Surviving German sailors from the Bismarck battleship board the British Dorsetshire cruiser.
In the course of Operation Rhine Doctrine (Rheinübung), the German Bismarck battleship and Prinz Eugen cruiser sailed into the Atlantic.
On May 24, 1941, the British battleship Hud Hood (HMS Hood) was sunk by the battleship in the Danish Strait and the newest battleship HMS Prince of Wales was damaged. The Bismarck battleship itself was also damaged the battleship “Prince of Wales”, and then on May 26, 1941, and torpedoes from biplane torpedoes from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal (HMS Ark Royal).
On the morning of May 27, 1941, the British “Rodney” battleships (HMS Rodney) and “King George V” (HMS King George V) approached and shot “Bismarck” with their guns. However, the battleship Krigmarine did not lower the battle flag and the British cruisers finished off the Bismarck with torpedoes.
Of the 2,200 men of his crew, about 800 German sailors left the dying battleship. An hour after the Bismarck battleship sank, the Dorsetshire cruiser (HMS Dorsetshire) picked up 86 sailors, the Maori destroyer – another 25, but because of the alarm played with the advent of the German submarine, they left the battlefield and abandoned the Nazi crew in the water .
The submarine that came up U-74 rescued three sailors, and the next day two more seamen from the Bismarck were picked up by a German meteorological ship.
More rescued German sailors were not.
Sources of information about the German sailors photo:
Location: Atlantic
Photo date: May 27, 1941