The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis 1 The ...

The Wreck of DKM Bismarck − A Marine Forensics Analysis
Baron von Müllenheim-Rechberg taking command of the aft turrets. LTJG Friedrich
Cardinal, in the Forward Gun Computing Station, telephoned the Baron at about this time
to inform him that he should take control of the gunfire, since Schneider was not
answering his calls.
○ There is the possibility that this same round also killed or incapacitated Admiral
Günther Lütjens and Captain Ernst Lindemann 29 . There was an interior bulkhead within
the forward conning tower that may have provided some shielding, but if this projectile’s
fragments made it inside the conning tower, there is the likelihood that everyone in there
was killed or severely wounded. CAPT Netzbandt is known to have made it out of that
position, so severely wounded that he propped himself against the port bulwark only to
be the victim of another 406-mm shell.
○ A shell of unknown size brought down the foremast about 0940-1000.
○ Some time after 1005, as Rodney fell astern of Bismarck, two 406-mm shell hits
occurred in Compartment IV, damaging access ladders. One shell penetrated the
starboard aft quadrant of the barbette for Turret Dora. Red hot shell splinters started a fire
in the lower platforms of the turret. The shell’s explosion hurled the hatch to the
magazines high into the air. Machinist Mate Helms and others standing near Turret Dora
suffered serious burns to their faces and hands in the aftermath of the shell’s explosion.
Turret Dora was disabled by 406-mm shell fire, including this damage on the fore port side of the
barbette. Note the armor penetration and the blast damage to the deck structure.
29 In a letter interview with the senior surviving officer, Baron von Müllenheim-Rechberg, Author Bill
Garzke mentioned the nature of damage to the Forward Conning Tower. The Baron conceded that it in all
likelihood Captain Lindemann perished during the early phases of the battle.
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