Is it impossible to save the Bismarck?

[Zilch]

Since getting GWX, I've been interested to see how it handled the operations against the Bismarck and wanted to see how I could influence the outcome.

After hours of waiting, I finally managed to get U-54 in position to sink HMS Rodney and HMS King George V. Two under King George V's keel were enough to cause flooding to bring her down. Rodney took quite a few more, though, I think I missed the vital spots and had to use four torps to seal the deal.

King George V and Rodney go gown:






Feeling pretty confident after watching two huge battlewagons slither to the bottom, I set to All Stop and listened with the hydrophone. After a few minutes I picked up a new warship. Thinking it could have been another pursuing British battleship, I surfaced and ordered ahead flank on an intercept course.

Finally, I caught sight of the warship. It was the Bismarck!


(Just in case there was any doubt left. )


The port side was shot to hell, and it was streaming black smoke from a fire on the decks. I tried following a parallel course at equal speed in hopes of chasing down any pursuers with my sole remaining torpedo.



Then, swarms of Swordfish came down from the skies. Normally, I would have pulled the plug and headed down, but I wanted to save Bismarck at all costs. I manned the flak gun and started trying to gun them down, knowing full well how effective they were against Bismarck, historically.

I put a few holes in one, but their strafing runs cost me my flak gunner. One for many, I thought. Up to this point I've never suffered a casualty, but in defense of such a battleship, a cold cost-benefit analysis lead me to stay by the decision. I called up another crewman to man it and kept firing at the biplanes.

Finally they either expended their stores or ran out of fuel, leaving U-54 alone with the Bismarck. The battleship altered course from ESE to WNW, which I mirrored. Finally, it ended up where it was sunk, historically (and I checked a map in one of my books to confirm this location. GWX rocks.) It ended up doing and endless circle to port, with me in the middle of the circle at periscope depth listening for attackers, surfacing to look for aircraft periodically.



Finally, I got a radio message, saying that Bismarck had been lost and that it was a sad day for the German people.

Now, I just lost a man trying to keep this ship afloat. What I'm wondering is, did I not play it right? Did a Swordfish sneak in and torpedo the ship while I was under? Or, is the death of Bismarck scripted to be unpreventable? Since I was at PD I didn't actually see the ship go down. All I got was a radio message, with no more map contact.