This is really quite good. I was surprised. Some interesting detail.
For instance...I did not know how far the Bismarck slid along the bottom of the ocean before it came to a stop.
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"If brute force doesn't work you aren't using enough brute force." - mTk
War does not determine who is right, but it does determine who is left. - B.Russell
"Turn based games don't need a pause key". - mTk
"Overkill is underrated." - Col John "Hannibal" Smith
Senatus Populusque Romanus- SPQR - The Senate and People of Rome (circa 60 BC)
One detail I always found fascinating about Bismarck’s final hours is how close she actually came to reaching safety. After the torpedo hit from HMS Ark Royal’s Swordfish jammed her rudder, German damage control teams worked for hours trying to free it — including sending sailors out onto the stern in heavy seas with cutting torches. At one point they briefly regained partial steering using engine power alone, but the seas and damage made it impossible to maintain control.
Had that rudder been freed even temporarily, Bismarck likely could have made for occupied France under Luftwaffe cover. In many ways, the fate of one of the most powerful battleships ever built came down to a single slow biplane torpedo strike at dusk.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
Captured survivors of Bismarck's sinking arrive in England in May 1941.
Seeing the Bismarck mentioned reminded me of this old Revell kit. I built one of these as a teenager and remember being ridiculously proud of it when it was finished. For years afterward it ended up in my nephew’s bedroom sitting on a shelf — not sure whatever became of it after that, but it survived longer there than most of my early modeling efforts did. Funny how certain kits stick with you.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here: