The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis 1 The ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis There is a 2 to 3 meter hole in the main deck at the port forward quadrant of Turret Dora. The shell exploded about 0.7 meters above the main deck and the nose of the shell created a hole in the 220-mm barbette armor at the deck’s intersection with the barbette. The hole is very irregular and the deck plating is curled inward. The teak deck around the barbette is missing, blown off the steel deck by concussion effects. The shell’s explosion or its fragments bent the rim of port quarterdeck hatch. The rim was bent enough to prevent its opening from within. It is known that bags of potatoes and life rafts were stored under the aft overhang of Turret Dora. According to surviving Seaman Apprentice Manthey, some men tried to find cover there and were certainly killed by the fragments of this shell that also sent shell splinters into Turret Dora, starting a fire there. The paint on the port side of the turret was scorched from the fire in the teak deck on the forward port quadrant of the barbette. The hole in the rim of the barbette is a mystery. It would appear that the shell came from the forward quadrant, perhaps when King George V or Rodney were making their way northward on Bismarck’s port side between 0930-0950. Since King George V was having problems with her 356-mm guns around this time, it is likely that the shell was 406-mm and approached with a flat trajectory. The bent or curled main deck plate indicates that the shell exploded at or just after its moment of impact with the 220-mm barbette armor. This may have occurred in two ways: o If the shell had no fuse delay, it would have struck the barbette and exploded while the hardened cap of the shell was dislodging a large chunk of armor on the rim of the barbette. o If the shell struck something first in its trajectory toward the barbette, the fuse might have been triggered and in the process of detonating when the projectile hit the barbette armor. Since Turret Dora had been aimed to port at this time to engage King George V, then the shell may also have hit one of the gun barrels about 7 to 8 meters before it struck the barbette armor. It is known that one of Turret Dora’s guns was damaged by a shell impact and one of its rounds later exploded within the barrel, splitting it like a “banana peel” − Confirmed by correspondence with the Baron and also by the gunnery report of King George V. This shell’s explosion was probably responsible for killing or wounding a number of Bismarck crew members using this area as a battle dressing station and attempting to escape from the carnage. Survivor Steeg noted a number of persons lying on the deck, gruesomely wounded. Anyone standing in the vicinity of Turret Dora would have been thrust against the barbette of Turret Caesar by the blast. Steeg recounted that he saw body parts and dead or dying men at the base of the barbette for this turret. This is where he gave a cigarette to a dying friend. The bulk of Turret Dora would have protected men on the starboard or lee side, where many men were attempting an escape. AFTER THE MAIN BATTERY WAS SILENCED It would seem that the sequence of events after the main guns had fallen silent was this: ○ With the bridge personnel no longer responding after 0920, CDR Hans Oels, the executive officer, took command of the ship and decided to issue an order to abandon and scuttle the ship when he left the Damage Control Central around 0930. 28
The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis ○ Around 0930 LT Emil Jahreis, with a party of four men, left Damage Control Central to pass the scuttling and abandon ship orders to topside positions. They went up the access (or communication) tube to the forward conning tower. ○ Around 1000, men started coming up on deck through the port quarterdeck hatch in Compartment VIII. CDR Oels reached as far aft as Compartment VII in his quest to relay the scuttling order. ○ Coming forward to Compartment VIII and seeing the mass chaos, CDR Oels ordered these men to follow him up an escape ladder to the main deck. A huge crowd formed, with the single-file ladder as a choke point. As many as 300 men crowded the Batteriedeck there. Oels yelled at the men to step aside and plunged into the crowd. ○ Just after CDR Oels arrived, a 356-mm shell passed through the 145-mm upper citadel belt, a main transverse bulkhead, and the 50-mm main deck before exploding just aft of the Aft Canteen, where Oels was organizing an escape attempt. Most of the men in this area were killed, including CDR Oels. ○ In the meantime, a crowd of men formed on the quarterdeck, both to port and to starboard, hoping to escape from the seriously damaged ship. When Baron von Müllenheim-Rechberg left the secondary conning station through the starboard door, he went forward on the Deckhouse Deck toward the searchlight control station. The searchlights had been shot away and their control station no longer existed. The antiaircraft guns that had once surrounded the secondary conning station no longer existed or were reduced to unrecognizable rubble. The deck, on which he was standing and those below, was littered with torn plates or pieces of equipment or gun mounts. Looking forward through a whitish haze that extended to the forward superstructure, he noticed that the decks there were still intact and men were trying to find their way down to the main deck. Access ladders probably had been damaged or shot away that hindered descent. The funnel had been holed by shell splinters or direct hits. A low-lying fog-like smoke cloud had formed between the shell-riddled funnel and the after superstructure, originating from severed uptakes within the funnel itself and fires raging in the vicinity of the funnel. Returning briefly to the secondary conning station, von Müllenheim- Rechberg went down to the main deck, past Turret Caesar trained toward the port bow with its barrels in an elevated position. The Baron had to climb over debris and avoid shell holes in the decks. He noticed the body of one of Admiral Lütjens’ staff officers, who had apparently left his battle station before the shellfire had ceased. Arriving on the main deck, the Baron noted the blackened port side of Turret Dora, with its left gun barrel shredded like a peeled banana. Turret Caesar, with its light gray paint, exhibited no damage except that its guns were at a high elevation. A 356-mm shell from King George V had hit its face plate and detonated, sending shell splinters onto the deck below. That hit disabled the turret’s two guns. Groups of men were waiting to jump into the sea. He also noticed Rodney at 2,500 meters away with her nine 406-mm guns still pointed in his direction. There are a large number of smaller entry holes in the hull shell plating and superstructure. These correspond in diameter to medium-caliber projectiles (140-mm, 152-mm, and 203-mm). An initial estimate is that there are perhaps 100 to 200 of these. Some 2,876 shells were fired, but only about ten percent hit. With Bismarck low in the water and the British ships closing the range, their guns were firing at minimum elevation. Many of these shells impacted the water surface in front of their intended target and then either detonated prematurely or 29
Page 1 and 2: The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Mar
Page 27: The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Mar

The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis 1 The ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?