"Sighting the Bismarck"
by Robert Taylor

In the early hours of May 24, 1941, as the mighty
German battleships BISMARCK and PRINZ EUGEN slipped
through the Denmark Strait, they were dramatically
intercepted by the Royal Navy battleships HOOD and
PRINCE OF WALES. Within six minutes of the first
salvo being fired, the HOOD, pride of the Royal Navy
was blown out of the water in one of the most gigantic
explosions ever witnessed at sea.

BISMARCK's fourth salvo landed a shell forward of the
HOOD's after turrets, piercing her deck, exploding the
4-inch magazine. Simultaneously this detonated the
adjacent 15-inch magazine, and in one mighty eruption
the battleship broke in two. Within seconds she was
gone. Of the ship's company of 1400 officers and men
only three survived. An outraged Winston Churchill
signalled the Admiralty with three words: "Sink the
Bismarck" and thus began one of the epic sea chases
in the history of naval warfare. Damaged by shells
from the PRINCE OF WALES, and losing fuel, BISMARCK
broke off the engagement and steamed toward the North
Sea. Evading the British warships for 32 hours she
had hopes of reaching the safety of Brest, but when
spotted by a Catalina of RAF Coastal Command, Lutjens,
her Captain, knew it was the beginning of the end.

When an attack by ARK ROYAL's Swordfish torpedo planes
jammed her rudder, BISMARCK's fate was sealed. Over-
whelmed by British Guns and torpedoes, BISMARCK's crew
fought a gallant last battle, but the odds were too
great. Robert Taylor portrays the BISMARCK at the
fateful moment she was located by the RAF Coastal
Command. Greeted by a defiant barrage of fire from
BISMARCK's anti-aircraft guns, the Catalina veers away,
but already the radio operation has transmitted her
position. Like the HOOD just two days earlier, the
pride of Hitler's Kriegsmarine was by now, destined
for the deep. Joining Robert Taylor, each print in
the edition is signed by FOUR of the small band of
only 110 crew members who survived the sinking of the
BISMARCK.