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Truth and rumours - Bismark was shadowed by two American battleships


shipman

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Two mystery topics..........

1.   I've read several accounts of a large sailing ship passing through the action at the WW1 Falklands battle, but as far as I'm I'm aware that ship has never been identified. I'd love to know if anyone knows more. I'm sure the crew had a thrilling, if brief tale to tell.

2.   I read somewhere a long time ago of reports that the Bismark was shadowed by two American battleships during the period when the persuing RN forces supposedly 'lost' their enemy. At that time the USA was neutral and the 'fog of war' would downplay any American involvement no matter how passive. If the story is true, wouldn't the American ships have reported the encounter to their own command, if not to the RN forces? Any information?

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2 hours ago, shipman said:

1.   I've read several accounts of a large sailing ship passing through the action at the WW1 Falklands battle, but as far as I'm I'm aware that ship has never been identified. I'd love to know if anyone knows more. I'm sure the crew had a thrilling, if brief tale to tell.

Apparently the Norwegian flagged 'Fairport'

Samuel Pepys notes in his diary on 19 July 1667: "the Dutch fleets being in so many places, that Sir W. Batten at table cried, By God,says he, I think the Devil shits Dutchmen."

 

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As concerns your #2 above, one would expect that any USN ship would have reported the contact, although it may have been later to avoid letting the Bismark know she had been spotted.  If nothing else, it should have been in the ship's log and cruise reports, thence in the naval records. 

 

I doubt that after some 80 years that type of information would still be classified, so a committed researcher should be able to prove/disprove by reviewing records/logs etc. from that time frame.

 

Wayne

Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope.
Epictetus

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I have never heard the story of the Bismarck being followed by US Battleships. She was  located by a  PBY piloted by a US Navy pilot when she slipped the Brits and this was paramount in her sinking.

Regards,

Jim Rogers

 

Damn the Torpedoes , Full speed ahead.   Adm David Farragut.

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I believe Smith was the co-pilot of the British PBY and was on board "training" the British pilot after being the ferry pilot from the US. He received the DFC for his actions against the Bismarck. Lt. Johnson and Ensign Rinehart serving the same role in two other PBYs also sighted and reported the Bismark later in the day. 

 

He was also a neighbor of you and I Jim. Living in Friday Harbor.

Edited by lmagna

Lou

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Jolly Roger you appear to be quite correct about the 'Fairport'. Just found this little snippet describing another sailing ship observed during that battle:-

''Another unidentified sailing vessel was spotted the same day not far from Fairport's course line by George Hanks, a sick bay attendant on HMS Carnarvon. In his diary, Hanks recorded, "About 3 p.m. a big sailing ship appears on the horizon and no doubt but what those on board her had a magnificent view of the battle just as it was at its zenith."

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Yep, no place to be fighting a war.

Not far from there is my grandfather; he went down with HMS Courageous after two torpedoes from a U-boat, 17 September 1939. My mother was born while he was away. he left a wife and five kids. One way or another the family still feels the pain. King and country.......and all that. Odd thing is; my mother died on 17 September.

Strange old world innit?

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  • 2 years later...

The US Coast Guard cutter "Modoc, in company with cutters Northland and General Greene rescuing survivors from torpedoed convoy ships, … witnessed a large part of German ship Bismarck's last battle 23 to 27 May 1941," according to the Wikipedia article on ModocModoc was so close to the action, she almost got hit. The Wikipedia article is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Modoc. Chuck Hill's Coast Guard blog has a detailed story at https://chuckhillscgblog.net/2013/05/24/the-coast-guard-and-the-sinking-of-the-battleship-bismark/. I've read claims that the Modoc shadowed the Bismarck and helped the British find her. An article, "Americans and the Bismarck," at http://www.avalanchepress.com/Americans-Bismarck.php says maybe. Although US battleships were involved in the North Atlantic neutrality patrol, I don't recall any reports that there were any near the Bismarck action. Maybe the cutters grew into battleships during retelling of the story.😀

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