Operation Rheinübung
Operation Rheinübung was the last sortie into the Atlantic by the new German battleship and heavy cruiser on 18–27 May 1941, during World War II. This operation aimed to disrupt Allied shipping to the United Kingdom as the previously successful Operation Berlin had done. After Bismarck had sunk HMS Hood during the Battle of the Denmark Strait, it culminated with the sinking of the Bismarck, while Prinz Eugen escaped to port in occupied France.
From that point on, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht would rely only on U-boats to wage the Battle of the Atlantic.
Background
During both World Wars, Britain relied heavily on merchant ships to import food, fuel, and raw materials. Such things were crucial both for civilian survival and the military effort. Protecting this lifeline was a high priority for British forces, as its disruption would significantly weaken the British economy and its military capabilities, and Britain might be forced to negotiate peace, seek an armistice, or reduce its capacity to resist if this supply line could be severed. Such an outcome would shift the balance of power in Europe decisively, potentially giving Nazi Germany control over Western Europe without a nearby base of opposition.Germany's naval leadership at the time firmly believed that defeat by blockade was achievable. However, they also believed that the primary method to achieve this objective was to use traditional commerce raiding tactics, founded upon surface combatants that were only supported by submarines. Regardless of the method or manner, Raeder convinced the OKW and Hitler that if this lifeline were severed, Britain would be defeated, regardless of any other factors.
'Operation Rheinübung' was the latest in a series of raids on Allied shipping carried out by surface units of the Kriegsmarine. It was preceded by Operation Berlin, a highly successful sortie by and which ended in March 1941.
By May 1941, the Kriegsmarine battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were at Brest, on the western coast of France, posing a serious threat to the Atlantic convoys, and were heavily bombed by the Royal Air Force. The original plan was to have both ships involved in the operation, but Scharnhorst was undergoing major repairs to her engines, and Gneisenau had just suffered a damaging torpedo hit days before, which put her out of action for 6 months. This left just two new warships available to the Kriegsmarine: the battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, both initially stationed in the Baltic Sea.
The aim of the operation was for Bismarck and Prinz Eugen to break into the Atlantic and attack Western Allied shipping. Grand Admiral Raeder's orders to Admiral Lütjens were that "the objective of the Bismarck is not to defeat enemies of equal strength, but to tie them down in a delaying action, while preserving her combat capacity as much as possible, so as to allow Prinz Eugen to get at the merchant ships in the convoy" and "The primary target in this operation is the enemy's merchant shipping; enemy warships will be engaged only when that objective makes it necessary and it can be done without excessive risk".
To support and provide facilities for the capital ships to refuel and rearm, German Naval Command established a network of tankers and supply ships in the Rheinübung operational area. Seven tankers and two supply ships were sent as far afield as Labrador in the west and the Cape Verde Islands in the south.
Lütjens had requested that Raeder delay Rheinübung long enough either for Scharnhorst to complete repairs to her engines and be made combat-worthy, allowing her to rendezvous at sea with Bismarck and Prinz Eugen; or for Bismarcks sister ship to accompany them. Raeder had refused, as Scharnhorst would not be made ready to sail until early July. The crew of the newly completed Tirpitz was not yet fully trained, and over Lütjens's protests, Raeder ordered Rheinübung to go ahead. Raeder's principal reason for going ahead was his knowledge of the upcoming Operation Barbarossa, where the Kriegsmarine was going to play only a small, supporting role. Raeder's desire was to score a major success with a battleship before Barbarossa, an act that might impress upon Hitler the need not to cut the budget for capital ships.
To meet the threat from German surface ships, the British had stationed at Scapa Flow the new battleships and as well as the battlecruiser and the newly commissioned aircraft carrier. Elsewhere, Force H at Gibraltar could muster the battlecruiser and the aircraft carrier ; at sea in the Atlantic on various duties were the older battleships and, the 16 inch gun-armed and the older battlecruiser. Cruisers and air patrols provided the fleet's "eyes". At sea, or due to sail shortly, were 11 convoys, including a troop convoy.
OKM did not take into account the Royal Navy's determination to destroy the German surface fleet. To ensure that Bismarck was sunk, the Royal Navy would ruthlessly strip other theatres of vessels. This would include denuding valuable convoys of their escorts. The British would ultimately deploy six battleships, three battlecruisers, two aircraft carriers, 16 cruisers, 33 destroyers and eight submarines, along with patrol aircraft. It would become the largest naval force assigned to a single operation up to that point in the war.
''Rheinübung''
''Bismarck'' sails
The heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen sailed at about 21:00 on 18 May 1941 from Gotenhafen, followed at 2:00 a.m., 19 May, by Bismarck. Both ships proceeded under escort, separately and rendezvoused off Cape Arkona on Rügen Island in the western Baltic, where the destroyers Z23 and Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt joined them. They then proceeded through the Danish Islands into the Kattegat. Entering the Kattegat on 20 May, Bismarck and Prinz Eugen sailed north toward the Skagerrak, the strait between Jutland and Southern Norway, where they were sighted by the Swedish aircraft-carrying cruiser on around 1:00 p.m. Gotland forwarded the sighting in a routine report. Earlier, around noon, a flight of Swedish aircraft also detected the German vessels and likewise reported their sighting.On 21 May the Admiralty was alerted by sources in the Swedish government that two large German warships had been seen in the Kattegat. The ships entered the North Sea and took a brief refuge in Grimstadfjord near Bergen, Norway on 21 May where Prinz Eugen was topped off with fuel, making a break for the Atlantic shipping lanes on 22 May. By this time, Hood and Prince of Wales, with escorting destroyers, were en route to the Denmark Strait, where two cruisers, and were already patrolling. The cruisers and had been sent to guard the waters south-east of Iceland.
Once the departure of the German ships was discovered, Admiral Sir John Tovey, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Home Fleet, sailed with King George V, Victorious and their escorts to support those already at sea. HMS Repulse joined soon afterwards.
On the evening of 23 May 1941, Suffolk sighted Bismarck and Prinz Eugen in the Denmark Strait, close to the Greenland coast. Suffolk immediately sought cover in a fog bank and alerted The Admiralty. Bismarck opened fire on Norfolk at a range of six miles but Norfolk escaped into fog. Norfolk and Suffolk, outgunned, shadowed the German ships using radar. No hits were scored but the concussion of the main guns firing at Norfolk had knocked out Bismarck's radar causing Lütjens to re-position Prinz Eugen ahead of Bismarck. After the German ships were sighted, British naval groups were redirected to either intercept Lütjens' force or to cover a troop convoy.
Battle of the Denmark Strait
Hood and Prince of Wales made contact with the German force early on the morning of 24 May, and the action started at 5:52 a.m., with the combatants about apart. Gunners onboard Hood initially mistook Prinz Eugen that was now in the lead for Bismarck and opened fire on her; Captain Leach commanding HMS Prince of Wales realised Vice-Admiral Holland's error and engaged Bismarck from the outset. Both German ships were firing at Hood. Hood suffered an early hit from Prinz Eugen which started a rapidly spreading fire amidships.Then, at about 6 a.m., one or more of Hoods magazines exploded, probably as the result of a direct hit by a shell from Bismarck. The massive explosion broke the great battlecruiser's back, and she sank within minutes. All but three of her 1,418-man crew died, including Vice Admiral Lancelot Holland, commanding officer of the squadron.
Prince of Wales continued the action, but suffered multiple hits with and shells, and experienced repeated mechanical failures with her main armament. Her commanding officer, Captain Leach, was wounded when one of Bismarck'
Bismarck had been hit three times but Admiral Lütjens overruled Bismarcks Captain Ernst Lindemann who wanted to pursue the damaged Prince of Wales and finish her off. All of the hits on Bismarck had been inflicted by Prince of Wales guns. One of the hits had penetrated the German battleship's hull near the bow, rupturing some of her fuel tanks, causing her to leak oil continuously and at a serious rate. This was to be a critical factor as the pursuit continued, forcing Bismarck to make for Brest instead of escaping into the great expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. The resulting oil slick also helped the British cruisers to shadow her.