Q&A · 7:07-7:58

Reading the Bismarck chase from inside a destroyer

A Bismarck-chase question leads to a reminder that different stations aboard one ship experience a battle differently.

Question

Did the Tribal destroyers achieve hits during the Bismarck chase at night?

Short answer

Yes; but understanding the action requires accounts from multiple shipboard positions because each crew experienced it differently.

Notes

Tribal destroyers did achieve hits during the Bismarck chase at night. A ship's size, however, separates its crew into very different sensory and tactical worlds: a gun crew, a turret crew, and a conning-tower team can describe the same action very differently. Reconstructing the battle therefore requires more than one witness account.