It's a decent documentary but it's so short that it's like reading the abstract of a journal article, leaving out the more engaging details of this interesting and important story.
Early in the war, Hitler had dreams of sending battleships against the convoys running supplies from North American to England, which was already on extremely short rations. He counted chiefly on the Bismark and her sister ship, the Tirpitz.
Bismark made it out to sea from her home port but was tracked and engaged by two British battleships. After twenty minutes, one of them, the Hood, blew up and sank, leaving only three survivors.
The British deployed all their available forces against the Bismark, including torpedoes from the carrier Ark Royal's aircraft. The Bismark's steering was damaged and she was forced to slow down until the British fleet caught up and sank her. Only about a dozen men survived. These kinds of engagements are infrequent but deadly.
The narration by the quietly authoritative Robert Powell doesn't give us enough information. "The British cruisers lost the Bismark" at one point. Not mentioned is that the contact was lost because the Bismark's skipper slowed down and continued on a predictable zig-zag course for some hours, tracked in the fog only by radar. After one of her now-expected zigs, she went to speed and stayed on the same course. It was a wily tactic.
This is no flag waver but a certain lack of objectivity is apparent in the writing. The Tirpitz, equally dangerous, "skulked in a Norwegian fjord" until she was destroyed by bombs late in the war. The skulking brought with it a certain advantage because the Home Fleet was pinned at Scapa Flow, in case of an unexpected attempt by the Tirptiz to break out.
There are two or three talking heads but most of the time is given over to newsreel footage. A good job, no question, but it's a shame that it only runs for half an hour or so. A feature film, "Sink the Bismark," has its stereotypes but provides a much more detailed picture of this fascinating incident.
Early in the war, Hitler had dreams of sending battleships against the convoys running supplies from North American to England, which was already on extremely short rations. He counted chiefly on the Bismark and her sister ship, the Tirpitz.
Bismark made it out to sea from her home port but was tracked and engaged by two British battleships. After twenty minutes, one of them, the Hood, blew up and sank, leaving only three survivors.
The British deployed all their available forces against the Bismark, including torpedoes from the carrier Ark Royal's aircraft. The Bismark's steering was damaged and she was forced to slow down until the British fleet caught up and sank her. Only about a dozen men survived. These kinds of engagements are infrequent but deadly.
The narration by the quietly authoritative Robert Powell doesn't give us enough information. "The British cruisers lost the Bismark" at one point. Not mentioned is that the contact was lost because the Bismark's skipper slowed down and continued on a predictable zig-zag course for some hours, tracked in the fog only by radar. After one of her now-expected zigs, she went to speed and stayed on the same course. It was a wily tactic.
This is no flag waver but a certain lack of objectivity is apparent in the writing. The Tirpitz, equally dangerous, "skulked in a Norwegian fjord" until she was destroyed by bombs late in the war. The skulking brought with it a certain advantage because the Home Fleet was pinned at Scapa Flow, in case of an unexpected attempt by the Tirptiz to break out.
There are two or three talking heads but most of the time is given over to newsreel footage. A good job, no question, but it's a shame that it only runs for half an hour or so. A feature film, "Sink the Bismark," has its stereotypes but provides a much more detailed picture of this fascinating incident.
