Ark Royal's air attack on Bismarck

26 May 1941, North Atlantic, west of Brest

British success; Bismarck's rudders jammed

On the morning of 26 May a Catalina of Coastal Command found Bismarck again, 700 miles from Brest and too far ahead for Tovey's battleships to catch. Only Force H, coming up from Gibraltar, stood in her way. Ark Royal's first strike of Swordfish, flying through gales, attacked the cruiser Sheffield by mistake; luckily their magnetic pistols set the torpedoes off early, and Sheffield dodged the rest. With contact pistols, fifteen Swordfish attacked Bismarck at dusk. Two or three torpedoes hit, and one, right aft, jammed her rudders hard over. She could steam only in a slow circle into the wind, towards Tovey. That night Lütjens signalled Berlin: "Ship unmanoeuvrable. We shall fight to the last shell."