Sinking 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

WW1 - The King Stephen fishing boat and Zeppelin L19, 1916

WW1 - The zeppelin L19 (also known as the LZ 54), was a World War I airship of the of the Imperial German Navy. After it's first bomb raid in the UK, the L19 crashed in the North Sea. As seen here, the crew survived the crash, but the airship is sinking. The fishermen of the fishing trawler look towards the German crew, however they refuse to rescue them. Date: 1916

© Mary Evans Picture Library

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