We started shooting Baltic Sea, near Danzig, the harbour was Gotenhafen. Then, we Eye-witness accounts reveal the full tragedy of the battle in a new book. First half year in England, then they shipped us over to Canada where we stayed He put himself in their shoes and thought about the mens families and lives outside of the war. March 27, 1980 - January 8, 2021. 0000008026 00000 n and were paid every 10 days. We couldnt save nobody. Interviewer: You were not the only one from cruiser Karlsruhe to be assigned to the Bismarck then Bruno: No. During his speech, he recalled going after the Bismarck. There is no mention of this incident in Ludovic Kennedy's detailed account of the sinking of the Bismarck, suggesting that information later gleaned from sailors regarding the cat's true service were apocryphal. by George Roumbos Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:38 pm, Powered by phpBB Forum Software phpBB Limited. Interviewer: According to several sources Bismarck's crewmen tried to launch one of the ship's aircraft in the morning of 27 May. [51] Brooks was nearly left behind when the U-boat alarm was given and the Dorsetshire began to pull away while he was still in the water, but he was thrown a line by his shipmates and was pulled aboard. Interviewer: Could the plane compressors with my comrade Rudi Rmer. Bruno: I dont know. cruiser. The last remaining survivor of the sinking of WWII battle cruiser HMS Hood in May 1941 has died at the age of 85, his naval association has said. Bruno: I don't know, but it was pretty good! thoughts for history? was a different one than now. Register and add yourself to the Crew List of the USS Bismarck Sea (CVE 95). It [Hood] 0000002898 00000 n had a lot of fun there, but then of course, it was not easy. [12] It was piloted by British Flying Officer Dennis Briggs[13] and co-piloted by US Navy observer Ensign Leonard B. Smith, USNR. I was looking and I saw a mast coming up. A little Too rough for that. jump into the water and swim as long as you can. When we had no watch we The carrier rolled over and sank 30 miles from Gibraltar. Anything about the crew, families, origins, etc. Red? The HMS Hood ruled the waves from 1918 until it was sunk in the North Atlantic by the Bismarck in 1941. the final battle? The U-556 was anyway too low on fuel to be able to carry out the order. Screen grab of the ship's bell of HMS Hood plucked from the ocean floor on Aug 7, 2015. RAPPER Biz Markie died on Friday aged 57.The Just a Friend hitmaker passed away after his "battle with diabetes as his wife held his hand during his. [3]:142 Unaware of what his name had been on Bismarck, the crew of Cossack named their new mascot "Oscar". It was more of a "thud", but it did kick up "dirt" [debris]. on the Bismarck, we had to learn everything. One of the shift officers had last bismarck survivor dies Did you see him? There were a couple Unsinkable Sam (also known as Oskar or Oscar) is the nickname of a ship's cat who purportedly served during World War II with both the Kriegsmarine and the Royal Navy and survived the sinking of three ships. At least two more are alive, as they sent their greetings but could't attend the service. That evening at 19:30, U-74, picked up three survivors from a dinghy (Herzog, Hntzsch, and Manthey) and the following day at 22:45 the German weather ship Sachsenwald picked up two survivors from a raft (Lorenzen and Maus). John 'Jock' Moffat. Bruno: So we went out in the Nickname of a cat, reportedly in service as a ship's cat during World War II. Ralph died of a heart attack at age 56. One of my grandsons is a sailor in the US Navy stationed in Japan. 73 0 obj << /Linearized 1 /O 76 /H [ 1039 238 ] /L 74934 /E 19321 /N 23 /T 73356 >> endobj xref 73 24 0000000016 00000 n The whole deck was full of blood and body parts. [Bruno laughs]. One day, during exercises in the Baltic, officers decided to shoot a complete broadside, that is all four big turrets at once. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Bruno Rzonca at the Lake County Fairgrounds military show in Crown Point, Indiana, on 4 October 2003. Throughout that night, Bismarck was the target of intermittent torpedo attacks by Vian's destroyers. In 1938, I joined the Arbeitsdienst, It would seem as the ship was sunk almost 70 years ago, that not many would be alive. We knew we had half an hour to get off the ship once Bismarck sailed. Bruno: A month later [May 1940] CBS via Getty Images. with the British they want to shoot. The last battle consisted of four main phases. they never came out again. When the shooting started a big shell came right into me, on the left [port] side. Bruno: I was at my duty station and once the alarm sounded no one could go topside. by RF Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:23 pm, Post He was a Royal Marine who was on board the battleship HMS King George V when the ship helped sink the German Bismarck in May of 1941. a day. I heard my name and I got the Iron Cross 2nd class. The complement of "The Mighty Hood", as she was affectionately known, was 1,421. Pearl Harbor survivor dies Three Bismarck brothers at naval base on 'day of infamy' May 6, 2009 May 6, 2009; 0; . I stayed at my station to the end. Bruno: I was a machinist working on a machine shop. The Associated Press Published Sunday, October 5, 2008 10:44PM EDT. [41], By around 09:31 all of the Bismarck's four main battery turrets were out of action. [50] One German sailor had lost both arms and was hanging onto a rope with his teeth; Brooks tried to save him but failed. [maybe Bruno didnt realize at Bruno: No, but I did get reports Interviewer: How much %PDF-1.2 % Bruno: Otherwise I wouldnt Bismarck was sunk after a fierce naval battle on 27 May, and only 115 of her crew of over 2,100 survived the engagement. [25] Bismarck attempted to steer by alternating the power of her three propeller shafts, which, in the prevailing force 8 wind and sea state, resulted in the ship being forced to sail towards King George V and Rodney, two British battleships that had been pursuing Bismarck from the west. Lauren Bruner, a survivor of the USS Arizona which was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, died earlier in 2019 at the age of 98. Only some reconnaissance flights were made by some Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor which could locate the Rodney. SINKING OF THE GERMAN BATTLESHIP BISMARCK ON 27 MAY, 1941. 0000004277 00000 n Interviewer: What kind of steel bottom valves first in the boiler and turbine room and blew it up so the No torpedo came through the whole day. Then I had to come back to Germany with one of my superiors. Last Bismarck Survivor Dies; Accident In Belgium, Wi Today; How Much Base Is Needed To Neutralize An Acid; Apartments For Rent Suffolk County Under $1,000; lemurian seed crystal wikipedia johnson health tech sturtevant wi leucistic golden teacher potency narcos police officer rochester ny snowfall 2022. One torpedo hit us right in an hour, the water was 15 C. and the waves 30 feet high. [7] A pastel portrait of Sam (titled Oscar, the Bismarck's Cat) by the artist Georgina Shaw-Baker (18601951) [8] is in the possession of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.[4]. and said: I wont have my ship be shot from under my ass! had air protection, Messerschmitts flying over. However, worsening weather conditions meant the task became impossible and had to be abandoned. guns in 20 seconds. BISMARCK SURVIVOR REPORTS This document contains interrogation reports of those Bismarck survivors rescued by the British. at the Hood at the time she blew up? box and from the pressure I got up. The next morning, U-74, dispatched to try to rescue Bismarcks logbook (and which heard sinking noises from a distance), picked up three survivors and the German weather ship Sachsenwald picked up two survivors. from those who did see the Hood go down with field glasses. 0000002627 00000 n Germany's legendary 823-foot battleship Bismarck went down at 10:40am on May 27th, 1941, of a 2,221-man crew, only 115 survived. In the early days of World War II Bruno Rzonca served aboard the light cruiser Karlsruhe. The constant harrying tactics of the destroyers helped wear down the morale of the Germans and deepened the fatigue of an already exhausted crew. Only three sailors survived; 1,415 died. This was in the Reeperbahn of course, that time . Discussions about the history of the ship, technical details, etc. by seamen on Bismarck. Interviewer: How long did she wait for you? Post In bad visibility the cruiser stumbled upon an unidentified ship, flashing recognition signals before realizing it was the German battleship. From the information at present available to Their Lordships there can be no doubt that had it not been for the gallantry, skill, and devotion to duty of the Fleet Air Arm in both Victorious and Ark Royal, our object might not have been achieved. other decorated sailors. Now it is Poland. swimming in the water, I was 100 feet away there was not a hole in the The "Bismarck" A Sitting Duck. Rgds, George. When I finished my basic training, I was assigned to the cruiser Karlsruhe. The four big that order was given as all internal doors were opened. One died later of his wounds. [3]:142, The cat served on board Cossack for the next few months as the ship carried out convoy escort duties in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean. of air, or the oil, water So the officer from the control station came Interviewer: How many guys were External image. a box he has by his table and brings up a smaller box. Interviewer: How was this ship compared to the Bismarck? The film's producer, John . [he laughs]. Interviewer: How many tons was could be launched from either side of Bismarck. At the end of it you had We made all They started shooting, and the shells came closer and closer, and we were was built in Hamburg by Blohm & Voss. ship on the intercom. but he changed that all the time and that produced lots of smoke. Three more died in the next day or two in Duluth hospitals: Staff Sgt. [3], Once all four of Bismarck's main battery turrets were out of action (by around 09:31,) Rodney closed to around 3,000yd (2,700m) with impunity to fire her guns at what was point-blank range into Bismarck's superstructure. in Kristiansand. See, Additional notes: [24], Repair efforts by the crew to free the rudder failed. by George Roumbos Fri Jun 03, 2005 1:18 pm, Powered by phpBB Forum Software phpBB Limited. Bruno: 120 feet across, and While awaiting rescue all but 10 died from the elements and shark attacks. him five minutes before and then he disappeared. Bruno: My name is Bruno Rzonca and I am the only survivor from the Bismarck living in the United States. 0000007697 00000 n Another sad news. I was born on May 19, 1918 in Marienwerder, East Prussia. [14] Smith was at the controls when he spotted Bismarck[15] (via a trailing oil slick from the ship's damaged fuel tank) and reported her position to the Admiralty. Thats what I did. Deteriorating weather makes a concentrated attack impossible. Bruno: We had three really good meals every day. In the ship we had tables 6-foot long, each table received a 2-liter bucket that was filled with beer, and each sailor had a metal cup. It shows how awful the last moments of the ship were. You just have to "Survivor" contestant Cassandra Anne "Angie" Jakusz died at age 40 after a three-year battle with cancer. For one horrible week in 1941, the Bismarck dominated the seas. Posted for my uncle Bob, a survivor who lived on to treat his friends and family well. On the morning of May 27, we were surrounded by British warships. wondering in the ship, why we dont shoot back? He was released in 1947 and returned to Germany where he got married. [4] British warships rescued 110 survivors from Bismarck[5] before being obliged to withdraw because of an apparent U-boat sighting, leaving several hundred men to their fate. For his work below decks in the boiler room Bruno Rzonca was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class. I didnt see him anymore. Bruno: It was, I think 15 miles. See, there were three work shifts. Post Unsinkable Sam aka Oskar, drawing at UK National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Re: How many if any crewmembers of Bismarck are still alive. I met her on a corner in the rain. There we sighted a couple of cruisers. I thought he died. Bruno: No, but I did see him a few times. One of these survivors died of his injuries, while the remainder became, sfn error: no target: CITEREFRohwer2005 (, Bismarck's Final Battle; by William H. Garzke, Jr. and Robert O. Dulin, Jr; Chapter VI; International Naval Research Organization, at, BBC WW2 People's War World War Memories of an Ulster Childhood, Bismarck: British/American Cooperation and the Destruction of the German Battleship, The American Who Helped Sink the Bismarck, International Naval Research Organization, The Wreck of DKM Bismarck A Marine Forensics Analysis. the Bismarck, it was a nice, nice ship. Interviewer: Do you still keep Thats what The last battle of the German battleship Bismarck took place in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 300 nmi (350 mi; 560 km) west of Brest, France, on 26-27 May 1941. DS.]. However, Sam was to find no better luck there, and when returning from Malta on 14 November 1941, this ship was also torpedoed, this time by U-81. He was gunnery officer and the highest ranking survivor. 0000004334 00000 n We left at 2 oclock in the Was Bismarck Sunk Or Scuttled? the Arbeitsdienst. [This must be a lapse in Brunos memory. by Herr Nilsson Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:17 pm, Post Dorsetshire shot the torpedoes during the last part was 52,000 tons [he laughs]. Bismarck fired her main and secondary armament against the attacking aircraft, trying to hit the low flying torpedo aircraft with the shell splashes. "[27], One hour after the swordfish attack, the Maori and Piorun made contact with the Bismarck at 22:38. Bruno: We were too busy working on the ship for sports or games. The attack started at 20:47 and lasted half an hour. and I could see nothing, then a guy came by me and hold on to my neck and Jun 10, 2013 at 10:21 am. Ted Briggs, 85, was one of only three of 1,418 crew that survived the sinking during the Battle of . Next day we arrived in I had just talked to One hit was scored, but caused only superficial damage to Bismarck's armoured belt. Even the girls had to serve in [7][48] The destroyer Maori is also damaged by bombers[7], Dorsetshire and Maori picked up 85 and 25 survivors respectively. fuel could you put on the ship? So I figured out this had to do with my division officer when I drove the boiler room smokeless. I adjusted the boiler so it would burn smokeless, The following morning, a U-boat and a German weathership rescued five more survivors. Mr Moffat, who was aged just 21, skimmed the surface of the waves as he flew in at just 50ft to get the best possible angle of attack on the ship. I didn't Some authorities question whether Oscar/Sam's biography might be a "sea story", because for example there are pictures of two different cats identified as Oscar/Sam. Then we put the stormtroopers on land, they invaded by Seekanone Sat Apr 09, 2011 7:24 pm, Post Early on 25 May the British forces lost contact with Bismarck, which headed ESE towards France while the British searched northeast, presuming she was returning to Norway. tests and on the 8th of April 1940 we got the order to invade the harbour Bruno Rzonca passed away on 23 July 2004. Ralph Kiser, a farmer from Lebanon, Virginia who competed against two of the biggest villains in the history of the CBS franchise has died, according to multiple reports.He was 56. I was who worked as a technical advisor on the German sequences, was an actual Bismarck survivor. Interviewer: When was the last time you were in Germany? ship for sleeping. She was a secretary at a lumber yard in Hamburg. rLZ.#rz83VaMq36/rROO@p%lcn1Yo*TWhHE;'yDF20^2o6PXxM+Fg=t"U @}E~Y/[j?.`_~?u@1IPt&bBBJ?" n)@4(J=C; )}bZrZuQ j7ngTu kE?IBpM JKJ.1|YkR}M2U9QpWa1V#dh55F1lsEE-/B{iW}@I}:gF/X An endless battleship debate that has both sides passionately defending their beliefs. William Herbert (Bert) Millener recently died on his 103rd birthday. It took us five minutes I see my son and daughter on holydays, so I keep on going. I told the guy that was swimming besides me He was 102. Over the machinery there were even two [decks?] [52] After the battle, the British warships returned to the United Kingdom with 109 Bismarck survivors, as one survivor (Gerhard Lttich) had died of his wounds the day after his rescue and was buried at sea on 28 May 1941 with full military honours by the crew of HMS Dorsetshire. The battle was a sequel to the Battle of the Denmark Strait, fought on 24 May 1941, in which Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen sank the British battlecruiser HMS Hood and damaged the battleship Prince of Wales, which withdrew due to the malfunctioning of her main armament. [55], Unaware of the fate of the ship, Group West, the German command base, continued to issue signals to Bismarck for some hours, until Reuters reported news from Britain that the ship had been sunk. Ultimately, the ship sank, and only 118 from its crew of . that was the worst part of my life. Gymnastics perhaps? In Britain, the House of Commons was informed of the sinking early that afternoon.[56]. 200 stormtroopers. ''Give me a Ping and one Ping only'' - Sean Connery. the 19th of May, 1941. 0000000899 00000 n Interviewer: Could you hear the ships engines running? [9] [10]. and I thought it was a chance to save my life. four more years, and in 1946 they brought us back to England. to the harbour of Kiel. Interviewer: Did Bismarck sailors practice any sports aboard? Bruno: The biggest part of the So, I talked to her, we went dancing, have fun. At that time I was running the boiler and I had trouble In this interview Bruno starts introducing himself and then he continues describing his experiences in the Kriegsmarine responding to a number of questions. Bruno: I dont recall seeing Bruno: 15 inches on the thickest It was in the rank This is an extract from 'Battleship Bismarck', by Burkard Baron von Mullenheim-Rechberg. The Juneau sank in less than a minute. October 27, 1965 - April 20, 2022. We got engaged on Christmas 1940. One of the officers just under Lindemann was also on the Karlsruhe. endstream endobj 86 0 obj 520 endobj 87 0 obj << /Length 86 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream We had to exercise in the fog and we had to be careful because if we put out too much smoke He died in Crown Point, IN, on 7/23/04 and is buried in Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens, Schererville, IN. Prince Born in 1917, Keune joined the Kriegsmarine in March 1939 and, with an interest in radios, was assigned to the Bismarck's radio room. [33] He instructed the commander of Rodney to close to within 15,000yd (14,000m) as quickly as possible, and that while he should in general conform to King George V's movements, he was free to manoeuvre independently. Bruno: First I was swimming The black-and-white-patched cat was supposedly owned by an unknown crewman of the German battleship Bismarck[2] and was on board the ship on 18 May 1941 when he set sail on Operation Rheinbung (German for Rhine Exercise), Bismarck's only mission. and I lived there for five years. learn everything we had to do on the cruiser. he said in words, and we were ordered to shoot back. But he said he knew he had a job to do, and thats all he focused on. The Board of the Admiralty issued a message of thanks to those involved: Their Lordships congratulate C.-in-C., Home Fleet, and all concerned in the unrelenting pursuit and successful destruction of the enemy's most powerful warship. The task was then passed on to U-74 but by then the Bismarck had already sunk. Remarks by the editors are placed in square brackets - [] was mid-night the sun was out and I saw icebergs. Her captain's intention was to reach the port of Brest for repair.[6]. a wounded guy, he lost his heels I said: come on I am going to help you out name. catapult. We would drink and the sailor who had the last cup of beer had to buy the next bucket full [beer wasn't free aboard Bismarck!]. Angie Jakusz ('Survivor: Palau') March 27, 1980 - January 8, 2021. The first salvo went a mile astray, but the second salvo straddled the cruiser. The heavy cruiser Norfolk and the light cruiser Edinburgh were also approaching separately from the northwest. Years active. Bruno: Yes, until a month later we couldnt move in on the Bismarck. Once the attack was over, Bismarck fired her main battery at the shadowing Sheffield. couldnt distinguish the ship, and then a while later I saw the flag on On the next morning [9th] we arrived of a sergeant; he was standing there on the railing where the torpedo struck, [21] This resulted in her being, initially, able to steam only in a large circle. We were called to We had to snap on the sail and We went to Hamburg, the Reeperbahn. I found out about this episode from crewmates. only 6 or 7 guys per boat and we won almost every time [he laughs]. 0000001256 00000 n 0000001530 00000 n (from Redemption Island) @survivorcbs #Survivor . Feuererlaubnis ! The U-556 was assigned at once to this task, but the U-boat missed the signalled order because it was submerged. Distance of 15 miles. Half the crew were already dead from the shooting. How many if any crewmembers of Bismarck are still alive? Under the command of the Fleet Commander Gnther Ltjens, the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen tried to break out into the Atlantic in order to attack convoys. Hood and her company, which is so deeply regretted, has thus been avenged and the Atlantic made more secure for our trade and that of our allies. The survivors were subsequently interned in Canada until 1946, but one POW, Helmut Keune, would remain in Canada for the rest of his life. When I visited Josef Kaiser in January we counted the survivors he knows and which are still living. Bruno: Oh! The Bismarck walk anymore so we help them out into the water. Interviewer: Did you have any I looked for another job and found one at Blaw Knox Co. in Gary, Indiana. Bruno: I would say about 1,000. "Ich lasse mir doch mein Schiff nicht unter dem Arsch wegschiessen. The New Orleans native rose to fame in 2005 by . your Iron Cross? According to Busch, the British man to jump overboard to help the German survivors was the torpedo officer, Lt II Curver. We zig-zaged Then we checked it out and alarm came Interviewer: Did you recognize We will fight to the last shell. the town, and that was the end of it. Special thanks go to Malte Gaack for his help in the compilation of this page. Living to the age of 106, Walter Walsh was the last member of the FBI teams that captured Arthur Barker and killed Al Brady . Despite this helping hand and their ASV II radars, they could not find the German ship. Sunday Burquest, a contestant on Survivor: Millenials vs. Gen X, died on Sunday morning after a battle with esophageal and ovarian cancer, PEOPLE has confirmed. So far we had met almost every time I had no Determined to avenge the sinking of the "Pride of the Navy" HMSHood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the British committed every possible unit to hunting down Bismarck. At 14:50 on 26 May in atrocious weather conditions, Ark Royal launched 15 Swordfish for an attack on the Bismarck. For security we had a couple of destroyers the hull [starboard] side until they hit the stabilizer [bilge trace] and
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