Just Finished Reading: Pursuit – The Sinking of the Bismarck by Ludovic Kennedy (FP: 1974) [228pp] 

May, 1941. It was the Admiralties worse nightmare, the pride of the German Navy the battleship Bismarck had left port and was attempting to break out into the North Atlantic. If she managed to do that the whole of the Atlantic convoy system would be under threat and Britain would run the risk of starvation. Known to be accompanied by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, the two ships were seen off the coast of Norway and the Admiralty decided to cover all the bases. As the pair were highly unlikely to try a Channel dash, the northern approaches to the Atlantic were covered by available warships. The Denmark Straight, between Iceland and Greenland was covered by the cruisers HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk. On sighting the enemy units, they shadowed them using radar to keep contact and called for assistance. The navy’s two largest ships nearest to the pair were vectored into contact – HMS Prince of Wales (a new Battleship still experiencing teething troubles) and the venerable battlecruiser HMS Hood. The eventual encounter did not go well with Hood sunk (with only 3 of a crew of 1,433 surviving) and Prince of Wales forced to withdraw seriously damaged. It looked like the nightmare scenario was being played out in real-time.  

With the cruisers maintaining contact and with aircraft from Coastal Command also keeping close tabs on her location Bismarck was targeted for destruction, no matter the risk or consequences. Ships of all types were stripped from supporting convoys, left port half provisioned or ordered to change direction and steam at best possible speed to Bismarck's last known location. The only question remained was the Bismarck’s intentions. With so much focus now on her would she return to her base in Germany (doubtful), head for a base on the coast of France (possible) or try to head into the Atlantic (also still possible). As the hours ticked by it became increasingly clear that Bismarck was heading to the French coast. Unless, that is, the Royal Navy could catch her first and force a battle on her terms. It was going to be quite a stressful night for all concerned. 

To be honest, most of my knowledge of the events surrounding the pursuit of the Bismarck is based on the 1960 movie ‘Sink the Bismarck’ starring Kenneth Moore (based on the 1959 book by C S Forester). With some additional reading over the years, I thought I had a pretty good handle on the affair and so it was. But what this excellent small volume provided was some very interesting details. The fact that Bismarck’s captain failed (as was the British policy at the time) to top of her oil tanks when he had the opportunity in Norway which would have given him a much wider field of action when needed, the fact that four Royal Navy destroyers harassed Bismarck for hours during her last night including HMS Cossack which I built a model of as a boy, the fact that many of the Swordfish torpedo plane pilots who initially attacked Bismarck had never landed on an aircraft carrier before being sent on the mission, and the fact that several of the British ship commanders were almost court-martialled for their apparent lack of aggression during the encounter! 

As you can probably tell, I enjoyed this book very much indeed. Told with passion and understanding (the author was on HMS Tartar which witnessed the final destruction of Bismarck) this was an exciting read that didn’t shy away from the horrors of conflict on the unforgiving seas. Definitely worth the effort of sourcing a copy if you can and highly recommended for anyone interesting in the pursuit of Bismarck or the early years of naval conflict in WW2.  

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