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from metternich to bismarck
short essay on bismarck
The problem that bismarck faced
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The Bismarck The history of the Bismarck starts in the spring of 1941. It set sail on Operation Rheinübung after two ships, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau returned from Operation Berlin. It was considered to send out the Bismarck with its sister ship Tirpitz, but it was decided against shortening training operations. They were also going to send it out with Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, but they were not operational due to British air attacks. So they sent it out with heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. The operation started on May 18th, 1941. Being the largest operation of its kind, two supply ships, five tankers, and two reconnaissance ships were sent with them to escort them. Although it was tried to keep the operation secret, an aircraft cruiser Gotland spotted them while passing the Swedish coast. On May 21st the ships arrived in Grimstadtfjord, Norway, where the camouflage painting was removed, and the Prinz Eugen refueled. The Bismarck did not, which proved an error for later operation. The British reconnaissance ship Spitfire had photographed the ships while at port. This gave the British the exact location of the ships without the Germans knowing. That evening the ships left the Fjord and headed north as the weather got worse and low clouds set in, preventing air detection. The ships were supposed to refuel in the Norwegian Sea, but Admiral Lütjens skipped refueling. The reason is still unknown today, but he probably wanted to take advantage of the bad weather and refuel in the North Atlantic. SO the ships changed course on the morning of May 22nd, and headed for the Denmark Straits. The next night they were informed they were still undetected, so they continued their course. That afternoon, they started through the ice fields while heading south west. At 19:22, Bismarck's radar detected a signal on the port side, and a few moments later the silhouette of British cruiser Suffolk appeared then disappeared in the dusk. Later, another British cruiser, the Norfolk closed in. Bismarck fired five salvos, all missing. The vibrations of the shots disabled the Bismarck's front radar, so the Prinz Eugen and the Bismarck switched places, the Prinz Eugen now in the lead. At 5:00am May 24th, Prinz Eugen detected two turbine powered ships headed in their direction. Thirty-nine minutes later they were informed the Suffolk had sent out their location, and the two ships approaching were the HMS Hood, and the Prince of Wales.
Before the landings were to begin, the coastal German defenses had to be adequately prepped, and softened by a combination of a massive battering by United States ships, and bombing by the United States Air Force. Between the hours of 0300 and 0500 hours on the morning of June 6, over 1,000 aircraft dropped more than 5,000 tons of bombs on the German coastal defenses. As soon as the preliminary bombing was over, the American and British naval guns opened fire on the Normandy coastline (D' Este 112). A British naval officer described the incredible spectacle he witnessed that day: "Never has any coast suffered what a tortured strip of French coast suffered that morning; both the naval and air bombardments were unparalleled. Along the fifty-mile front the land was rocked by successive explosions as the shells of ships' guns tore holes in fortifications and tons of bombs rained on them from the skies. Through billowing smoke and falling debris defenders crouching in this scene of devastations would soon discern faintly hundreds of ships and assault craft ominously closing the shore.
It was July 30th around 11:30 at night. Hashimoto, the captain of the I-58 Japanese submarine climbed up on the bridge. He picked up binoculars. Hashimoto saw a ship because the moon was behind it and gave the order to dive. Hashimoto was very concerned that it was a destroyer ship coming to attack the submarine. Hashimoto could not get a good look at the Indianapolis because it was not zigzagging.
First, I will cover the actual weather conditions of that night and how they may have impacted the ship. Some believe th...
In the Belgian town of Dunkirk, British Naval forces rescued the bulk of the army along with some French and Belgian units. Due to the French surrendering, Germans attacked North Africa to support the failed Italian efforts. Under the leadership of General Erwin Rommel, German forces pushed eastward to take Egypt until the British at the Battle of El Alamain halted their advance. U-Boats, which were kind of like submarines, were the Germans' main defense against Britain for naval battle. Adolf Hitler, the German leader planned all these offensives in his goal to rule the world.
the North Atlantic waters. At 11:40 P.M. an ice berg was spotted and as the ship made a rapid
As he swung his fighter around, Tolman inadvertently passed his gun sight directly across the Soviet cargo ship Turkestan as it traversed towards its intended target. Designed to provide a record of the action, the gun camera mounted in the nose of Tolman’s F-105 caught an image of the Soviet ship, inside the Cam Pha Harbor sanctuary, directly centered in his sights (Patrick).
”Battle of Britain, in World War II, a series of air battles between Great Britain and Germany, fought over Britain from Aug. to Oct., 1940. As a prelude to a planned invasion of England, the German Luftwaffe attacked British coastal defenses, radar stations, and shipping. On Aug. 24 the attack was shifted inland to Royal Air Force installations and aircraft factories in an effort to gain control of the air over S England. Failing to destroy the RAF, the Germans began (Sept. 7) The night bombing, or blitz, of London. Heavy night bombings of English cities continued into October, when the attack was shifted back to coastal installations. The Germans gradually gave up hope of invading England, and the battle tapered off by the end of October. Though heavily outnumbered, the RAF put up a gallant defense; radar, used for the first time in battle by Britain, played an important role. The Germans lost some 2,300 aircraft; the RAF 900. The Battle of Britain was the first major failure of the Germans in World War II, and it thwarted Hitler's plan to force Britain to accept peace or face invasion” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia).
to see by a passing ship when it was lit. In doing all this, they were
Lacombe, E. Henry. “ A New Theory of the Lusitania Sinking: The Evidence of the German
At dawn of 19th August 1942, six thousand and one hundred Allied soldiers, of whom roughly
Unbeknownst to Admiral Yamamoto, US code breakers had deciphered the Japanese radio transmissions and the Americans knew exactly what he was doing. With this knowledge, Admiral Nimitz, commander of the US Naval forces in the Pacific, decided to send a contingent of 21 ships to Alaska and retained the rest of his fleet in the defense of Midway. The Japanese fleet was able to elude the Americans and attack the base at Dutch Harbor on the 3rd and 4th of June. Afterwards they were able to evade a naval confrontation again, and landed on the islands of Kiska and Attu on the 7th of June, quickly subduing the military and civilian inhabitants.
between Bonn and Koblenz. On March 22 the U.S. Third Army, under Patton had seized
Immediately, the Battle of the Atlantic began when “the British announced a naval blockage of Germany” on September 3, 1939(“World War II” 391). Eight days later the Germans ordered a “counter-blockage” of the Allies(“World War II” 391). The Germans hoped to stop the shipments of war supplies and food to the countries of France and Britain. After only four months into the war, German U-boats, mines, airplanes, and surface raiders had destroyed more than 215 merchant ships and two of Britain’s largest warships. Over 1,500 people had been killed in this short time. “It was clear that despite the lull on land, a long war lay ahead on the world’s water” (Pitt 8).
From here the allies head for Italy but first, Sicily must be captured. The Allies execute Operation Mincemeat. This operation consisted of planting “top secret” documents of the allied war plans for Italy attached to a corpse left too wash up on a beach in Punta Umbria, Spain. The Germans fell for this and Sicily is easily taken with the help of Montgomery and General Patton. From here, the allies attack from Salerno and slowly but steadily conquer each line of defense until the Gustav Line is reached. From here, the allies try to travel through Anzio and into Cassino to break the Gustav Line. It ...
... Harbour on 19 February: in total, 45 Allied warships and merchant vessels were in the harbour at the time of the raids. The warships included the United States Navy destroyer and seaplane tender . The RAN ships in port were the sloops and, corvettes and, auxiliary minesweepers and, patrol boat Coongoola, depot ship, examination vessel, lugger, and four boom-net ships. Several USN and Australian troop ships were in the harbour along with a number of merchant vessels of varying sizes. Most of the ships in the harbour were anchored near each other, making them an easy target for air attack. In addition to the vessels in port, the American Army supply ships Don Isidro and, Philippine vessels acquired as part of the South West Pacific Area command's permanent Army fleet earlier in February, were near Bathurst Island bound for the Philippines on the morning of the raid.