself.{{sfn|Zetterling | Tamelander |2009|pp=256–257}} As the Swordfish returned to the carrier, ''Bismarck'' briefly fired her main battery at the shadowing ''Sheffield''. The first salvo went a mile astray, but the second salvo straddled the cruiser. Shell splinters rained down on ''Sheffield'', killing three men and wounding two others. Four more salvoes were fired but no hits were scored.{{sfn|Bercuson|Herwig|2003|p=259}}{{Sfn|Stephen|1988|pp=89–92}} ''Sheffield'' quickly retreated under cover of a smoke screen.{{Sfn|Busch|1980|pp=107–108}} ''Sheffield'' lost contact in the low visibility and Captain [[Philip Vian]]'s group of five destroyers was ordered to keep contact with ''Bismarck'' through the night.{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|p=279}}

These destroyers encountered ''Bismarck'' at 22:38; the battleship quickly engaged them with her main battery. After firing three salvos, she straddled the [[Polish Armed Forces in the West|Polish]] destroyer {{ORP|Piorun|G65|6}}. The destroyer continued to close the range until a near miss at around {{convert|12000|m|abbr=on}} forced her to turn away. Throughout the night and into the morning, Vian's destroyers harried ''Bismarck'', illuminating her with [[star shell]]s and firing sixteen torpedoes in nine separate attacks, none of which hit.{{Sfn|Stephen|1988|pp=92–93}} Between 05:00 and 06:00, ''Bismarck''{{'}}s crew attempted to launch one of the Arado 196 float planes to carry away the ship's war diary, footage of the engagement with ''Hood'', and other important documents. The third shell hit from ''Prince of Wales'' had damaged the steam line on the aircraft catapult, rendering it inoperative. As it was not possible to launch the aircraft, it had become a fire hazard, and was pushed overboard.{{sfn|Garzke | Dulin |1985|pp=237–238}} Lütjens then asked at 07:10 if a U-boat could rendezvous with ''Bismarck'' to fetch these documents. ''U-556'' was assigned at once to this task, but the U-boat missed the signalled order because it was submerged. ''U-556'' was anyway too low on fuel to be able to carry out the order.{{sfn|Müllenheim-Rechberg|1980b|pp=148–150}}{{Sfn|Busch|1980|p=125}}

[[File:Rodney firing on Bismarck.png|thumb|''Rodney'' firing on ''Bismarck'', which can be seen burning in the distance]]

After daybreak on 27 May, ''King George V'' led the attack. ''Rodney'' followed off her port quarter; Tovey intended to steam directly at ''Bismarck'' until he was about {{convert|8|nmi|abbr=on}} away. At that point, he would turn south to put his ships parallel to his target.{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|pp=286–287}} At 08:43, lookouts on ''King George V'' spotted her, some {{convert|23000|m|yd|abbr=on}} away. Four minutes later, ''Rodney''{{'}}s two forward turrets, comprising six {{convert|16|in|0|abbr=on}} guns, opened fire, then ''King George V''{{'}}s {{convert|14|in|0|abbr=on}} guns began firing. ''Bismarck'' returned fire at 08:50 with her forward guns; with her second salvo, she straddled ''Rodney''.{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|pp=288–289}} Thereafter, ''Bismarck''{{'}}s ability to aim her guns deteriorated as the ship, unable to steer, moved erratically in the heavy seas and deprived Schneider of a predictable course for range calculations.{{sfn|Zetterling | Tamelander |2009|p=268}}

As the range fell, the ships' secondary batteries joined the battle. ''Norfolk'' and ''Dorsetshire'' closed and began firing with their {{convert|8|in|0|abbr=on}} guns. At 09:02, a 16-inch shell from ''Rodney'' struck ''Bismarck''{{'}}s forward [[superstructure]], killing hundreds of men and severely damaging the two forward turrets. According to survivors, this salvo probably killed both Lindemann and Lütjens and the rest of the bridge staff,{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|pp=290–291}} although other survivors stated that they saw Lindemann on the deck as the ship sank.{{sfn|Zetterling | Tamelander |2009|p=282}} The main fire control director was also destroyed by this hit, which probably also killed Schneider. A second shell from this salvo struck the forward main battery, which was disabled, though it fired one last salvo at 09:27.{{sfn|Zetterling | Tamelander |2009|p=269}}{{sfn|Garzke | Dulin |1985|p=239}} Lieutenant Müllenheim-Rechberg, in the rear control station, took over firing control for the rear turrets. He managed to fire three salvos before a shell destroyed the gun director, disabling his equipment. He gave the order for the guns to fire independently, but by 09:31, all four main battery turrets had been put out of action.{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|p=291}} One of ''Bismarck''{{'}}s shells exploded 20 feet off ''Rodney''{{' }}s bow and damaged her starboard torpedo tube—the closest ''Bismarck'' came to a direct hit on her opponents.{{sfn|Kennedy|p=246}} At 09:10 ''Rodney'' launched six of her [[British 24.5-inch torpedo|{{cvt|24.5|in}} torpedo]]es from a distance of {{cvt|10|km}} and ''Norfolk'' launched four from {{cvt|15|km}}. All torpedoes missed.{{Sfn|Stephen|1988|p=97}}{{sfn|Müllenheim-Rechberg|1980b|p=174}}

[[File:HMS Dorsetshire Bismarck survivors.jpg|left|thumb|{{HMS|Dorsetshire|40|6}} picking up survivors]]

With the bridge personnel no longer responding, the executive officer ''Fregattenkapitän'' Hans Oels took command of the ship from his station at the Damage Control Central. Some near misses alongside the port side, and the fact that the ship was no longer able to fight back, caused Oels to decide at around 09:30 to scuttle ''Bismarck''{{sfn|Cameron|Dulin|Garzke|Jurens|2002|p=28}}{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|Jurens|2019|pp=416, 437}} to prevent the ship being boarded by the British, and to allow the crew to abandon ship so as to reduce casualties.{{sfn|Cameron|Dulin|Garzke|Jurens|2002|p=50}} ''Bismarck'' was also slowly sinking due to an increasing list that allowed water to enter the ship via damage to the main deck, leading to significant [[free surface effect]]s,{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|Jurens|2019|pp=413, 581}} although the ship's very large metacentric height kept her afloat.{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|Jurens|2019|p=435}} At around 09:30 Oels ordered the men below decks to abandon ship; he instructed the engine room crews to open the ship's watertight doors and to prepare scuttling charges.{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|p=293}} The order to prepare to scuttle meant that watertight hatches between decks would be left open, ensuring that water that entered the battery deck via shell damage would start to penetrate below the battery deck, significantly increasing the list and eventually causing ''Bismarck'' to capsize.{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|Jurens|2019|pp=413, 435, 581–582}}

Gerhard Junack, the chief engineering officer, ordered his men to set the demolition charges with a 9-minute fuse but the intercom system broke down and he sent a messenger to confirm the order to scuttle the ship. The messenger never returned, so Junack primed the charges and ordered his men to abandon ship. They left the engine spaces at around 10:10.{{sfn|Cameron|Dulin|Garzke|Jurens|2002|p=16}}{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|Jurens|2019|p=545}} Junack and his comrades heard the demolition charges detonate as they made their way up through the various levels.{{sfn|Zetterling | Tamelander |2009|p=281}} Oels rushed throughout the ship, ordering men to abandon their posts. At around 10:05 to 10:10, a 14-inch shell from ''King George V'' penetrated the upper citadel belt and exploded in the ship's aft canteen, killing Oels on the gun deck and about a hundred others.{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|Jurens|2019|pp=441–442}}{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|p=295}}

By 10:00, Tovey's two battleships had fired over 700 main battery shells, many at very close range.{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|pp=292–294}} ''Rodney'' closed to {{convert|2700|m|yd|abbr=on}}, [[point-blank range]] for guns of that size, and continued to fire. ''Bismarck'' had been reduced to a shambles, aflame from bow to stern. She was slowly settling by the stern from uncontrolled flooding with a 20 degree list to port.{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|pp=292–294}} Tovey would not cease fire until the Germans [[Striking the colors|struck their ensigns]] or it became clear they were abandoning ship.{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|pp=292–293}} Overall the four British ships fired more than 2,800 shells at ''Bismarck'', and scored more than 400 hits, but were unable to sink ''Bismarck'' by gunfire. The heavy gunfire at virtually point-blank range devastated ''Bismarck''<nowiki/>'s superstructure and the sections of the hull that were above the waterline, causing very heavy casualties, but it contributed little to the eventual sinking of the ship.{{sfn|Cameron|Dulin|Garzke|Jurens|2002|p=51}} ''Rodney'' fired two torpedoes from her port-side tube and claimed one hit.{{sfn|Gatacre|p=140}} According to [[Ludovic Kennedy]], "if true, [this is] the only instance in history of one battleship torpedoing another".{{sfn|Kennedy|p=246}}

The scuttling charges detonated around 10:20.{{efn|"WHO SANK THE BISMARCK – The British or the Germans? We are convinced the answer is ... "BOTH!!" Bismarck unquestionably would have sunk due to progressive flooding hours after the battle ended. By 0930, CDR Oels heard no response from the Bridge and he knew that the ship was defenseless, when turrets Caesar and Dora were no longer operational. There is enough evidence to indicate that he ordered the ship scuttled to prevent her boarding by the British and to end the agony of the prolonged battering by British shellfire that was hindering escape into the sea."{{sfn|Cameron|Dulin|Garzke|Jurens|2002|p=51}} }} By 10:35, the ship had assumed a heavy port list, capsizing slowly and sinking by the stern.{{sfn|Garzke | Dulin |1985|p=246}} At around 10:20, running low on fuel, Tovey ordered the cruiser ''Dorsetshire'' to sink ''Bismarck'' with torpedoes and ordered his battleships back to port.{{sfn|McGowen|p=56}} ''Dorsetshire'' fired a pair of torpedoes into ''Bismarck''{{'}}s starboard side, one of which hit. ''Dorsetshire'' then moved around to her port side and fired another torpedo, which also hit. By the time these torpedo attacks took place, the ship was already listing so badly that the deck was partly awash.{{sfn|Zetterling | Tamelander |2009|p=281}} It appears that the final torpedo may have detonated against ''Bismarck''{{'}}s port side superstructure, which was by then already underwater.{{sfn|Cameron|Dulin|Garzke|Jurens|2002|p=33}} ''Bismarck'' disappeared beneath the surface at 10:40.{{sfn|Garzke | Dulin |1985|p=246}}

Junack, who had abandoned ship by the time it capsized, observed no underwater damage to the ship's starboard side.{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|Jurens|2019|pp=545–546}} Müllenheim-Rechberg reported the same but assumed that the port side, which was then under water, had been more significantly damaged.{{sfn|Zetterling | Tamelander |2009|p=282}} Some survivors reported they saw Captain Lindemann standing at attention at the stem of the ship as she sank.{{sfn|Zetterling | Tamelander |2009|p=282}} Around eight-hundred to a thousand men were now in the water;{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|Jurens|2019|p=466}} ''Dorsetshire'' and the destroyer {{HMS|Maori|F24|2}} moved in and lowered ropes to pull the survivors aboard. At 11:40, ''Dorsetshire''{{'}}s captain ordered the rescue effort abandoned after lookouts spotted what they thought was a U-boat. ''Dorsetshire'' had rescued 85 men and ''Maori'' had picked up 25 by the time they left the scene.{{sfn|Bercuson | Herwig |2003|p=297}} {{GS|U-74|1940|2}}, which had been watching the action from a distance, rescued three men from a rubber dinghy in the evening at 19:30. The next day the German trawler {{ship|German weather ship|Sachsenwald||2}} rescued another two from a raft at 22:45.{{sfn|Müllenheim-Rechberg|1980b|pp=188–190}} One of the men picked up by the British died of his wounds the following day. Out of a crew of over 2,200 men, only 114 survived.{{sfn|Garzke | Dulin |1985|p=246}}