Postmen delivered sealed envelopes, and small children placed at the doorsteps of special friends folded papers containing brightly colored pictures. Each contained a greetingβa message of love. However, a more somber mood prevailed. Amid fervent speeches, cheering throngs, and the playing of the national anthem, the new battleship Bismarck rumbled down into the River Elbe. This, the most powerful vessel afloat, carried not a message of love; rather, the Bismarck bristled with weapons of war.
The mighty colossus was a breathtaking spectacle of armor and machinery. Construction required more than fifty-seven thousand blueprints for the millimeter, triple turret, radar-controlled guns. The vessel featured twenty-eight thousand miles of electrical circuits, and thirty-five thousand tons of armor-plate provided maximum safety.
Majestic in appearance, gigantic in size, awesome in firepower, the Bismarck was considered unsinkable. Within four minutes, the Bismarck had sent to the depths of the Atlantic the Hood and all but 3 men of a crew of 1, The other British battleship, the Prince of Wales, had suffered heavy damage and turned away.
Three days later, the Bismarck was engaged again, by four British warships. In all, the British concentrated the strength of eight battleships, two aircraft carriers, eleven cruisers, and twenty-one destroyers in an effort to seek and sink the mighty Bismarck. Shell after shell inflicted but superficial damage. Was the Bismarck unsinkable after all? Repair efforts proved fruitless. With guns primed, the crews at ready, the Bismarck could only steer a slow and stately circle.
Just beyond reach was the powerful German air force. The safety of home port was ever so close. Neither could provide the needed haven, for the Bismarck had lost the ability to steer a charted course.
