Last battle of Bismarck

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The last battle of the German battleship Bismarck took place in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) west of Brest, France, on 26–27 May 1941 between the German battleship Bismarck and naval and air elements of the British Royal Navy. Although it was an action between capital ships, it has no generally accepted name. It represented the culmination of Operation Rheinübung where the attempt of the Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen to disrupt the Atlantic convoys to the United Kingdom failed and resulted in the former's scuttling after battle damage rendered the Bismarck unable to fight back. The four British warships continued firing throughout the scuttling process, and most experts agree that the accumulated battle damage would have caused the Bismarck to sink eventually. The last battle consisted of four main phases. The first phase late on 26 May consisted of air attacks by Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier Ark...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Lt. J.H. Smith, Royal Navy official photographer., Public domain