How about a hint? :hmmm:

[Sandman_28054]

27 May, 1941, position, NE quadrant BE53.

Bismark is being persued by Brittish capitol ships, BDU orders all units to proceed to my map reference to assist Bismark for possible action that is expected at 08:00.

Sonar picks up warships moving SSE.

I turn to see what is heading my way.

15 minutes later I spot 2 Fiji Light Cruisers, speed 25 knts.

I turn to heading 90 degrees, due East, submerged speed: 7 knts.

I close to within 1800 yards of the lead cruiser and fire two fish.

She is history:

Grid BE37, Ship sunk! HMCS Uganda (Fiji Light Cruiser), 10725 tons. Crew: 772. Crew lost: 393

Order "All Stop".

Four fish remaining in "Fore" tubes.

Fiji #2, heading same path, speed 25 knts.

She closes to within 1300 yards.

Fire two fish. (10 seconds apart)

One hits just at the front gun turret.

Second fish is a dud.

Fore torpedo room reloading as fast as possible.

#1 tube reloaded.

Take aim and fire.

Grid BE 37, Ship sunk! HMS Bermuda (Fiji Light Cruiser), 10725 tons. Crew: 819. Crew lost: 221

While I am extremely pleased with the crews performance, and by no means disappointed, total tonnage for this patrol (13):

Patrol tonage: 56315 tons

My question is:

Where are the big capitol ships persuing Bismark?

[Gargamel]

Given my foggy memory (ha! not like I was there lolz) of this event, I think the Fiji's were supposed to shadow the Bismark till the big guns could show up, but only the Hood and the Prince of Wales (?) did, and She sank the Hood. Bismark was eventually sank by a carrier group, correct?

You could have encountered the battle early on when the cruisers were still just keeping tabs on the Bismark.

[Akela]

Bismark was eventually sank by a carrier group, correct?


Everything you ever wanted to know about it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuTNJ2oz1aE

[Sandman_28054]

Given my foggy memory (ha! not like I was there lolz) of this event, I think the Fiji's were supposed to shadow the Bismark till the big guns could show up, but only the Hood and the Prince of Wales (?) did, and She sank the Hood. Bismark was eventually sank by a carrier group, correct?

You could have encountered the battle early on when the cruisers were still just keeping tabs on the Bismark.

Nope.

21 May, 1941, Bismark is around the area od AD52.

Hood is sunk and Bismark starts towards the open Atlantic.

5 days later a message is sent out requesting all subs in and around BE 53 to assist Bismark.

I was at BE 53 when I found the two Fuji's.

I was wanting to know where the capital ships were.

[Sandman_28054]

Everything you ever wanted to know about it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuTNJ2oz1aE

I have seen that.

What I'm asking is the grid reference where the Brittish capitol ships persuing Bismark can be found.

It seems the universal location for the showdown between Bismark and the Rodney and King George is Grid BE53. 08:00, 27 May, 1941.

Is this wrong?

[HW3]

I actually saw Bismarck several hours before her sinking once, but there was no way to stay with her at the speed she was running. I got within visual range of the battle as it was ending, and put one torpedo into the King George V, but it sailed away and I never caught up to it again. The exact grid escapes me, but I think it was just over the line from BE53 into BE61.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/davestev47/U-Boat%20Career/Bismarck3.jpg

[Gargamel]

If your really curious, you can use the mission editor to check

[Akela]

I have seen that.

What I'm asking is the grid reference where the Brittish capitol ships persuing Bismark can be found.

It seems the universal location for the showdown between Bismark and the Rodney and King George is Grid BE53. 08:00, 27 May, 1941.

Is this wrong?

Sorry for the confusion. I was responding to Gargamel's question about who actually sank the Bismark, not trying to answer your original question.

[Svendog]

Bismark was eventually sank by a carrier group, correct?
I'm currently reading the book " I sank the Bismarck " by Lt Cdr John Moffat, who flew a swordfish and who's torpedo was credited as the one that delivered the final blow to Bismarck. An interesting read IMO.
:yeah:

[frau kaleun]

I think the importance of Moffat and his Swordfish was that he got the hit that disabled Bismarck's rudder, which left her unable to maneuver and thus made it possible for the Rodney et. al. to move in for a (relatively) easy kill.

IIRC survivors from the Bismarck stated that the order to scuttle her and then abandon ship was given, but I don't know if it's ever been conclusively proven that it was damage done intentionally by her own crew that finally sank her. I think by that point her loss was a foregone conclusion anyway.

[Sandman_28054]

Ok, folks, here is a final update.

The old proverb "Seek and ye shall find" has proven true.

Earlier in this patrol (13), I had encountered a convoy in Grid BE61, attacking this convoy I used all but six fish in the fore tubes, and 4 of 6 fish in the aft tubes, leaving me with a toal of 10 fish.

The total from the convoy attack was:

25.5.41.
0344 Grid BE 61 Ship sunk! HMS Venomous (V&W Destroyer), 1188 tons. Crew: 112. Crew lost: 43

0357 Grid BE 61 Ship sunk! SS Gudrun Mærsk (Coastal Merchant), 2042 tons. Cargo: Aircraft. Crew: 25. Crew lost: 90

400 Grid BE 61 Ship sunk! MV Peder Bogen (T3 Tanker), 11697 tons. Cargo: Crude Oil. Crew: 66. Crew lost: 50

401 Grid BE 61 Ship sunk! SS Marjory (Coastal Merchant), 2044 tons. Cargo: Military Vehicles. Crew: 22. Crew lost: 10

0401 Grid BE 61 Ship sunk! Small Merchant, 2339 tons. Cargo: Grain. Crew: 45. Crew lost: 23

0402 Grid BE 61 Ship sunk! Small Merchant, 2341 tons. Cargo: Mail/Packages. Crew: 75. Crew lost: 57

0406 Grid BE 61 Ship sunk! Small Merchant, 2340 tons. Cargo: Coal. Crew: 37. Crew lost: 1

0513 Grid BE 53 Ship sunk! T2 Tanker, 10874 tons. Cargo: Aviation Fuel. Crew: 53. Crew lost: 5


The only reason I post this is because, the Rodney and the King George pass not far from where I had contact with this convoy.

From the NE corner of Grid BE53, plot a course SSE (Heading 130). About 8 kms due east of the convoy contact, you will run into the Rodney, King George, and the two previously mentioned Fuji Light Cruisers on a heading roughly NNE.

I position myself at a key point.

About 10:00 am, sonar calls out:

Warship, Moving fast, Closing, Bearing 302

I look through my periscope and lo and behold, here comes the Rodney and the King George.

To make a long story short, I couldn't help the Bismark, her destiny was written long ago, but:

1010 Grid BE 61 Ship sunk! HMS Nelson (Nelson Battleship), 36000 tons. Crew: 1585. Crew lost: 729

1029 Grid BE 61 Ship sunk! HMS King George V (King George V Battleship), 35900 tons. Crew: 1892. Crew lost: 1494

1124
Patrol results:
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 10
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonage: 106765 tons

Für das Vaterland! Für die bismark!