Category: The Hunt for the <em>Bismarck</em>

First published in Poland in 2004, this is another attempt to retell the story claiming to have uncovered new facts. It is profusely illustrated and has a lot of technical detail.

JACKSON, Robert. The Bismarck. 96p., illus., index. Staplehurst: Spellmount, 2002. ISBN: 1862271739.

A detailed account of her development and construction, comparisons with other German capital ships and chapters on her brief career. Finally, there is an account of the building and career of the Tirpitz. Profusely illustrated, this is a slim volume but crammed with facts.

SANTARINI, Marco. Bismarck and Hood: The Battle of the Denmark Strait. A Technical Analysis for a New Perspective. 169p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Fonthill, 2013. ISBN: 9781781552315.

An Italian Admiral and gunnery specialist has produced  a very dry technical account of the action replete with mathematical formulas and calculations of what happened.

BALLANTYNE, Iain. Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom. The Final Act in the Mission to Sink Bismarck. x, 102p., London: Ipso Books, 2016. ISBN: 9781911295464.

A good retelling of the story, which focuses on the final twenty-four hours of the Bismarck. Makes extensive use of transcripts of interviews with surviving veterans.

WINKLARETH, Robert J. The Battle of Denmark Strait A Critical Analysis of the Bismarck's Singular Triumph. 336p., bibliog., illus., index. Philadelphia: Casemate, 2012. ISBN: 1612001238.

Provides a very detailed account of the action with Hood, and offers a fresh view based on photographic evidence. Reprinted in paperback in 2019, ISBN: 9781612007137.

GREAT BRITAIN. Admiralty. German Capital Ships and Raiders in World War II. 2 vols., bibliog., illus., index. London: Frank Cass, 2002.

A compilation of battle reports prepared by the Admiralty in the 1940’s for internal use. Reprinted with an introduction by Eric Grove, these volumes include Battle Summaries 5, 11, 13, 24, 26, 27, 29., q.v.  ISBN: 0714652083 (Vol.1); 0714652830 (Vol. 2). They cover the Graf Spee and Bismarck actions, attacks on the Tirpitz, the sinking of the Scharnhorst and actions against armed merchant raiders.   

GARZKE, William H., DULIN, Robert O. & JURENS, William. Battleship Bismarck: a Design and Operational History. 610p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth; Annapolis, NIP, 2019. ISBN: 9781526759740.

Drawing on survivors' accounts and the authors' decades of experience in naval architecture, this offers a forensic analysis and engineering study of the design, operational career, and loss of the famous battleship.

DATE, John C. Death of HMS Hood, 24 May 1941: a Discerning Account (Naval Historical Society of Australia, Monograph No. 54). 17p., illus. Garden Island, NSW : Naval Historical Society of Australia, 1997

A lecture given to the Society on 7th March 1997. Reprinted in 2002 as Monograph 154.

SCHOFIELD, B. B. Stringbags in Action: The Attack on Taranto 1940 & The Loss of the Bismarck 1941. 192p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Maritime, 2011. ISBN: 184884388.

Originally published as two volumes in the 1970’s as part of the Sea Battles in Close-Up Series from Ian Allan, these are reformatted into a single volume.

PIKE, John G. Bamboo Years. 208p., illus. Grantham: Barny Books, 2009. ISBN: 1906542139.

He was a young midshipman who joined  Prince of Wales in May 1941. He served with her through the sinking of Hood to her own sinking in the Far East. He briefly joined Exeter until her sinking and was a POW for the rest of the war. A good tale simply but well told.

BENNETT, G. H., BENNETT, R. & BENNETT, E. Bismarck: The Chase and Sinking of Hitler’s  Goliath (Britannia Naval Histories of World War II). 154, [6]p., illus. Plymouth: University of Plymouth Press, 2012. ISBN: 9781841023274.

Consists of the Admiralty’s Battle Summary No.5, along with the relevant sections of the   Fuhrer Conferences on Naval Affairs and two brief reminiscences from an Engine Room Artificer on Rodney and an Ordinary Seaman on Bismarck.

FORRESTER-BROWN, Glennys E. A Diver's Escapades: The Early Life and Wartime Experiences of Joe Forrester - A Lad from the Potteries Who Served in the Royal Navy During World War II. 126p., illus. Bognor Regis: Woodfield, 2012. ISBN: 184683127X.

A biography by his daughter but based on contemporary notes. He joined the Royal Navy in 1926, at the age of 17, and was with Emerald in Ceylon in 1939. He was sunk in Curlew in Norwegian waters in 1940. Later, as a gunner on Prince of Wales, he was involved in the Bismarck action and was sunk with her in the Japanese air attack. He escaped hidden on a native ship and made it to Ceylon. Here he was involved in salvage work as a diver on the salvage vessel Salviking for the next two years. He was aboard when she was torpedoed and sunk near the Maldives. Once again, he was fortunate to survive.

MAUND, L. E. H. Assault from the Sea. xvi, 311p., illus.,  index. London: Methuen, 1949.

One of the best accounts, despite its age. A mixture of personal reminiscence and a history of the development of Combined Operations with which the author was much involved, mainly in the Mediterranean and Far East.  Maund was also Captain of Ark Royal during the Bismarck operation and includes a first hand account of Ark Royal's involvement.

WINKLARETH, Robert J. The Bismarck Chase: New Light on a Famous Engagement. 188p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Chatham; Annapolis: NIP, 1998. ISBN: 1861760760.

A detailed account “correcting several discrepancies in earlier accounts” and concluding firmly that one of Hood’s after magazines was hit. Covers the whole background to the action.

A dramatic account of the hunt and action aimed especially at younger readers.

A strong well written account.

A basic and basically accurate account. US title: The Sinking of the Bismarck.

An excellent operational history. Republished in 2011 by Pen & Sword with Schofield's account of the attack on Taranto as Stringbags in Action. ISBN: 9781848843882.

A very modern account which concentrates on strategy and the effects of the fog of war.

Intertwines the story of the Bismarck's last cruise with the 2001 deep sea expedition which discovered both wrecks, allowing a reassessment of the causes of the sinkings. ISBN: 0752220357.

A rapidly prepared short account of the action.

A short, basic, readable modern account enlivened with computer graphics and web-links

A vivid account of the hunt by the well known writer and broadcaster who was a Sub lieutenant at the time.

A solid but routine retelling of the tale.

One of the earliest, but still one of the best accounts of the events which surrounded the Bismarck's final sortie. A second edition was published in 1964.

A dramatised account of the real events, by a leading novelist of the sea. US title: The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck.

Claims to to reveal the full extent of the capabilities of both British and German Radar and the significance of British ULTRA signal intercepts in the hunt.

A paperback giving a British view of the Bismarck's last voyage.

An imaginative German account of the ship's last cruise.

A fresh account of an old topic using newly declassified files.