National Geographic: The Search For the Battleship Bismark Page #2

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power stand between Germany and victory.

But even the Royal Navy

has never done battle

with a ship quite like the Bismarck.

And the idea was that the Bismarck

would break out into the Atlantic

with the cruiser Prince Eugen.

And she would spend a three-months

cruise going up and down

the Atlantic sinking all the ships

bringing from America the food,

the petrol, the ammunition,

that was keeping us going,

keeping the war going.

Although the United States won't

enter the war for another six months,

supply convoys from America

are already being

hit hard by the German navy.

If the Bismarck had cut out onto the

Atlantic sea routes,

she could have done an

enormous amount of damage.

I think that if she had done that,

she could've altered

the course of the war.

So it was very, very critical.

She had to be sunk.

But first, she has to be found.

As far as British intelligence knows,

the Bismarck is still safely

in German waters,

finishing her sea trials.

In fact,

she is already making her escape

from the confined waters of the Baltic.

The German plan is simple,

bold... and risky.

First they hope to slip through the

narrow waters off Sweden and Norway

and break through to the North sea.

If the Bismarck hasn't been detected,

it should be no problem

to sail into the Atlantic-perhaps

through the Denmark Strait.

But the Bismarck is detected.

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon,

a British Spitfire

snaps this photograph,

showing the Bismarck nestled

in a Norwegian Fjord.

The report that Bismarck is trying

to break out is confirmed.

Now all the Royal Navy

has to do is catch her.

Summer, 1988. Aboard the Starella,

only two days have passed since the

hunt for Bismarck began,

and already Ballard believes

he's picked up the scent.

Argo is sending back images of a

debris trail left by a sinking ship.

That trail should lead

Ballard to the wreck.

Coming in.

Come up, Todd...

Something was buried here.

There's something right there.

Going down, down...

Keep going...

Down...

On the down swing, on the down.

Now. Bang!

The sinking should

have been up in here.

I mean that's the best guess.

And that's where we're headed.

So we're gonna head up there,

but stay visual and try to stay

in debris... sort of smell our way up.

For the next three days,

Ballard follows the meandering

trail of wood and metal.

On the fourth day,

Argo finds something larger.

Got a good object coming.

Look at the brightness of that sucker.

Wow, it's awesome.

Whatever it is, it's a big thing.

Hold on this altitude.

Woah, what's this? Look at this!

This is what we've come for.

Look at that strike.

There's some hull section right here.

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