Sink the Bismarck! - Movie of the Month for June 2024

[Admiral_Karasu]

Movie of the Month for June 2024

Sink the Bismarck!

Try having the movie watched by the next weekend or so, that's SAT/SUN June 8 to 9.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uAUNBSwWpI

Note! Recommended that you use the link to watch the movie in an adjacent tab or new window for ease of reference.

 

Sink the Bismarck! on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sink_the_Bismarck!

And on IMDB:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054310/

 

Spoiler Warning!

If you have no clue about the movie previously, watch the movie first before going into the discussion.

 

General discussion of the movie to follow below.

 

There is an separate accompanying thread for technical aspects to discuss:

 

[Admiral_Karasu]

Everyone, presumably, has managed to watch Sink the Bismarck! by now. Let's try to open the discussion about what sort of a movie experience the movie gave you. For starters, the cruisers obviously cheated because they were running unlimited radar consumables all the time.

[HogHammer]

21 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

For starters, the cruisers obviously cheated because they were running unlimited radar consumables all the time.

Good one! Ha, ha...

[iDuckman]

So far the model work is pretty good, but they have the battlefield reversed.  Hood and PoW were firing to starboard and Bismarck to port.

 

[iDuckman]

Good.  Good.  I'd seen it before, but with different eyes.

 

[Admiral_Karasu]

8 hours ago, iDuckman said:

So far the model work is pretty good, but they have the battlefield reversed.  Hood and PoW were firing to starboard and Bismarck to port.

 

Yes, I noticed that too. And didn't the German captain keep issuing commands and what we saw was always the opposite happening too.

[I_cant_Swim_]

a few blips, but what a gripping movie! Still watching, lads, wait for me! 🙂

 

[I_cant_Swim_]

So, well. I really enjoyed this one! 

I put together a list of movie ships and stand-ins - data obtained from Wikipedia.org. Oh Great Moth, move as required:

Ship or specific scene in movie	Stand-in
HMS Hood, Prince of Wales, King George V, and Bismarck – gun firing scenes (Big Boys)	HMS Vanguard
HMS Norfolk, Suffolk, Sheffield and Dorsetshire (cruisers)	HMS Belfast
HMS Victorious (carrier)	HMS Victorious
HMS Ark Royal (carrier)	HMS Victorious
Airplanes taking off.	HMS Centaur
HMS Cavalier (destroyer)	HMS Cossack
HMS Solent	HMS Hogue

[Admiral_Karasu]

Perhaps the one major criticism about this movie is the portrayal of Admiral Lütjens, how drastically it actually turns the reality upside down. You can read some of the tragic details of his background here:

http://www.avalanchepress.com/admiral_lutjens.php

 

 

[I_cant_Swim_]

Yes, that is a drawback. One needn't always vilify the enemy to the extreme.

However, Captain Shepard is portrayed even more inaccurately as he did not exist. 😄

 

So what did I like?

• The basic story, of course, is history. So that's a given.
• Also the decision to shoot in B & W, although they could have applied the glory of Technicolor.
• Showing the inaccuracies of the guns.
• The mix of scenes from the Admiralty building and at sea.

 

What I wish they had excluded:

The scene with HMS Solent (DD) being destroyed by Bismarck. Like Cpt. Shepard, she did not exist.

 

What I wish they had included:

• Apparently, Polish destroyer Piorun was the ship to find the Bismarck, but was not mentioned. She also went solo, brave as brave can be, toe to toe with the behemoth for the better part of an hour, to allow the other RN ships time to catch up. One hour of battle, folks, with no or negligible damage to either party. I think they certainly deserved mention.
• A bit more time spent on the King George V and Prince of Wales, to build on the suspense leading to victory.

[Admiral_Karasu]

Well, Captain Shepard is, of course, fictional but I suppose they could dramatize the role more freely as well. Also, they didn't have all the information because relevant intel was still classified at the time.

[iDuckman]

13 hours ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

Yes, I noticed that too. And didn't the German captain keep issuing commands and what we saw was always the opposite happening too.

Also, Lindemann should be issuing orders to his crew, not Lutjens. 

 

[Wolfswetpaws]

24:35 minutes:seconds into the movie - Lutjens' speech to the crew of the Bismarck.
"... You are sailing in the largest most powerful Battleship afloat ..."

I suspect the Yamato might want a word.  😉 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Yamato
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck
 

[Admiral_Karasu]

10 hours ago, iDuckman said:

Also, Lindemann should be issuing orders to his crew, not Lutjens. 

 

In practice, I suppose, Lütjens would have ordered Lindemann to issue the orders. I presume this is how Vice Admiral Holland did it because when we read accounts of the battle we are given information about the orders Holland issued to maneuver the Hood in battle.

Here's a very detailed account of the course of the engagement.

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/to-this-day-the-cause-of-the-sinking-of-the-hms-hood-during-the-hunt-for-the-bismarck-is-still-disputed/

 

[Wolfswetpaws]

3 hours ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

In practice, I suppose, Lütjens would have ordered Lindemann to issue the orders. I presume this is how Vice Admiral Holland did it because when we read accounts of the battle we are given information about the orders Holland issued to maneuver the Hood in battle.

Here's a very detailed account of the course of the engagement.

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/to-this-day-the-cause-of-the-sinking-of-the-hms-hood-during-the-hunt-for-the-bismarck-is-still-disputed/

 

The article you linked is from the summer of 2014.
Dracinifel's video about the Hood's sinking is a bit more recent (3 years ago) and has a different explanation.

The Loss of HMS Hood - But why did it blow up??

 

[Admiral_Karasu]

2 hours ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

The article you linked is from the summer of 2014.
Dracinifel's video about the Hood's sinking is a bit more recent (3 years ago) and has a different explanation.

The Loss of HMS Hood - But why did it blow up??

 

Thanks, yes, that sounds plausible to me though it would have to be a very lucky shot for Bismarck.

Here's some light reading for you and everyone else, the four scenarios start on page 26, of particular interest would be the scenarios #3 and #4.

http://www.navweaps.com/index_nathan/HOOD 1919 Armor Tests.pdf

[Wolfswetpaws]

41 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

Thanks, yes, that sounds plausible to me though it would have to be a very lucky shot for Bismarck.

Here's some light reading for you and everyone else, the four scenarios start on page 26, of particular interest would be the scenarios #3 and #4.

http://www.navweaps.com/index_nathan/HOOD 1919 Armor Tests.pdf

  😉 

Edited June 15, 2024 by Wolfswetpaws

[iDuckman]

On 6/14/2024 at 5:43 PM, Wolfswetpaws said:

24:35 minutes:seconds into the movie - Lutjens' speech to the crew of the Bismarck.
"... You are sailing in the largest most powerful Battleship afloat ..."

I suspect the Yamato might want a word.  😉 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Yamato
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck
 

I doubt seriously that the German Navy knew any more about Yamato than the US Navy. 

 

[Admiral_Karasu]

9 hours ago, iDuckman said:

I doubt seriously that the German Navy knew any more about Yamato than the US Navy. 

 

Only later, in 1943, when Vice Admiral Paul Wenneker was allowed to visit the Yamato. Even then, though, the Japanese pulled the wool over his eyes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wenneker

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlJKL0VAwDY