Naval History Forums

The sinking of the SMS SZENT ISTVAN was filmed by Lieutenant Mensburger from aboard the SMS TEGETTHOFF. It was used by the Red Cross for fundraising. Only 89 men were lost; it is attributed to the fact that every man in the k. u. k. Kriegsmarine had to know how to swim in order to join.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hWO-AUI8HDE

The ending of this film is also of the SMS SZENT ISTVAN. Only 3 battleship sinkings have been filmed: SMS SZENT ISTVAN, HMS BARHAM und USS ARIZONA.
http://www.viribusunitis.ca/movie-VU.htm

Ulrich Rudofsky wrote:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hWO-AUI8HDE

In this video you can see a lot of men walking around her decks as if nothing was happening at all. What are they waiting to abandon the ship? How many men were lost?

Only 84 sailors and 5 officers were lost of a crew of 1000+. Possibly those killed are related to the torpedo hit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Szent_Istvan

And swimming in the Med in June when the water is 20-25 C/68-77F, and no oil in the water (Bismarck), was comfortable. Unless my eyes deceive me, are there some people running around on the turned up bottom of the ship?

The speed of the films, lapses in recording, and technical manipulations may also give a deceptive impression and the actions are not in "real time".

was not also the sinking of the Roma also filmed?

tommy303 wrote:was not also the sinking of the Roma also filmed?

Maybe, but from what distance?

Was not the sinking of the Bismarck also filmed?

Ulrich Rudofsky wrote: are there some people running around on the turned up bottom of the ship?

Yes, I think so.

I know there are lots of still photos of the Roma sinking, but I have not seen a moving picture film.

My grandfather Spiro Popovac was a sailor on St Istvan. I never spoke to him because he had died in 1962, and I was born in 1967. Here is what he told my mother about sinking of St Istvan. When the torpedo crashed the ship he was on the upper deck because his duty was to take care about big guns. The sheep began to sink very fast and he had jumped to the sea from the bow of the ship. At that moment the bow was very high and he had injured his knee. He told that many sailors especially Hungarians WHERE NOT SWIMMERS , and he had seen that some sailors had a knifes and used them to protect themselves from the non swimmers in the sea. It was a great crowd and panic in the sea and he had to exert himself to swim far from the crowd. He had to wait about two hours to be picked up by another ship. He thought that many more sailors had died than it was officially presented. And he was always speaking that sailors who left in boiler room WHERE LOCKED and could not escape because the Captain thought they have enough time to reach the nearby island. And according to words of my grandfather they have had only one military action during the War. They were shooting in the air in front of town Ancona . Most of the time they spent in Pula harbor.