Okla-homey
5/24/2007, 06:15 AM
Raise a glass to the immortal memory of 1500 brave Allied sailors who died in a single instant during WWII. This installment was originally broadcast last year. New pics have been added for your viewing pleasure.
May 24, 1941 Bismarck sinks HMS Hood
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/18330/2003176537284120462_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003176537284120462)
Hood sallies forth to intercept Bismarck
66 years ago on this day in 1941, Germany's largest battleship, Bismarck, sinks the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood.
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/5618/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa14.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Stern view of the Nazi behemoth Bismarck
Bismarck was the most modern of Germany's battleships, a prize coveted by other nation's navies, even while still in the blueprint stage (Hitler handed over a copy of its blueprints to Joseph Stalin as a concession during the days of the Hitler-Stalin neutrality pact).
HMS Hood, originally launched in 1918, was Britain's largest battle cruiser (41,200 tons)-but also capable of achieving the relatively fast speed of 31 knots. IOW, you could water ski behind her with a very long ski rope.
Hood was designed during the post-WWI period in which British naval architects believed warships could be more effective relying on great speed than weighty steel armor. Thus, they traded-off lighter armor for speed. In fact, Hood had hardly any horizontal armor at all beneath her decks and thus the plunging fire she received from Bismarck was hardly prevented from penetrating deep into her vital areas.
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/16961/2003133979472101941_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003133979472101941)
Hood's crest
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8500/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa13.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hood photographed during happier days in 1924 enroute to Australia.
The two ships met in the North Atlantic, northeast of Iceland, where Hood and her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales had tracked down Bismarck. Commanded by Admiral Gunther Lutjens, commander-in-chief of the German Fleet, Bismarck sunk Hood, resulting in the death of 1,500 of its crew; only three Brits survived. Prince of Wales took to her heels after witnessing Hood's destruction
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/5618/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa14.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The death of HMS Hood. She went down with a loss of all but three hands due to a direct 15" main battery Bismarck hit on one of Hood's ammunition magazines which resulted in a catastrophic explosion.
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/5295/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa1.png (http://imageshack.us)
Snapshot by German sailor of Bismarck's engagement with Hood shot on this day in 1941. Those spashes are the impact of Bismarck's 15" guns striking the sea around Hood which can be seen between the plumes.
During the engagement, Bismarck's oil bunker was damaged. The breach contaminated her fuel supply with seawater and made tracking her easier because she left an oily film trail like a garden slug as she made for port and the relative safety Luftwaffe land-based aircover could provide. Lutjens tried desperately to make for the French coast, but was sighted again only three days later.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9027/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa12.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Flight of Fairey "Swordfish." The rag-wing biplanes proved they could still be effective in modern naval warfare in 1941 when flown by very dedicated two-man crews.
Torpedoed to the point of incapacity by Royal Navy carrier based Fairey "Swordfish" torpedo bombers, Bismarck was finally sunk by a task force of British war ships especially assembled for the purpose of sending the Nazi menace to the bottom. Admiral Lutjens was one of the 2,300 German casualties.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3853/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Bismarck underway as photographed from the deck of escort cruiser Prinz Eugen.
http://aycu26.webshots.com/image/17185/2004733059888695662_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004733059888695662)
Hood was named for Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) a British admiral who served during the American Revolutionary era. Admiral Lord Nelson said of him, "he was the greatest sea officer I ever knew."
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/16269/2003148151196500502_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003148151196500502)
May 24, 1941 Bismarck sinks HMS Hood
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/18330/2003176537284120462_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003176537284120462)
Hood sallies forth to intercept Bismarck
66 years ago on this day in 1941, Germany's largest battleship, Bismarck, sinks the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood.
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/5618/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa14.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Stern view of the Nazi behemoth Bismarck
Bismarck was the most modern of Germany's battleships, a prize coveted by other nation's navies, even while still in the blueprint stage (Hitler handed over a copy of its blueprints to Joseph Stalin as a concession during the days of the Hitler-Stalin neutrality pact).
HMS Hood, originally launched in 1918, was Britain's largest battle cruiser (41,200 tons)-but also capable of achieving the relatively fast speed of 31 knots. IOW, you could water ski behind her with a very long ski rope.
Hood was designed during the post-WWI period in which British naval architects believed warships could be more effective relying on great speed than weighty steel armor. Thus, they traded-off lighter armor for speed. In fact, Hood had hardly any horizontal armor at all beneath her decks and thus the plunging fire she received from Bismarck was hardly prevented from penetrating deep into her vital areas.
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/16961/2003133979472101941_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003133979472101941)
Hood's crest
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8500/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa13.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hood photographed during happier days in 1924 enroute to Australia.
The two ships met in the North Atlantic, northeast of Iceland, where Hood and her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales had tracked down Bismarck. Commanded by Admiral Gunther Lutjens, commander-in-chief of the German Fleet, Bismarck sunk Hood, resulting in the death of 1,500 of its crew; only three Brits survived. Prince of Wales took to her heels after witnessing Hood's destruction
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/5618/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa14.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The death of HMS Hood. She went down with a loss of all but three hands due to a direct 15" main battery Bismarck hit on one of Hood's ammunition magazines which resulted in a catastrophic explosion.
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/5295/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa1.png (http://imageshack.us)
Snapshot by German sailor of Bismarck's engagement with Hood shot on this day in 1941. Those spashes are the impact of Bismarck's 15" guns striking the sea around Hood which can be seen between the plumes.
During the engagement, Bismarck's oil bunker was damaged. The breach contaminated her fuel supply with seawater and made tracking her easier because she left an oily film trail like a garden slug as she made for port and the relative safety Luftwaffe land-based aircover could provide. Lutjens tried desperately to make for the French coast, but was sighted again only three days later.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9027/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa12.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Flight of Fairey "Swordfish." The rag-wing biplanes proved they could still be effective in modern naval warfare in 1941 when flown by very dedicated two-man crews.
Torpedoed to the point of incapacity by Royal Navy carrier based Fairey "Swordfish" torpedo bombers, Bismarck was finally sunk by a task force of British war ships especially assembled for the purpose of sending the Nazi menace to the bottom. Admiral Lutjens was one of the 2,300 German casualties.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3853/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Bismarck underway as photographed from the deck of escort cruiser Prinz Eugen.
http://aycu26.webshots.com/image/17185/2004733059888695662_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004733059888695662)
Hood was named for Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) a British admiral who served during the American Revolutionary era. Admiral Lord Nelson said of him, "he was the greatest sea officer I ever knew."
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/16269/2003148151196500502_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003148151196500502)