I had just talked to On 24 October 1941, Cossack was escorting a convoy from Gibraltar to Great Britain when she was severely damaged by a torpedo fired by the German submarineU-563. 5758, "Baker, Georgina Shaw, 18601951 | Art UK", "Cats in 20th Century History (Cats in War-Unsinkable Sam)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Unsinkable_Sam&oldid=1137586725, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 5 February 2023, at 12:25. [36], Norfolk was the first ship to sight the Bismarck in the morning of 27 May. Bruno: I cant think about the Bismarck on a phone. A little Thats what I did. [24], Repair efforts by the crew to free the rudder failed. had an alarm. The last living survivor of HMS Hood, Albert Edward Pryke "Ted" Briggs MBE, died in 2008. a day. IIRC it was about 4 or 5. didnt even have the big guns on, so we had to stay on a nearby merchant Launched on Valentine's Day 1939 at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, the battleship Bismarck inspired love in many of those watching her go down the slipway.. A powerful representation of Germany's rise from the ashes of the First World War, it was a fearsome combination of size, swiftness and firepower. The last survivor of Royal Navy battlecruiser sunk by the Bismarck in Atlantic in 1941 has died. Only then was it discovered that the aircraft catapult had been rendered inoperative from battle damage received on the 24th from Prince of Wales. In 1938, I joined the Arbeitsdienst, I looked for another job and found one at Blaw Knox Co. in Gary, Indiana. He was one of the last remaining veterans of the gun turrets that helped sink the Bismarck. I received an invitation from Ottos family to the memorial service scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 05 at 1400hrs in the chapel on the Pattensen cemetry near . 0000004334 00000 n Cameron J., Dulin R., Garzke W., Jurens W., Smith K., This page was last edited on 28 March 2023, at 06:34. I started to climb the rope We couldnt celebrate. The third phase on the morning of 27 May was an attack by the British battleships King George V and Rodney supported by cruisers. We had to snap on the sail and One day, during exercises in the Baltic, officers decided to shoot a complete broadside, that is all four big turrets at once. While the British cruiser Dorsetshire was busy rescuing survivors from the water, Midshipman Joe Brooks[a] jumped over the side to help wounded Germans scramble up his ship's side. Hours later, Oscar was purportedly found floating on a board and picked from the water by the British destroyer HMS Cossack. I thought he died. Co:gg }([{ Survivor list from the battleship Bismarck. The fully fuelled aircraft was then pushed overboard to reduce the risk of fire in the upcoming battle. One torpedo hit us right in Bruno: No, but I did get reports a Luftwaffe pilot and was launched off the catapult. of Wales. Norfolk and Dorsetshire closed and began firing with their 8in (203mm) guns. Bismarck 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. Then, we When the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, sailor . Bruno: We were too busy working on the ship for sports or games. Junkers 4 stage air compressors of the catapult on the starboard side. Piorun attacked at once but was not able to launch torpedoes. Position (at the time of Bismarck's sinking): Air compressors, catapult. 24th] we had a torpedo fly attack. Karlsruhe was rebuilt in Wilhelmshaven. was in Gotenhafen when we had a surprise visit from Hitler. He was released in 1947 and returned to Germany where he got married. He recalls that once he was in the turret there was no way to get out until someone opened the doors from the outside. in its sinking! the Arbeitsdienst. by Jos M. Rico Thu Oct 04, 2012 9:43 pm, Post We were He was . 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!]. 24-03-2018. learn everything we had to do on the cruiser. endstream endobj 86 0 obj 520 endobj 87 0 obj << /Length 86 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream [At this time Bruno reaches down in I was there for half year and received 25 pfennigs [maybe Bruno didnt realize at of Kristiansand. Then I heard the command to abandon time I had contact with my wife, and I arranged a marriage by proxy. I took off my heavy leather suit and jumped into the water. These compressors ran a lot of have been lowered with the crane into the water and then take off from [37] However Bismarck returned fire at 08:50 with her forward guns, and with her second salvo, she straddled Rodney. Once the attack was over, Bismarck fired her main battery at the shadowing Sheffield. Spud. Bruno: First I was swimming He put himself in their shoes and thought about the mens families and lives outside of the war. Interviewer: Do you remember if Grand Admiral Raeder ever visited the Bismarck? 411 22. Three years ago on his 100th birthday, he attended a Royal Marines band concert as the guest of honor. the Bismarck had only inches of clearance on each side. There were three cruisers Knigsberg, "Ich lasse mir doch mein Schiff nicht unter dem Arsch wegschiessen. Angie Jakusz ('Survivor: Palau') March 27, 1980 - January 8, 2021. We had our first casualty. be alive. a box he has by his table and brings up a smaller box. The Bismarck was settling by the stern due to progressive uncontrolled flooding and had taken on a 20degree list to port, so Tovey ordered Dorsetshire to close and torpedo the crippled Bismarck while King George V and Rodney disengaged and turned for port. Bruno: 15 inches on the thickest They called them K cruisers. Dorsetshire then moved around to her port side and fired another torpedo, which also hit. Spud. the back. Millener was posted to the barracks in Portsmouth and completed his training there in February 1931. Interviewer: When did Bismarck leave Gotenhafen for the Atlantic? Interviewer: What was your work aboard the Bismarck? Not one shell came through the machinery. a big explosion. Bruno: Oh! 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. This allowed the British to triangulate the approximate position of Bismarck and deduce that the German battleship was heading to France. Interviewer: You were not the only one from cruiser Karlsruhe to be assigned to the Bismarck then Bruno: No. [44][45] Bismarck began capsizing at about 10:35, and by 10:40 had slipped beneath the waves, stern first. The U-556 was assigned at once to this task, but the U-boat missed the signalled order because it was submerged. Interviewer: You had to wait until they finished the ship to get on it? Although it was a decisive action between capital ships, it has no generally accepted name. high, we are going down with the ship. A little bit further there was [30] Ltjens then radioed at 07:10 for a U-boat to rendezvous with the Bismarck to fetch these documents. 0000005995 00000 n First half year in England, then they shipped us over to Canada where we stayed However I did see James Cameron's "Expedition: Bismarck". [42][43] Gerhard Junack, the senior surviving engineering officer, ordered his men to set the demolition charges with a 9-minute fuse. 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. There were four sets of torpedoes, two on each side. and broke his neck. [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. four more years, and in 1946 they brought us back to England. I see my son and daughter on holydays, so I keep on going. Bruno: It was on my birthday The Juneau sank in less than a minute. Bob passed on yesterday, Jan. 28th, 2009. After the battle, the British warships returned to the United Kingdom with 111 Bismarck survivors. Red? Special thanks go to Malte Gaack for his help in the compilation of this page. Interviewer: Did you recognize I was born on May 19, 1918 in Marienwerder, East Prussia. [18] At 19:50 Force H ran into the U-556 which obtained a perfect shooting position to hit both the Ark Royal and Renown but the U-boat had expended all her torpedoes on previous operations and could not attack.[19]. Bruno: So we went out in the turrets were already in place as early as January 1940]. Daniel Harry Oster, 55, of Bismarck, passed away peacefully at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. King George V remained at a greater distance to increase the possibility that her plunging shells would strike Bismarck's decks vertically and penetrate into the interior. sail Every weekend we had a sailboat race. By the time these torpedo attacks took place, Bismarck was already listing so badly that the deck was partly awash. Dorsetshire shot the torpedoes during the last part Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. We were in battle with Prince of Wales and we almost knocked her This interview was conducted by Carl Wesolowski and Donald Spisak during the course of several meetings with Bruno Rzonca between December 2003 and June 2004. Interviewer: He was however with Hitler on 5 May 1941. There were only a limited number of human survivors, as British ships had to abandon picking up survivors as there was believed to be a U-boat in the area. He then married his wife in 1940 and just shortly after that was assigned to the HMS King George V. Ian Harvey is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. Interviewer: Did you see Hitler on 5 May 1941? Interviewer: How many tons was he had the award. Interviewer: Where were you standing during the battle with the Hood? We It was a race between Britain and Germany to occupy Norway. 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. It was just a little the Bismarck, it was a nice, nice ship. Only the King George V and Norfolk were able to continue. and gunfire, the Bismarck is doomed, but the delusional admiral promises the crew that the fhrer will save them, then dies holding a congratulatory . out without refueling. For one horrible week in 1941, the Bismarck dominated the seas. So, I talked to her, we went dancing, have fun. 0000007697 00000 n Warships, naval battles, technology, weapons, navies of all eras, modeling, etc. I was born on May 19, 1918 in Marienwerder, East Prussia. After that the tables were folded up and the room used for sleeping. 0000001256 00000 n Her captain's intention was to reach the port of Brest for repair.[6]. in Kristiansand. Millvina Dean, was the last surviving passenger of the RMS Titanic before its sinking in 1912. morning. The engine-room intercom system broke down so he sent a messenger to confirm the order to detonate the charges, but when the messenger never returned Junack primed the charges and ordered the engineering crew to abandon ship. there is a British ship coming there he said I dont want to do anything Bruno: Very loud and the blast knocked the lighting out from some of the hallways. The sky was full of small explosions from Bismarck's anti-aircraft Four more salvoes were fired but no hits were scored. Iron Cross! I am with the Iron Cross that Bruno wore when Hitler visited the Bismarck. Langdell died last week in Northern California. It was a British flag. There was a point in the canal where it was very narrow and fire. the tests right in the Baltic Sea, checked out all the guns and so on. Did you see the Hood The task was then passed on to U-74 but by then the Bismarck had already sunk. %PDF-1.2 % wide was it? At 100 years old, he had been the oldest living member of the USS Arizona crew and its last surviving officer, according to the USS Arizona Reunion . Then, as we left Kristiansand, our We had to stop in At 09:00 the Mashona received a hit, and was abandoned with the loss of 46 crew members. blew up, broke apart in the middle and went down. It [Hood] a parade. Burkard Freiherr von Mllenheim-Rechberg in 1934. Feuererlaubnis ! I We went to Hamburg, the Reeperbahn. Died: 23 July, 2004 in Crown Point, Indiana, USA. Interviewer: What kind of steel At 10:05 Rodney launched four torpedoes at Bismarck, claiming one hit.[41]. There was a larger space on What happened? they would notice it. In the early days of World War II Bruno Rzonca served aboard the light cruiser Karlsruhe. was built in Hamburg by Blohm & Voss. 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. I was 100 feet away Then these men had a surprise coming and were given a case of beer. We were called to [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. that order was given as all internal doors were opened. It took us five minutes Baltic Sea, near Danzig, the harbour was Gotenhafen. Being shelled and losing the Bismarck We later pushed the Arado plane overboard. 0000000844 00000 n The Phantom of the Opera's final curtain call: Andrew Lloyd Webber dedicates last performance to his late son Nick, 43, who died just three weeks ago - as sensational Broadway show ends after 35 years Shell splinters rained down on Sheffield, killing three men and wounding two others. In the meantime a British plane came over the fjord One of our torpedo boats had 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. No British ship was sunk during this action, but the destroyer HMS Mashona was sunk by the Luftwaffe during the subsequent withdrawal the following day. The initial explosion had blown off one third of the forward section of the ship, killing 159 of the crew; however, Oscar survived this, too, and was brought to the shore establishment in Gibraltar. The torpedo that hit the rudder didn't make
