Sink the Bismarck!
Encyclopedia
Sink the Bismarck! is a 1960 black-and-white
British war film
based on the book, the "Last Nine Days of the Bismarck" by C. S. Forester
. It stars Kenneth More
and Dana Wynter
and was directed by Lewis Gilbert
. To date, it is the only movie made that deals directly with the operations, chase, and sinking of the battleship by the Royal Navy
during the Second World War
. Although war films were common in the '60s, Sink the Bismarck! was seen as something of an anomaly, with much of its time devoted to the "unsung back-room planners as much as on the combatants themselves". Its historical accuracy in particular, met with much praise, despite a number of inconsistencies. The film was the inspiration for Johnny Horton
's popular 1960 song, "Sink the Bismarck".
's largest and most powerful battleship, Bismarck, is launched in a ceremony at Hamburg
with Adolf Hitler
attending. The launching of the hull is seen as the beginning of an era of German sea power. Two years later, in 1941, British
convoys are being ravaged by U-boat
s and surface raider attacks which cut off supplies which Britain needs to continue the war. In May, British intelligence discovers the Bismarck and the heavy cruiser
are about to break into the North Atlantic to attack convoys.
The man assigned to coordinate the hunt is the Admiralty
's chief of operations, Captain Jonathan Shepard (Kenneth More), who has been distraught over the death of his wife in an air raid and the sinking of his ship by German ships commanded by Admiral Günther Lütjens
(Karel Štěpánek
). Upon receiving his new post, Shepard discovers Lütjens is the fleet
commander on the Bismarck. Shepard's experience of conflict with the German Navy
and his understanding of Lütjens allow him to predict the Bismarcks movements. Shepard is aggressive to his staff but comes increasingly to rely on the coolness and skill of his assistant, WREN
Second Officer Anne Davis (Dana Wynter).
Lütjens is also bitter. After World War I
, he considered he had no recognition for his efforts in the war. Lütjens promises the captain of the Bismarck, Ernst Lindemann
(Carl Möhner
), that this time, he and Germany will be remembered in greatness.
The breakout of the Bismarck and its escorts, includes the sinking of HMS Hood
in the waters south of Iceland
. The battleship's escape is shadowed by smaller British ships. Shepard, obsessed with Bismarck, must endure the likely death of his son as an air-gunner on a Fairey Swordfish
torpedo
bomber from HMS Ark Royal
, one of the British ships deployed to the hunt. He gambles that Lütjens is returning to friendly waters where U-boats and air cover will make it impossible to attack.
Shepard commits large forces stripped from convoy escort and uses Catalina flying boats to search for the battleship. His hunch proves correct, and Bismarck is located, apparently steaming towards the German-occupied French coast. British forces have a narrow window to destroy or slow their prey before German support and their own diminishing fuel supplies prevent further attack. Swordfish aircraft from HMS Ark Royal have two chances. The first fails: they misidentify as Bismarck; the new magnetic torpedo detonators are faulty and most explode as they hit the water. Switching to conventional contact detonators, the second attack is successful, with damage jamming Bismarcks rudder.
Unable to repair the rudder, the German battleship steams in circles. A night attack by British destroyers torpedoes Bismarck but the battleship returns fire, destroying one of the pursuing destroyers . The main force of British ships (including battleships and ) find Bismarck the next day, raining gunfire on her. Lütjens in his final moments insists to Lindemann that German forces will arrive to save them, but he dies when a shell destroys Bismarck bridge.
After the sinking of the Bismarck, and having been told that his son has been rescued, Shepard asks Davis out to dinner, believing it to be nine o'clock at night, only to realise it is nine in the morning. Davis suggests breakfast, and they walk off together.
, to obtain the full co-operation of the Admiralty. The soon-to-be scrapped battleship provided some remarkable footage of a capital ship's 15" gun turrets in action for scenes aboard HMS Hood and HMS King George V. The museum ship was used to depict the bridge and triple 6" gun turrets of HMS Sheffield, and for scenes aboard the other cruisers involved in Bismarcks pursuit. A reserve Dido class cruiser
was used as the set for Bismarcks destruction.
The aircraft carrier briefly plays herself, despite the postwar addition of a large angled deck and a massive Type 984 "searchlight" radar; the same ship is also used to depict HMS Ark Royal sailing from Gibraltar. All flying from both carriers was filmed aboard - clearly marked with her postwar pennant number
R06 - and three surviving Fairey Swordfish aircraft were restored and flown from her flight deck. Two of these aircraft are still flying 50 years later as the core of the Royal Navy Historic Flight
.
The destroyers used to depict the torpedo night attacks were C class
(D73), representing the flotilla flagship of "Captain (D)", and Battle Class
, representing the fictional which Bismarck destroys in the film. Their pennant numbers
can be made out quite clearly, although they are reversed to conform with the film's convention that all British ships should move from left to right of the screen, and German ships "vice-versa". These were the last classes of destroyer built during the war, and the last to have the classic War Emergency Programme destroyers
' outline. HMS Cavalier remained in service until 1972, the last RN destroyer to have served in the Second World War, and is now preserved at Chatham Dockyard
to commemorate all these vessels, but the newer and larger HMS Hogue was broken up shortly after the film was completed.
The large models of the major warships: Bismarck, HMS Hood, HMS Prince of Wales, HMS King George V, HMS Rodney and the County class cruiser
s, are generally very accurate, although HMS Hood is depicted in a slightly earlier configuration from that which actually blew up. The use of models in a studio tank were intercut with wartime footage and staged sequences using available full-size warships. Bismarck anti-aircraft guns, however, are represented by stock footage
of British QF 2 pounder naval gun
.
, Norway
sees Bismarck arrive in Norwegian waters, the ship has no apparent camouflage. Bismarck had striped camouflage along its sides which was removed shortly before it headed out to sea. Damage during its battle with HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales caused flooding that put Bismarck's bow barely above the sea and oil slicks caused by hits from the HMS Prince of Wales were apparent; in the film, Bismarcks bow remains at the same level.
The film oversimplifies the movements of the HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales early in the battle. The film shows an order to turn, allowing HMS Hood and presumably HMS Prince of Wales to fire full broadsides. In reality, the British sought to close the distance first, only firing forward turrets and reducing their firepower advantage while the Bismarck was firing full broadsides. Only in its final moments did the HMS Hood begin a turn to train all her main guns on the Bismarck. However, the Bismarck hit the HMS Hood and she exploded. This deployment has been questioned and cited as a possible cause for the British defeat, an issue the movie sidesteps. The film fails to note that HMS Hood at first engaged the wrong ship, firing at heavy cruiser
Prinz Eugen in the belief it was the Bismarck. A minor continuity error involves the HMS Hood shown firing to port while the Bismarck is firing to starboard; it was the other way around.
In one scene, Lütjens speculates that after Bismarck underwent repair in Brest, France
, the two German battleships based there, Gneisenau
and Scharnhorst
, could join the Bismarck in raiding Allied shipping. There is no record of such a discussion at that time, although it would have been possible for Bismarck to sortie with the two battleships if Bismarck had reached the port. Before the operation, Lütjens had requested that either Scharnhorst, Gneisenau or Tirpitz
join Bismarck and Prinz Eugen; his request was denied.
Another historical error was made during the night engagement between British destroyers and the Bismarck. The film portrayal shows three British hits by torpedoes, while the British destroyer HMS Solent is hit and destroyed by the Bismarck. There was no destroyer named "Solent" and no successful torpedo attack, although S class submarine
HMS Solent did exist during the war as a submarine operating on the Eastern Fleet
in 1944. On 26 May, a Royal Navy
destroyer squadron, led by Captain (D)
, (later to be Admiral), Philip Vian
in , did exchange gunfire during unsuccessful torpedo attacks with Bismarck inflicting minor damage to the destroyers.
Another error was the depiction of the aircraft that finally relocated the Bismarck after she escaped detection by HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk shadowing her after the battle. This was actually an RAF
Catalina, piloted by an American Naval Reserve officer, Ensign Leonard Smith. The attacks by Fleet Air Arm Swordfish show some aircraft being shot down. Shepherd hears a report his son's Swordfish from HMS Ark Royal did not return. No Swordfish was shot down by Bismarcks guns and all were recovered. However, from the HMS Victoriouss air raid, two Fairey Fulmar
escort fighters ran out of fuel and ditched. Three fliers were picked up from a rubber boat.
The film credits identify the actual Director of Operations as Capt R.A.B. Edwards
and "Capt Shepard" as fictional. The Shepard-Davis interplay added human interest to the storyline. In a similar manner, the battle between British and German forces is also recreated as a human drama, with Admiral Lütjens pitted against Capt Shepard in a "psychological chess match." Although Admiral Lütjens is fictitiously portrayed as a stereotypical movie Nazi, crazed in his undaunted belief that the Bismarck is unsinkable, Lütjens was not a supporter of the Nazi cause, and along with two other navy commanders, had publicly protested against the brutality of anti-Semitic crimes during Kristallnacht
. In reality, Lütjens was also a pragmatist who realised that Bismarcks breakout mission would be a daunting task. The film shows Lütjens ordering Captain Ernst Lindemann
to open fire on HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales. Lütjens ordered Lindemann to avoid engaging HMS Hood; Lindemann refused and ordered the ship's guns to open fire. The film also does not show controversial events after the Bismarck sank, including HMS Dorsetshire
s quick departure after rescuing only 110 survivors.
review by A.H. Weiler, likewise championed its realism in saying "a viewer could not ask for greater authenticity." However, it went on to criticise both the acting and the constant scene changes "from Admiralty plotting rooms to the bridges of the ships at sea," claiming that this lessened the "over-all effectiveness" of both scenes. Film4
praised its cinematography, noting that it "very realistically re-enacted scenes in the War Room of the Admiralty" as well as "excellently filmed episodes using miniature models."
During the postwar period, war films were the staple of the British film industry, with Sink the Bismarck! an exemplar, sharing the "common themes, actors ... visual style and ideological messages ..." of the genre. British magazine Radio Times
viewed Sink the Bismarck! positively, stating that "this fine film fully captures the tensions, dangers and complexities of battle by concentrating on the unsung back-room planners as much as on the combatants themselves" while also praising More's performance. Attention was drawn to the ways in which it deviated from other war films of the period, specifically commenting on how "there is a respect for the enemy that is missing in many previous flag-wavers". The film was given a four-star rating
.
Gilbert's continual forays into events that shaped the British war experience, mirrored his own background as a wartime filmmaker. His films merged historical episodes and the role of the individual, with Sink the Bismarck! characterised as having an "emotional punch, not least because Gilbert's direction relentlessly focuses on the human dimension amidst the history." Sink the Bismarck! was well received by the public, and according to box office receipts, it was the most popular film in Great Britain in 1960. The film replicated the success of other British war-themed productions in the decade that also received No. 1 status, including The Cruel Sea
(1953), The Dam Busters
(1955) and Reach for the Sky
(1956).
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
British war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
based on the book, the "Last Nine Days of the Bismarck" by C. S. Forester
C. S. Forester
Cecil Scott "C.S." Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith , an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of naval warfare. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen...
. It stars Kenneth More
Kenneth More
Kenneth Gilbert More CBE was a highly successful English film actor during the post-World War II era and starred in many feature films, often in the role of an archetypal carefree and happy-go-lucky middle-class gentleman.-Early life:Kenneth More was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the...
and Dana Wynter
Dana Wynter
Dana Wynter was a German-born British actress, who was brought up in England and Southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than forty years beginning in the 1950s, most notably in the original version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.-Early life:Wynter was born as Dagmar...
and was directed by Lewis Gilbert
Lewis Gilbert
Lewis Gilbert CBE is an English film director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:He was the son of music hall performers, and spent his early years travelling with his parents, and watching the shows from the side of the stage. He first performed on-stage at the age of 5, when asked to drive a...
. To date, it is the only movie made that deals directly with the operations, chase, and sinking of the battleship by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Although war films were common in the '60s, Sink the Bismarck! was seen as something of an anomaly, with much of its time devoted to the "unsung back-room planners as much as on the combatants themselves". Its historical accuracy in particular, met with much praise, despite a number of inconsistencies. The film was the inspiration for Johnny Horton
Johnny Horton
John Gale "Johnny" Horton was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s...
's popular 1960 song, "Sink the Bismarck".
Plot
In 1939, the Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's largest and most powerful battleship, Bismarck, is launched in a ceremony at Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
with Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
attending. The launching of the hull is seen as the beginning of an era of German sea power. Two years later, in 1941, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
convoys are being ravaged by U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s and surface raider attacks which cut off supplies which Britain needs to continue the war. In May, British intelligence discovers the Bismarck and the heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
are about to break into the North Atlantic to attack convoys.
The man assigned to coordinate the hunt is the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
's chief of operations, Captain Jonathan Shepard (Kenneth More), who has been distraught over the death of his wife in an air raid and the sinking of his ship by German ships commanded by Admiral Günther Lütjens
Günther Lütjens
Günther Lütjens was a German Admiral whose military service spanned almost 30 years. Lütjens is best known for his actions during World War II, primarily his service as admiral of the squadron comprising and her consort, , during the Operation Rheinübung sortie.-Early career:Günther Lütjens was...
(Karel Štěpánek
Karel Štěpánek
Karel Štěpánek was a Czech actor who spent many years in Austria and generally played German roles onscreen. In 1940 he fled to Britain and spent much of the rest of his career acting there.-Selected filmography:...
). Upon receiving his new post, Shepard discovers Lütjens is the fleet
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
commander on the Bismarck. Shepard's experience of conflict with the German Navy
German Navy
The German Navy is the navy of Germany and is part of the unified Bundeswehr .The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the revolutionary era of 1848 – 52 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy...
and his understanding of Lütjens allow him to predict the Bismarcks movements. Shepard is aggressive to his staff but comes increasingly to rely on the coolness and skill of his assistant, WREN
Women's Royal Naval Service
The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics...
Second Officer Anne Davis (Dana Wynter).
Lütjens is also bitter. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he considered he had no recognition for his efforts in the war. Lütjens promises the captain of the Bismarck, Ernst Lindemann
Ernst Lindemann
Otto Ernst Lindemann was a German naval captain. He was the only commander of the battleship during its eight months of service in World War II....
(Carl Möhner
Carl Möhner
Carl Möhner was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in over 40 films between 1949 and 1976. He was born in Vienna, Austria, and died in McAllen, Texas from Parkinson's disease.-Selected filmography:...
), that this time, he and Germany will be remembered in greatness.
The breakout of the Bismarck and its escorts, includes the sinking of HMS Hood
HMS Hood (51)
HMS Hood was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. One of four s ordered in mid-1916, her design—although drastically revised after the Battle of Jutland and improved while she was under construction—still had serious limitations. For this reason she was the only ship of her class to be...
in the waters south of Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
. The battleship's escape is shadowed by smaller British ships. Shepard, obsessed with Bismarck, must endure the likely death of his son as an air-gunner on a Fairey Swordfish
Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...
torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
bomber from HMS Ark Royal
HMS Ark Royal (91)
HMS Ark Royal was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War.Designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird and Company, Ltd. at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design...
, one of the British ships deployed to the hunt. He gambles that Lütjens is returning to friendly waters where U-boats and air cover will make it impossible to attack.
Shepard commits large forces stripped from convoy escort and uses Catalina flying boats to search for the battleship. His hunch proves correct, and Bismarck is located, apparently steaming towards the German-occupied French coast. British forces have a narrow window to destroy or slow their prey before German support and their own diminishing fuel supplies prevent further attack. Swordfish aircraft from HMS Ark Royal have two chances. The first fails: they misidentify as Bismarck; the new magnetic torpedo detonators are faulty and most explode as they hit the water. Switching to conventional contact detonators, the second attack is successful, with damage jamming Bismarcks rudder.
Unable to repair the rudder, the German battleship steams in circles. A night attack by British destroyers torpedoes Bismarck but the battleship returns fire, destroying one of the pursuing destroyers . The main force of British ships (including battleships and ) find Bismarck the next day, raining gunfire on her. Lütjens in his final moments insists to Lindemann that German forces will arrive to save them, but he dies when a shell destroys Bismarck bridge.
After the sinking of the Bismarck, and having been told that his son has been rescued, Shepard asks Davis out to dinner, believing it to be nine o'clock at night, only to realise it is nine in the morning. Davis suggests breakfast, and they walk off together.
Cast
As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):- Kenneth MoreKenneth MoreKenneth Gilbert More CBE was a highly successful English film actor during the post-World War II era and starred in many feature films, often in the role of an archetypal carefree and happy-go-lucky middle-class gentleman.-Early life:Kenneth More was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the...
as Captain Jonathan Shepard - Carl MöhnerCarl MöhnerCarl Möhner was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in over 40 films between 1949 and 1976. He was born in Vienna, Austria, and died in McAllen, Texas from Parkinson's disease.-Selected filmography:...
as Captain LindemannErnst LindemannOtto Ernst Lindemann was a German naval captain. He was the only commander of the battleship during its eight months of service in World War II.... - Dana WynterDana WynterDana Wynter was a German-born British actress, who was brought up in England and Southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than forty years beginning in the 1950s, most notably in the original version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.-Early life:Wynter was born as Dagmar...
as 2nd Officer Anne Davis - Laurence NaismithLaurence NaismithLaurence Naismith was an English actor.Naismith appeared in films such as Carrington VC , Richard III , Sink the Bismarck! , Jason and the Argonauts , and Diamonds Are Forever . He also starred in a children's ghost film The Amazing Mr Blunden...
as First Sea LordFirst Sea LordThe First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
(Sir Dudley PoundDudley PoundAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Alfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound GCB OM GCVO RN was a British naval officer who served as First Sea Lord, professional head of the Royal Navy from June 1939 to September 1943.- Early life :...
) - Karel ŠtěpánekKarel ŠtěpánekKarel Štěpánek was a Czech actor who spent many years in Austria and generally played German roles onscreen. In 1940 he fled to Britain and spent much of the rest of his career acting there.-Selected filmography:...
as Admiral Günther LütjensGünther LütjensGünther Lütjens was a German Admiral whose military service spanned almost 30 years. Lütjens is best known for his actions during World War II, primarily his service as admiral of the squadron comprising and her consort, , during the Operation Rheinübung sortie.-Early career:Günther Lütjens was... - Maurice DenhamMaurice DenhamMaurice Denham OBE was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 television programmes and films throughout his long career.-Life and career:...
as Commander Richards - Mark DignamMark DignamMark Dignam was a prolific English actor.Born in London, the son of salesman in the steel industry, Dignam grew up in Sheffield and was educated at the Jesuit College where he appeared in numerous Shakespearean plays....
as Captain, HMS Ark Royal - Michael GoodliffeMichael GoodliffeLawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe was an English actor best known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working class parts....
as Captain Banister - Jack GwillimJack GwillimJack William Frederick Gwillim was a prolific English character actor.-Career:Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, he served in the Royal Navy for over twenty years, attaining the rank of Commander...
as Captain, HMS King George V - Esmond KnightEsmond KnightEsmond Penington Knight was an English actor.He was an accomplished actor with a career spanning over half a century. For much of his career Esmond Knight was virtually blind...
as Captain, HMS Prince of Wales. Knight actually served as a gunnery officer on board her, and was badly injured during the battle with the Bismarck. - Edward R. MurrowEdward R. MurrowEdward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
as himself; recreattng some of his historic wartime broadcasts for CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
for the film. - Michael HordernMichael HordernSir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.-Personal life:...
as Admiral Tovey, Commander-in-Chief, HMS King George V - Geoffrey KeenGeoffrey KeenGeoffrey Keen was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many famous films.-Early life:Keen was born in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, the son of stage actor Malcolm Keen. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School. He then joined the Little Repertory Theatre in Bristol for whom...
as Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff - Jack WatlingJack WatlingJack Watling was a British actor.-Early life:Watling trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts as a child and made his stage debut in Where the Rainbow Ends at the Holborn Empire in 1936...
as Signals Officer - Ernest ClarkErnest ClarkErnest Clark was a British actor of stage, television and film.-Early life:Clark was the son of a master builder in Maida Vale, and was educated nearby at St Marylebone Grammar School. After leaving school he became a reporter on a local newspaper in Croydon...
as Captain, HMS Suffolk - John HorsleyJohn Horsley (actor)John L. Horsley is an English actor. He was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England.He made his acting debut at the Theatre Royal in Bournemouth. His early career saw him playing a succession of doctors and policemen, the former on film in Hell Drivers , the latter on television in Big...
as Captain, HMS Sheffield - Peter BurtonPeter BurtonPeter Burton was an English film and television actor born in Bromley, England. His biggest claim to fame is being the first actor to portray Major Boothroyd, better known as Q, in the first James Bond film, Dr. No...
as Captain - First Destroyer - Sydney TaflerSydney TaflerSydney Tafler , was a British film and television actor, first appearing in London's West End in 1936, after two years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, with Sir Seymour Hicks in The Man in Dress Clothes....
as First Workman Henry - John StuartJohn Stuart (actor)John Stuart, born John Alfred Louden Croall , was a Scottish actor, and a very popular leading man in British silent films in the 1920s. He appeared in two films directed by Alfred Hitchcock....
as Captain, HMS Hood - Walter HuddWalter HuddWalter Hudd was a British actor.According to the Filmgoer's Companion by Leslie Halliwell, in 1936 Hudd was cast as T.E...
as Admiral, HMS Hood
Production
The film was made in 1960, as the last major wartime fleet units were being retired. Producer John Brabourne was able to use his influence as son-in-law of Lord Mountbatten, then Chief of the Defence StaffChief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)
The Chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the British Armed Forces, a senior official within the Ministry of Defence, and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister...
, to obtain the full co-operation of the Admiralty. The soon-to-be scrapped battleship provided some remarkable footage of a capital ship's 15" gun turrets in action for scenes aboard HMS Hood and HMS King George V. The museum ship was used to depict the bridge and triple 6" gun turrets of HMS Sheffield, and for scenes aboard the other cruisers involved in Bismarcks pursuit. A reserve Dido class cruiser
Dido class cruiser
The Dido class was a class of sixteen light cruisers built for the Royal Navy. The design was influenced by the Arethusa class light cruisers. The first group of three ships was commissioned in 1940, the second group and third group were commissioned in 1941–1942...
was used as the set for Bismarcks destruction.
The aircraft carrier briefly plays herself, despite the postwar addition of a large angled deck and a massive Type 984 "searchlight" radar; the same ship is also used to depict HMS Ark Royal sailing from Gibraltar. All flying from both carriers was filmed aboard - clearly marked with her postwar pennant number
Pennant number
In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...
R06 - and three surviving Fairey Swordfish aircraft were restored and flown from her flight deck. Two of these aircraft are still flying 50 years later as the core of the Royal Navy Historic Flight
Royal Navy Historic Flight
right|350px|thumb|Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 VR930 with wings folded, at Kemble Airfield, Gloucestershire, England.The Royal Navy Historic Flight maintains and flies a small number of aircraft that are important to British Naval aviation. The organisation is not part of the military establishment; it...
.
The destroyers used to depict the torpedo night attacks were C class
C class destroyer (1943)
The C class was a class of 32 destroyers of the Royal Navy that were launched from 1943 to 1945. The class was built in four flotillas of 8 vessels, the Ca, Ch, Co and Cr classes, ordered as the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th Emergency Flotillas respectively...
(D73), representing the flotilla flagship of "Captain (D)", and Battle Class
Battle class destroyer
The Battle class were a class of destroyers of the British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy . Built in three groups, the first group were ordered under the 1942 naval estimates. A modified second and third group, together with two ships of an extended design were planned for the 1943 and 1944...
, representing the fictional which Bismarck destroys in the film. Their pennant numbers
Pennant number
In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...
can be made out quite clearly, although they are reversed to conform with the film's convention that all British ships should move from left to right of the screen, and German ships "vice-versa". These were the last classes of destroyer built during the war, and the last to have the classic War Emergency Programme destroyers
War Emergency Programme destroyers
The War Emergency Programme destroyers were 112 destroyers built for the British Royal Navy during World War II. They were based on the hull and machinery of the earlier J, K and N class destroyer. Due to supply problems and the persistent failure by the Royal Navy to develop a suitable...
' outline. HMS Cavalier remained in service until 1972, the last RN destroyer to have served in the Second World War, and is now preserved at Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
to commemorate all these vessels, but the newer and larger HMS Hogue was broken up shortly after the film was completed.
The large models of the major warships: Bismarck, HMS Hood, HMS Prince of Wales, HMS King George V, HMS Rodney and the County class cruiser
County class cruiser
The County class was a class of heavy cruisers built for the British Royal Navy in the years between the First and Second World Wars. They were the first post-war cruiser construction for the Royal Navy and were designed within the limits of the Washington Naval Conference of 1922...
s, are generally very accurate, although HMS Hood is depicted in a slightly earlier configuration from that which actually blew up. The use of models in a studio tank were intercut with wartime footage and staged sequences using available full-size warships. Bismarck anti-aircraft guns, however, are represented by stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
of British QF 2 pounder naval gun
QF 2 pounder naval gun
The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1.575 inch British autocannon, used famously as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing...
.
Historical accuracy
Some minor continuity errors involve the visual appearance of the Bismarck. When a spy in KristiansandKristiansand
-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
sees Bismarck arrive in Norwegian waters, the ship has no apparent camouflage. Bismarck had striped camouflage along its sides which was removed shortly before it headed out to sea. Damage during its battle with HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales caused flooding that put Bismarck's bow barely above the sea and oil slicks caused by hits from the HMS Prince of Wales were apparent; in the film, Bismarcks bow remains at the same level.
The film oversimplifies the movements of the HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales early in the battle. The film shows an order to turn, allowing HMS Hood and presumably HMS Prince of Wales to fire full broadsides. In reality, the British sought to close the distance first, only firing forward turrets and reducing their firepower advantage while the Bismarck was firing full broadsides. Only in its final moments did the HMS Hood begin a turn to train all her main guns on the Bismarck. However, the Bismarck hit the HMS Hood and she exploded. This deployment has been questioned and cited as a possible cause for the British defeat, an issue the movie sidesteps. The film fails to note that HMS Hood at first engaged the wrong ship, firing at heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
Prinz Eugen in the belief it was the Bismarck. A minor continuity error involves the HMS Hood shown firing to port while the Bismarck is firing to starboard; it was the other way around.
In one scene, Lütjens speculates that after Bismarck underwent repair in Brest, France
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, the two German battleships based there, Gneisenau
German battleship Gneisenau
Gneisenau was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the second vessel of her class, which included one other ship, Scharnhorst. The ship was built at the Deutsche Werke dockyard in Kiel; she was laid down on 6 May 1935...
and Scharnhorst
German battleship Scharnhorst
Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15...
, could join the Bismarck in raiding Allied shipping. There is no record of such a discussion at that time, although it would have been possible for Bismarck to sortie with the two battleships if Bismarck had reached the port. Before the operation, Lütjens had requested that either Scharnhorst, Gneisenau or Tirpitz
German battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...
join Bismarck and Prinz Eugen; his request was denied.
Another historical error was made during the night engagement between British destroyers and the Bismarck. The film portrayal shows three British hits by torpedoes, while the British destroyer HMS Solent is hit and destroyed by the Bismarck. There was no destroyer named "Solent" and no successful torpedo attack, although S class submarine
British S class submarine (1931)
The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of the submarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea replacing the British H class submarines...
HMS Solent did exist during the war as a submarine operating on the Eastern Fleet
HMS Solent (P262)
HMS Solent was an S-class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on 8 June 1944....
in 1944. On 26 May, a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
destroyer squadron, led by Captain (D)
Captain (D)
In the Royal Navy, a Captain is an appointment of a commander of a destroyer flotilla....
, (later to be Admiral), Philip Vian
Philip Vian
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Louis Vian, GCB, KBE, DSO & Two Bars was a British naval officer who served in both World Wars....
in , did exchange gunfire during unsuccessful torpedo attacks with Bismarck inflicting minor damage to the destroyers.
Another error was the depiction of the aircraft that finally relocated the Bismarck after she escaped detection by HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk shadowing her after the battle. This was actually an RAF
No. 209 Squadron RAF
No. 209 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force was originally formed from a nucleus of "Naval Eight" on 1 February 1917 at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, France, as No. 9 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service and saw active service in both World Wars, the Korean War and in Malaya...
Catalina, piloted by an American Naval Reserve officer, Ensign Leonard Smith. The attacks by Fleet Air Arm Swordfish show some aircraft being shot down. Shepherd hears a report his son's Swordfish from HMS Ark Royal did not return. No Swordfish was shot down by Bismarcks guns and all were recovered. However, from the HMS Victoriouss air raid, two Fairey Fulmar
Fairey Fulmar
The Fairey Fulmar was a British carrier-borne fighter aircraft that served with the Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War. A total of 600 were built by Fairey Aviation at its Stockport factory between January 1940 and December 1942...
escort fighters ran out of fuel and ditched. Three fliers were picked up from a rubber boat.
The film credits identify the actual Director of Operations as Capt R.A.B. Edwards
Ralph Edwards (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Ralph Edwards KCB CBE was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet.-Naval career:...
and "Capt Shepard" as fictional. The Shepard-Davis interplay added human interest to the storyline. In a similar manner, the battle between British and German forces is also recreated as a human drama, with Admiral Lütjens pitted against Capt Shepard in a "psychological chess match." Although Admiral Lütjens is fictitiously portrayed as a stereotypical movie Nazi, crazed in his undaunted belief that the Bismarck is unsinkable, Lütjens was not a supporter of the Nazi cause, and along with two other navy commanders, had publicly protested against the brutality of anti-Semitic crimes during Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
. In reality, Lütjens was also a pragmatist who realised that Bismarcks breakout mission would be a daunting task. The film shows Lütjens ordering Captain Ernst Lindemann
Ernst Lindemann
Otto Ernst Lindemann was a German naval captain. He was the only commander of the battleship during its eight months of service in World War II....
to open fire on HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales. Lütjens ordered Lindemann to avoid engaging HMS Hood; Lindemann refused and ordered the ship's guns to open fire. The film also does not show controversial events after the Bismarck sank, including HMS Dorsetshire
HMS Dorsetshire (40)
HMS Dorsetshire was a heavy cruiser of the County class of the Royal Navy, named after the English county . She was launched on 29 January 1929 at Portsmouth Dockyard, UK. During the Second World War, she was last commanded by Captain Augustus Agar V.C....
s quick departure after rescuing only 110 survivors.
Reception
For the most part, the film's historical accuracy was praised by reviewers, with the likes of Variety calling it a "first-rate film re-creation [sic] of a thrilling historical event." A contemporary The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review by A.H. Weiler, likewise championed its realism in saying "a viewer could not ask for greater authenticity." However, it went on to criticise both the acting and the constant scene changes "from Admiralty plotting rooms to the bridges of the ships at sea," claiming that this lessened the "over-all effectiveness" of both scenes. Film4
Film4
Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.-Programming:...
praised its cinematography, noting that it "very realistically re-enacted scenes in the War Room of the Admiralty" as well as "excellently filmed episodes using miniature models."
During the postwar period, war films were the staple of the British film industry, with Sink the Bismarck! an exemplar, sharing the "common themes, actors ... visual style and ideological messages ..." of the genre. British magazine Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
viewed Sink the Bismarck! positively, stating that "this fine film fully captures the tensions, dangers and complexities of battle by concentrating on the unsung back-room planners as much as on the combatants themselves" while also praising More's performance. Attention was drawn to the ways in which it deviated from other war films of the period, specifically commenting on how "there is a respect for the enemy that is missing in many previous flag-wavers". The film was given a four-star rating
Star (classification)
Stars are often used as symbols for classification purposes. They are used by reviewers for ranking things such as movies, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. For example, one to five stars is commonly employed to categorize hotels.-Restaurant ratings:...
.
Gilbert's continual forays into events that shaped the British war experience, mirrored his own background as a wartime filmmaker. His films merged historical episodes and the role of the individual, with Sink the Bismarck! characterised as having an "emotional punch, not least because Gilbert's direction relentlessly focuses on the human dimension amidst the history." Sink the Bismarck! was well received by the public, and according to box office receipts, it was the most popular film in Great Britain in 1960. The film replicated the success of other British war-themed productions in the decade that also received No. 1 status, including The Cruel Sea
The Cruel Sea (film)
The Cruel Sea is a 1953 British film from Ealing Studios starring Jack Hawkins and Donald Sinden, with Denholm Elliott, Stanley Baker, Liam Redmond, Virginia McKenna and Moira Lister...
(1953), The Dam Busters
The Dam Busters (film)
The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
(1955) and Reach for the Sky
Reach for the Sky
Reach for the Sky is a 1956 British biographical film of aviator Douglas Bader, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film of 1956.-Plot:In 1928, Douglas Bader, a...
(1956).
Other productions
A revival of interest in the Bismarck was reflected in numerous publications that followed the film, as well as a variety of scale models that were produced. When the 1989 expedition by Dr. Robert Ballard to locate and photograph the remains of the battleship proved to be successful, further attention was directed to the story of the Bismarck. A number of documentaries have also been produced including the Channel 4 mini series "Battle of Hood and Bismarck" (2002) and Hunt for the Bismarck aired in 2007 on the History Channel network worldwide.See also
- Battle of the Denmark StraitBattle of the Denmark StraitThe Battle of the Denmark Strait was a Second World War naval battle between ships of the Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine, fought on 24 May 1941...
- Operation RheinübungOperation RheinübungOperation Rheinübung was the sortie into the Atlantic by the new German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen on 18–27 May 1941, during World War II...
- history of the sortie of Bismarck and Prinz Eugen - Last battle of the battleship Bismarck