Excerpts from "The Myth of the Turning Point". J. Weisberg, F.N. Doubleday, 1996
"WE have achieved surprise" were Captain Fuchida's last words transmitted to the fleet as the attack on Murmansk commenced.
It proceeded according to plan. The Germans were caught by surprise; the staggeringly poor intelligence unaware of the vast carrier presence.
Fuchida fired the famous "Black Dragon" flare from his B6N to signal the start of the attack, as the lead element of torpedo bombers positioned themselves, with Zeroes and Sea Hurricanes providing cover.
Torpedo after torpedo slammed into Bismarck's side; although his broad beam made him very reluctant to heel over.
The Germans struggled to scramble fighters, partly due to poor communication between the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe, as the airfields were swept by Allied fighters. Most of the Luftwaffe's losses were on the ground, or against planes taking off.
Meanwhile, Bismarck's fate was sealed. Three direct hits from armour-piercing bombs dropped by the nimble D4Ys set off an explosion in one of his secondary magazines, starting a chain reaction which detonated his main magazines. Bismarck, the "North Sea Monster", was no more; blown up at his moorings. An estimated total of between eleven and sixteen torpedoes struck Bismarck which may have sunk him to the muddy bottom; Soviet sources do not disclose if this is what sunk him before he was cut up.
This stunning success did not result in the cancellation of the second wave. This time, more D4Ys as well as Albacores, with a Zero escort, concentrated on the smaller ships. Seydlitz was now the primary target. One of Glorious' Albacores collapsed her vulnerable stern with a well-placed torpedo; causing her to sink by the stern as she attempted to break out. More torpedo hits sealed her fate, as dive bombers and torpedoes made short work of the three remaining destroyers.
The third wave was somewhat delayed as many of the aircraft were forced to switch from torpedoes to bombs; as such it was launched at lower strength than the other waves, and concentrated on fuel and ammunition dumps. The successes were more limited as these proved harder targets to destroy than expected.
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The attack was an unqualified success, vindicating once and for all the importance of the aircraft carrier, and the dangers of operating capital ships without air cover.
The commanders of the participating factions also saw their reputations vindicated or condemned.
John Tovey was lauded for his decision to halt the pursuit of Bismarck to rescue the crew of Swiftsure. The rescued sailors, and their families vigorously defend his reputation to this day.
Isoroku Yamamoto was hailed in both British and Japanese press as a genius; he also received the first gensui badge of the Second World War. Marshal-Admiral Yamamoto was also awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, First Class, for his achievement in developing and prosecuting the attack on Murmansk. Fuchida was recommended for promotion to rear admiral, for the Order of the Golden Kite, 1st Class, and immediately received the bukokisho 1st Class.
Newsreels lauded the performance of the Allied fleet- at last, a truly decisive victory against Germany in Europe was achieved; her naval forces hobbled. It was in these newsreels that "Through the Day; Throughout the Week: The Japanese Sailors' Song" was introduced to Western audiences in an instrumental form, usually played whenever the Imperial Japanese Navy was featured.
The mood was not quite so rosy in Gemany. Hitler was furious at Grand Admiral Raeder and the Kreigsmarine, and was reported to have screamed at Raeder for three hours upon hearing of the defeat at Murmansk. This was compounded by yet another defeat- the pocket battleship Lützow, attempting to raid a convoy while breaking out during the chaos to raid Atlantic tangled with the American escort- and it was the old four-stack USS Edsall (DD-219) that brought her raid to an end, with a well placed torpedo to Lützow's stern, causing her to have to break off, and limp back to Germany. Her diesel fuel reserves contaminated by seawater, she required a tow almost as soon as she entered the North Sea.
Hitler, in his rage, ordered an immediate suspension to all surface naval operations. Raeder attempted to resign; Hitler, in his fury, demoted him to Generaladmiral and fired him. Karl Doenitz took his place. Hitler then ordered that all of the guns from the remaining cruisers (Tirpitz was granted temporary reprieve as there were no suitable mountings for her guns) landed for use in the Soviet Union.
This, it is commonly alleged, marked Hitler's downfall into micromanagement of the Wehrmacht.