Hit on POW compass platform

[tommy303]

Immediately thereafter I received the order from the ship's command to "Change target (to the) left" toward the second opponent ( PoW ), whereby the fire of "Bismarck" and "Prinz Eugen" now crossed.
I was unable to observe "Bismarck's" decisive salvo because I was no longer in a position to do so.
I ordered the target officer (target giver) to acquire the second target ( PoW ) and thus lost the first (target) from the [range finder's] visual field of action ( HooD ).

Ulrich made a slight error here in presuming Jasper to be in the range fining cupola. In actuality he was at the port director in the foretop. The target officer would have been the warrant officer acting as director trainer whose job it was to keep the director trained on the indicated target. The director layer would keep the optics centered on the target in the vertical plane, compensating for roll; Jasper would be walking the fall of shot onto the target and keeping the target within the MPI of the falling salvos.

[wadinga]

All,

The original documentation was always equivocal about the calibre of the HA/DCT supports either 8" or 15" yet always suggested it was the same salvo as the Compass platform hit, which conversely was always identified as being 15".

However looking at the photograh of the "entry wound" it is almost entirely through the window, a long slot with folding glass panels to allow binocular use. Only on the upper side is there a "chord" of damage to the metal structure. For any kind of shell depending on retardation to activate the fuse I can imagine there was no resistance and hence no activation. To my eye the "exit wound" hole is shapeless telling very little about the calibre. Original documentation says the angle of fall was 9 degrees which suggests 15" but without knowing PoW's heel at the time is surely not definitive. To me, without a detailed drawing, looking at the photographs, I am surprised it is as low as 9 degrees, but I guess that is a dockyard measurement.

Esmond Knight and some other casualties were in the Air Defence Position outside the Compass Platform on the port side. There is some question as to whether there was an air burst somewhere to port of the ship.

It is sobering to read the details of PoW's dead, recorded in the log reproduced in David Mearns' book, their details like so many of those killed in Bismarck were in their late teens or very early twenties.

All the best

wadinga

[Antonio Bonomi]

Hello everybody,

here following we can discuss also about a wrong Fritz Otto Busch battle map made AFTER a very precise one made during war time on 1943 with correct timing on it, ... that was taken and used by Russel Grenfell for his book.

Of course Hood explosion timing is close correlated with the hit on the compass platform received by HMS Prince of Wales, ... so it is correct in my opinion to discuss about it here and NOT on the other thread were we are covering some " modifications " made by Admiral Tovey that had a direct effect on Capt Leach and Rear Admiral Wake-Walker conduct evaluation during the battle, ... mostly on the evaluations that the Admiralty should have MANDATORELY done in case the reality was different than the one he declared on his official dispatches.

Here the maps ...

Busch book first map1943.jpg (209.33 KiB) Viewed 2687 times

Busch_later_map_01.jpg (91.24 KiB) Viewed 2687 times

Grenfell_from_Busch.jpg (41.21 KiB) Viewed 2687 times

Bye Antonio

[Antonio Bonomi]

Hello everybody,

here following the list of the casualties ( it should be 14 of them ) on board HMS Prince of Wales on May 24th, 1941 (R.I.P.), taken from HMS PoW war diary from D. Mearns book.

You can see their names, age and most important, what they were doing on that moment.

PoW_Dead_May_24_1941.jpg (141.07 KiB) Viewed 2568 times

Questions : How many of them were inside the Compass Platform room ? and how many were Outside the compass platform room ?

KGV_class_bridge_port_side.jpg (104.53 KiB) Viewed 2568 times

I assume that the ones that were outside on the PoW bridge platforms on port side were impacted both by the 15 inch Bismarck shell itself as well as from the shell fragments after the shell came out of the PoW Compass Platform room side on the port side.

Next questions will be :

1 ) How many persons were in total inside the PoW Compass Platform room on that moment ?
2 ) How many died in the Compass Platform of PoW ?
3 ) How many have been injured inside the Compass Platform of PoW that morning ?

Here the available photos :

http://hmshood.com/history/denmarkstrai ... amage1.htm

Here Capt J.C. Leach statements about it :

On May 24th, 1941 radio message :

At 06.02-30 seconds the bridge of the Prince of Wales was hit, casualties, heavy, Captain unhurt.

On May 27th, 1941 radio message :

At 06.02 compass platform was hit and majority of personnel killed. Navigating Officer was wounded; Commanding Officer unhurt.

And from his narrative on June 4th, 1941 :

And at 06.02 compass platform was hit and majority of personnel killed. Navigating Officer was wounded; Commanding Officer unhurt.

Bye Antonio

[RNfanDan]

I don't mean to diminish matters in any way...but why would there be a column for a casualty's gender, aboard a battleship? Was the form shown above, a document used throughout the RN, including shore facilities and hospital ships, or places where females would have served alongside males (such as Wrens and/or secretarial workers)?

Just curious...

[Antonio Bonomi]

Hello everybody,

ERRATA CORRIGE : The casualties were 13 that morning, Tucker ( Nr 4 on the list ) correctly was removed from the list, just as you can read by Sam Wood from HMS PoW here after.

http://www.knottingley.org/letters/memo ... _swood.htm

http://www.knottingley.org/letters/memo ... marck2.htm

We could not believe it, surely the Germans could not do such a thing to us.
I reached for the telephone which was connected direct to the forward medical station and spoke to SBPO Percy Silk and said "The Hoods gone."
I don’t know what he thought or felt, he did not answer and I hung up.
It then occurred to me that if the same thing was to happen to us and we were to go the Hood’s way I would be better off on the open deck of the bridge above me.
I needed to step back about 10 yards and go up the ladder to the compass platform which would place me level with the bridge.
I was climbing the ladder and had reached the top two steps, two thirds of my upper body was through the hatch whilst my legs were still firmly on the ladder.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash in front of my eyes and I felt enveloped in a pocket of searing heat.

I heard no explosion and everything appeared in slow motion.
I was sucked up the ladder and seemed to float across the bridge area.
After floating for what seemed an age I finally came to rest on the deck amidst a shambles of torn steel fixtures, collapsed searchlights and human bodies.
As I regained my senses, the sweet smell of burned flesh mingled with the acrid stench of high explosives assailed my nostrils, gradually my brain cleared and the red fog lifted from my eyes.
Everything was enveloped in dark grey smoke.
I felt something stirring alongside me and a voice said, "Hang on doc, I think we’ve been hit."
I recall giggling at the silliness of such a remark and forget my reply.

Struggling to my feet the first wounded man I got to was Leading Seaman Tucker. He was lying under a pile of debris.
I remember he told me to leave him and see to the others because he did not feel too bad.
I pulled back the debris and saw his left leg was hanging on by a narrow strip of flesh and his femoral artery spurting like a fountain.
I quickly tourniquet his leg, injected morphia and organized his removal to the main medical station below.

Other casualties were dealt with as I came across them, losing count of how many.

There was Lieutenant Esmond Knight , a well-known actor in his pre-war days, blood pouring from his face around his eyes.
I treated him wondering what his future would hold.
I remember Boy Signalman Johnstone, recognizable only by the crossed flags on his arm and later by his paybook.
The navigator with a hole in his cheek, and on it went, for how long I cannot recall.
The bridge and compass platform were a complete shambles, the dead were collected by hastily organized working parties.
I looked up and out to sea and saw that the ‘Prince of Wales’ had laid a smoke screen across the sea, all gunfire had now ceased.
The smoke screen looked black and ugly, with the damage all around me I reasoned that if I had seen heaven earlier that day when everything had appeared so beautiful, I was now viewing the entrails of hell.

After the bridge had been cleared of casualties and the dead removed by the working parties, I sat down to reflect on what had happened.
I was covered in dirt and blood, my head throbbing like mad, one of my shoes was missing, my uniform was in tatters and a strange sensation in my confused mind was telling me I should not have let the ‘Hood’ go down, that I should have reached out and grabbed the bows as they were disappearing into the depths of the ocean.
I now know this was crazy thinking, but everything seemed crazy that morning.
After a mug of cocoa and a corned beef doorstep I reported to the Surgeon Commander for further instructions. I was told to remain at my action station after obtaining further medical supplies.

Tucker apparently died after for the received injuries :

http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/casu ... trait.html

Bye Antonio

[Antonio Bonomi]

Hello everybody,

I don't mean to diminish matters in any way...but why would there be a column for a casualty's gender, aboard a battleship? Was the form shown above, a document used throughout the RN, including shore facilities and hospital ships, or places where females would have served alongside males (such as Wrens and/or secretarial workers)?

Just curious...

That surprised me as well when I noticed it Dan, ... just like the fact that the Nr. 11 ---> Dreyer ... does not have his sex written but only a number apparently ...
... than they missed the age of Nr. 13 and 14 ... but there were more columns like : Were they were on board ? ... ... of course on PoW, since it is her own war diary ... and last the nationality were English, Welsh or Scottish was highlighted too ...

Anyhow, ... apparently more casualties on the bridge ( probably 11, ... all the D/JX, D/SSX, RDF and P/JX ) ... than on the compass platform ( probably only 2 -- > Dreyer and Ince, the young midshipman ) ... what do you think ?

So how many were on the compass platform on that moment ?

Capt. Leach, LtntCdr Rowell, the Chief Yeoman of Signals ... and 2 midshipman ? Who else ?

PoW_Compass_Platform_ E_Knight_Cap_Leach.jpg (45.93 KiB) Viewed 2549 times

Bye Antonio

[Steve Crandell]

What I think is that the term "Bridge" is being used by some individuals synonymously with "Compass Platform". Obviously the hit was on the latter.

[Antonio Bonomi]

Hello everybody,

@ Steve Crandell,

of course it is enough to look at the drawings, photos or a model of PoW to realize that the Compass Platform and the bridge were 2 different things.

The compass platform was a closed area, ... a room ... the open bridges on both sides were used for searchlights and Air Defense installation positions.

The Bismarck 15 inch ( 381 mm ) shell came from the starboard front corner of the compass platform and went out from the port side aft corner just were the searchlights and Air defense bridges were located.

Apparently ... the waste majority of the killed persons were on the open port side bridges, ... so they were killed by the shell itself as well as by the many metal splinters caused by the shell on the compass platform.

Here following the overall situation :

bridge_equipment_03.jpg (122.33 KiB) Viewed 2542 times

... and here the bridges viewed from above with all sailors in there, so we can realize the overall situation there when the Bismarck shell came :

bridge_equipment_02.jpg (62.06 KiB) Viewed 2542 times

This is the area were Sam Wood and Esmond Knight were located.

Here Esmond Knight description of it :

In the early hours of 24th May - Empire Day - the paths of the converging British and German ships met. Esmond was dozing on his bunk when “Action Stations!” sounded for real. Clutching his tin hat and Zeiss binoculars (the souvenir from his pre-war holiday in Austria) he rushed to his action station on the compass platform - or to be precise, above it, in an unarmored anti-aircraft control position. There he made himself ready, adjusting his lifebelt, binoculars and director telescopes and, along with others, trying to make his tin hat stay on his head on top of the anti-flash hood which was intended to give protection from the effects of a shell blast. Looking up, he saw that the battle flags had been hoisted.

On the above photo Esmond Knight should be located on the ADO ( Air Defense Officer ) exact position on port side of PoW bridge, just as he described himself.

http://www.esmondknight.org.uk/hislife08.htm

Bye Antonio

[Alberto Virtuani]

@Antonio: looking at the compass layout and dimensions, no more than 10 people can be together in it, I would guess 6 to 8 max when in action.

DSCN7290_tot.JPG (177.96 KiB) Viewed 2541 times

As 2 of them were not killed inside (Leach, Rowell and the Chief Yeoman of Signals) I would say that the majority of casualties was in the port S.L.Ss (just visible in the layout behind the compass on port side) and port A.D.O (behind them) as also the damage report states.
Also the ranking of the dead people (the only 2 officers in the list were the 2 poor midshipmen) suggests that they were in majority on the bridge (at their instruments).

You are right, the bridge here is the whole level of the ship that in this case is called "Upper Bridge" while the Compass Platform is (in case of PoW) a closed room in front of the bridge. The original PoW plans (from which I got the above layout) call this level of the ship "Upper Bridge & Compass Platform".

Bye, Alberto

[Herr Nilsson]

Antonio, the path of the shell is wrong.

[Antonio Bonomi]

Hello everybody,

@ Herr Nilsson,

I thought I drew it precisely enough from that photo perspective,... anyway ... here the original drawing on the PoW damage report document :

PoW Hits.JPG

(224.95 KiB) Not downloaded yet

It should end up with something close to this path into the compass platform using Alberto drawing as base reference :

PoW_Compass_platform_hit_path.jpg (108.73 KiB) Viewed 2527 times

Bye Antonio

[Alberto Virtuani]

@ all:
is anybody able to interpret the "occupation" of the dead people listed here below ? I'm just able to understand their ranking but not the letters after the rank (e.g. D/JX, D/SSX, D/J, R/DF P/JX, R.D/F).
I think they refer to a RN WWII department naming.....

PoW_Dead_May_24_1941.jpg (141.07 KiB) Viewed 2502 times

This would be very interesting to reconstruct who was where at the very moment the shell passed though the compass and the port upper bridge.

Bye, Alberto

[wadinga]

Hi Antonio,

I would suggest using the damage photos on the Hood site to refine your shell path very slightly. It looks to me like it exits exactly through the rear port corner, ie to port of the door in and out from the Compass platform.

Re-posting Sam Woods' account is very valuable, as it highlights that he travelled the exact opposite route to Leach ie from the Conning tower to the compass platform area. After he had taken in the destruction of Hood, made a phone call to his chum in the Sick Bay and decided that getting stuck in the armoured Conning Tower was a bad idea he is apparently part way way up the ladders in the main DCT access when the hit takes place. Still he has 10 whole seconds longer than Leach to cover the distance, although the Captain starts with the disadvantage of starting his run whilst being unconscious. This all apparently happens between 06:00 and 06:00:50 (Unless this timetable is flawed, of course!).

The account makes clear referring to the diagrams that when Woods was sucked through the hatch he ended up in the open air near the wrecked searchlights. his condition was

I was covered in dirt and blood, my head throbbing like mad, one of my shoes was missing, my uniform was in tatters

and this was the blast effect in the open air. What was the pressure effect in the enclosed Compass platform?

It may be that there were only 5 individuals in the CP and some of the other casualties were outside in the ADO area. However Brooke describes a dead radar operator, severed at the waist and a boot with a foot in it which may relate to damage to the Type 284 radar office. Some accounts put this immediately below the Boat storage area. Anybody know where the radar offices were. Some casualties have R/DF in their designation.

All the best

wadinga

[dunmunro]

It may be that there were only 5 individuals in the CP and some of the other casualties were outside in the ADO area. However Brooke describes a dead radar operator, severed at the waist and a boot with a foot in it which may relate to damage to the Type 284 radar office. Some accounts put this immediately below the Boat storage area. Anybody know where the radar offices were. Some casualties have R/DF in their designation.

All the best

wadinga

Brooke was correct that there was a radar office below the boat deck, and that radar operators in that space were killed by splinters.

Above- Another view of extensive shrapnel damage to the rear funnel and surrounding area. The shrapnel penetrated the boat deck and caused fatalities in the Type 284 radar office below. Shrapnel also peppered the Walrus aircraft (situated just forward of this funnel). The aircraft had to be jettisoned over the side.
http://www.hmshood.com/history/denmarks ... amage2.htm