H.M.S Ark Royal & Bismark programme.

[wonwinglo]

Did anyone see this excellent programme yesterday evening on the sinking of the Bismark ? some remarkable footage using a remote vehicle to get photographs of the wreckage of the Ark Royal,including even the remains of a Fairey Swordfish and Fairey Fulmer aircraft lying at the bottom of the sea all of these years.

One of the old boys ( now 80 years old and still flies a Piper Tripacer G-ARKM ) who attacked the Bismark was in tears as he watched the live footage of the wrecks,how they managed to get those torpedoes home in those old and slow aircraft is a miracle in itself,bouncing feet off the sea waiting to drop the torpedo.

Some interesting historical material including the admiralty cover up on these events.

It really drove home how brave these old boys were.

[Guest]

Barry,

The entire story of the sinking of the Bismarck has been one thing I have had a particular interest in for many years after reading ther C.S.Forester account of the story when I was at school. I have always found it to be a stunningly beautiful ship with an unbelievably well trained crew with all the latest technology available at thier fingertips. We were incredibly fortunate that Hitler never really had any time for his Kriegsmarine and he totally wasted any advantage he may have had with his vessels. If he hadn't been such an incompetent Naval tactician the war could have taken an entirely differrent path.

I cannot begin to imagine the skill and daring required to take off and land an aircraft from the deck of a carrier in such weather and to attempt to attack a vessel such as the Bismarck with basically WWI aircraft. The approach must have been horrific as you never knew which breath was going to be your last yet you had to hold the aircraft straight until you were at the right point between the waves to drop the torpedo.

Equally as memorable was the German side of the story related by Mullenheim Rechberg, the senior survivor, who sadly died only just over a year ago. His story includes a description of the Bismarck as she was pounded to death by the Royal Navy and his describing the listing decks as like being in a butchers shop made me remember that there were equally brave normal people undergoing the same hardships on both sides of the conflict.

I know a lot of old veterans share memorials with people from the other side which always makes me hope that human nature will always overcome politically motivated adversity at the end of the day. Without looking it up I know there is an ex U-Boat officer (Engineer!) who attends the memorial services every year of the Corvette he sank just of Newfoundland only hours before the end of the war.

The Ark Royal story was very enjoyable and the aircraft findings fascinating. The old boy who "landed" the sub on the deck almost brought me to tears. Funnily enough the Octopus' captain, Richard Bridge, was someone I sailed with and worked with in Cunard Line so it made me smile to see him again after all these years.

[wonwinglo]

Yes Richard,I agree with everything that you say here,just think of flying an old Swordfish above the waves with all of that flak being thrown at you ? the survivors were really lucky people,I had not realised about Hitlers dis-regard for his navy ? you learn something all of the time here and thats what makes it such a great forum to be on.

The emotion shown by those old boys did bring tears to your eyes,it does not matter what side you were on the fact remains that good people perished,glad that you managed to see this excellent exposure of the truth in that programme.

[Guest]

I missed that is it repeated do you know??????

[Guest]

I`ve got it on VHS tape Nige , want a loan? PM me. On my travels with my carrier I`ve had the privilege to meet quite a few of the Swordfish pilots and aircrew. Read many a treasured log book, some with gun camera prints of hits (and the odd miss). Tall tales and sad tales, B&W pics of far-away places and dour action shots from the flight deck or gun stations. One nearly stole a brand new American fighter rather than ditch it over the side at the end of hostilities. Another got a commendation from the King for "nearly sinking HMS Indefatigable ", his words not what is on the Palace letter ! I`m sworn to secrecy on that one. He was delivering Hurricanes to Russia on the Arctic convoys. They could only get the Swordfish on deck for convoy defence on the return trip. Read up on "The Channel Dash" if you think the Bismark episode was rough. Heroes , every damned one of them. We owe them a lot

[Guest]

Yes Barry,

From what I have read Hitler did not see the significance of his navy in the overall picture. He was very much an army tactician and saw the navy as a poor relation.

When you think of the ships he had at his disposal such as the Gneisenau, the Sharnhorst, the Bismark, the Tirpitz and the Prinz Eugen and the other ships in that class, it was amazing that he did not do considerably more damage with them than he did.

It actually took a lot of persuation from Donitz to be allowed to increase the U-boat fleet at the beginning of the war after Hitler had a row with Raeder over the fact that he did not see the U-boat as a particularly significant weapon. When that is compared with Churchill's comment that the thing he feared most of all was the U-boat it shows how far Hitler got the war at sea wrong.

If, as Raeder wanted, the war had been delayed until the Bismarck and the Tirpitz were finished and these ships had been used in conjunction with the Sharnhorst and Gneisenau it would have given the Royal Navy a much more formidable opponent than they ever encountered.

I am a firm believer that there are good and bad people on both sides in any conflict as well as courageous and any other characteristic we care to mention.

Did you see the movie "The Pianist"? A very powerfull movie showing all the atrocities of the Warsaw ghetto's yet it also included a senior German officer in the final stages of the conflict who showed compassion to the Jewish pianist.

To maintain the balanced outlook we must also remember the fact that the British invented concentration camps and some of the things that were done in the name of the "Empire" are best remembered only in the context of preventing it happening again.

I do find the naval side of the Second World War very interesting from all sides and read as many personal accounts as I can.