Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowperson
(Incidentally, the British lost the aircraft carrier Ark Royal in their pursuit of the Bismark. Submarine attack.)
Cowperson
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I'll correct myself . . . . the Ark Royal was lost to submarine attack some months after the Bismark was sunk.
It was actually aircraft from the Ark Royal which damaged the Bismark and set in motion it's final moments. Five of the obsolete biplanes were damaged, one beyond repair. No other casualties.
Earlier in the chase, Swordfish, the same obsolete biplanes, from the Illustrious had damaged the Bismark, reopening a hole in it's bow and slowing it's speed.
Captain Crunch's Star Wars analogy aside, it's not inconceivable the British battleships could have stood aside and let the Swordfish continue to have repeated torpedo runs at the Bismark. Ala Billy Mitchell's famed experiment in the mid-war years, they would have eventually succeeded. Time was of the essence though, the Germans might have got their poop together and mounted a rescue by then.
Cowperson