Bismarck Gallery

The Sinking of the Bismarck

The sinking of the German Battleship Bismarck. In response to sinking the HMS Hood, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued the order to "Sink the Bismarck", spurring a relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy. Two days later, with Bismarck almost in reach of safer waters, Fleet Air Arm aircraft torpedoed the ship and jammed her rudder, allowing heavy British units to catch up with her. In the ensuing battle on the morning of 27 May 1941, Bismarck was heavily attacked for nearly three hours before sinking. Painting by Malcolm Greensmith Date: 1941

© Mary Evans/Malcolm Greensmith Collection

Cartoon, The Dropped Pilot, WW1

Cartoon, The Dropped Pilot, twenty-four years after Tenniel. In Tenniel's Dropping the Pilot cartoon of 1890 Kaiser Wilhelm II watches as Bismarck disembarks from the ship (of state), but in Treeby's cartoon Bismarck is in the water up to his waist and the Kaiser's ship has foundered on the rocks and is sinking. Date: September 1914

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Princess Otto von Bismarck in Egyptian fancy dress

Princess Otto von Bismarck, formerly Miss Anne-Marie Tengbom, pictured in fancy dress as the Moon in an Egyptian tableau as produced by King Tutankhamen at the Galaxy Ball in aid of St. John's Hospital, Lewisham at the Park Lane Hotel in November 1929. The costume was designed by Mr Robin d'Erlanger whose wife was organiser of the ball. Date: 1929

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans