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N0KFQ > TODAY 24.05.14 16:02l 33 Lines 1300 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - May 24
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N0KFQ
Sent: 140524/1455Z 21417@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
May 24, 1941:
The Bismarck sinks the Hood
On this day in 1941, Germany's largest battleship, the Bismarck,
sinks the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood.
The Bismarck was the most modern of Germany's battleships, a
prize coveted by other nation's navies, even while still in the
blueprint stage (Hitler handed over a copy of its blueprints to
Joseph Stalin as a concession during the days of the
Hitler-Stalin neutrality pact). The HMS Hood, originally launched
in 1918, was Britain's largest battle cruiser (41,200 tons)-but
also capable of achieving the relatively fast speed of 31 knots.
The two met in the North Atlantic, northeast of Iceland, where
two British cruisers had tracked down the Bismarck. Commanded by
Admiral Gunther Lutjens, commander in chief of the German Fleet,
the Bismarck sunk the Hood, resulting in the death of 1,500 of
its crew; only three Brits survived.
During the engagement, the Bismarck's fuel tank was damaged.
Lutjens tried to make for the French coast, but was sighted again
only three days later. Torpedoed to the point of incapacity, the
Bismarck was finally sunk by a ring of British war ships. Admiral
Lutjens was one of the 2,300 German casualties.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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