Evening star., 1941-05-31

BlSMARCk SURVIVOR AIDED
Shelled and sunk last Tuesday
banged hell out of her" and then
torpedoes from the cruiser Dorset
shire lifted her bodily out of the
water"
The officer responsible for the
torpedo-firing which ended the fight
said it was the thrill of his life.
Asked what his reactions were at
the moment of firing, he chuckled
and replied:
We'll, I kept thinking what
bloody fool the fellows back at school
would say was if missed
He didn't. Another officer related
that the big battleship shuddered at
the death blow, then turned slowly
on her side
1--WE could see her main mast
hanging like mass of vines" he
said, and her turrets were spinning
around. Her guns lay about in a
mess"
Then, slowly, she sank-in an end
different only in its lingering de-
struction from the fate she had
dealt the Hood.
Hundreds Eloundered in Water.
Hundreds of German seamen
f1oundered helplessly in the sea with
no life RATS to cling to after 40
British salvos and three steel fish"
sent the Bismarck to the bottom, the
chief petty officer of British war
ship said.
There were a lot of ferries in
the water" said Chief Petty Officer
L. r. Crocker, "and there was Moth
ing for them to hold on to, not
even a raft, although some of them
were wearing japanese lifebelts."
Crocker said rescue efforts were
halted by attacks of German sub
marines and aircraft on British
ships attempting to pick up the
survivors and he quoted one Nazl
officer as saying: "It is a bad pol
icy to pick up survivors in war
time"
81 couldn't understand a ship of
the type of the Bismarck not hav-
ing RATS" Crocker continued. THE
biggest thing I saw af1oat was a
piece of timber about feet long
Eyewitness Account.
Crocker gave the following eye
witness account of the Bismarck's
last bitter hours:
I'VE sighted the Bismarck about |
gagged and doing barely 10 knots.
"She fired a number of salvos |
which came over the top. We gave
her three salvoes forward The |
Bismarck had to be destroyed and |
we were out to do it.
Il could see explosions bursting
aboard the German, which was
concentrating her fire mainly on
the Rodney (British battleship). I
guess the Nazis were surprised to
see us. It's my belief, anyway. that |
they didn't spot us until our salvoes
crashed into them.
Now the Bismarck was afire, but |
her guns we're still roaring.
''At the end of an hours action,
the Bismarck stopped moving al
together. The Rodney and an
other British battleship were bang
ing hell out of her.
Many Wore No Shoes.
Many of the 100 survivors wore
no shoes, indicating they had been |
in the water for some time before |
being picked up.
Continuing his story, Crocker de-
clared:
LAS we went in closer to do our
stuff, I saw our shells knock the |
brains out of the Bismarck. We |
smashed her after-control and the |
fire aboard her was spreading.
But the Nazis had CUTS.
THE Rodney knocked her after
turret clean out until it was hang
ing over the side. The Bismarck |
was now ablaze from stem to stern,
and her guns at last were silent.
"The order came to sink the Bis
marck, and we banged her like the
devil with our guns, giving her
40 salvoes.
After that, We put two steel fish |
into the starboard side. I saw many
of the NaziS waving coats as the
BiSmarck'S stern was awash. The !
weather was blowing hard by this
time and visibility was low. That's
how we'd surprised her.
Lifted Out of Water.
THE torpedoes lifted her bodily |
out of the water. What a sight!
Then a cruiser from port side
slammed a third torpedo into her,
and that finished her off. 1t was
the last shot fired.
"The Bismarck stood up for few
seconds and gradually keeled over
toward the port side.
Then she turned right over, !
showing her keel and slid back. AS
she disappeared she seemed to break
up.
1--WE steamed up to the survivors
and started picking them up.
There were roughly about eight
Gin one group and they we're
punch drunk with gunfire and
didn't know whether they were
coming or going.
German submarines and aircraft
were reported, and this caused res