New NatGeo Documentary on Bismarck
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 4:41 am
Hi all,
"Nazi Supership"
Last night, the National Geographic channel premiered a new 1 hour documentary on the Bismarck saga. It was OK I guess - with CGI similar to the Dogfights series, but, as usual, some nit piks that they got wrong. Much was summarized and many details omitted. It included footage from an expedition to the Bismarck wreck which included a manned submersible (didn't Cameron do that?) and two Bismarck veterans viewing the footage and giving recollections.
The CGI representations of the ships was good. Bismarck's colour scheme for the D/S battle was just about right. Hood looked her usual beautiful self. They once again misrepresented the trajectory of Hood's fatal hit, showing it plunging out of the sky through her decks. They made much of PoW's hit through Bismarck's bow, but no mention of the other two. I can't recall any mention of the damage to PoW and her retreat.
For the Swordfish attack from Ark Royal (no coverage of Victorious) the described Bismarck's AA armament as "antiquated" to explain why it could not cope with the slow moving aircraft!
In the final battle, though they mention a concentration of British ships, the focus is on Rodney with no mention of King George V. In Bismarck's sinking, they have her capsizing and going down by the bow - with one of the veterans stating that he saw her go that way. (Dorsetshire's photo shows her bows in the air). They show evidence from the wreck of the firing of scuttling charges.
Sir Ludovic Kennedy and Geoffrey Brooke give commentary from the British side, so this was obviously done before the former's death.
All in all, with so many similar documentaries, it's hard to see what the point was in doing another one with nothing dramatically new to report. But it made for good TV viewing anyway!
Also, there was another "supership" documentary aired just before - "Sinking Hitler's Supership" - the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustlov in 1945. Not sure why they considered the Gustlov a "supership", but the sinking was nevertheless a harrowing event.
I'm sure they'll be aired again.
Paul
"Nazi Supership"
Last night, the National Geographic channel premiered a new 1 hour documentary on the Bismarck saga. It was OK I guess - with CGI similar to the Dogfights series, but, as usual, some nit piks that they got wrong. Much was summarized and many details omitted. It included footage from an expedition to the Bismarck wreck which included a manned submersible (didn't Cameron do that?) and two Bismarck veterans viewing the footage and giving recollections.
The CGI representations of the ships was good. Bismarck's colour scheme for the D/S battle was just about right. Hood looked her usual beautiful self. They once again misrepresented the trajectory of Hood's fatal hit, showing it plunging out of the sky through her decks. They made much of PoW's hit through Bismarck's bow, but no mention of the other two. I can't recall any mention of the damage to PoW and her retreat.
For the Swordfish attack from Ark Royal (no coverage of Victorious) the described Bismarck's AA armament as "antiquated" to explain why it could not cope with the slow moving aircraft!
In the final battle, though they mention a concentration of British ships, the focus is on Rodney with no mention of King George V. In Bismarck's sinking, they have her capsizing and going down by the bow - with one of the veterans stating that he saw her go that way. (Dorsetshire's photo shows her bows in the air). They show evidence from the wreck of the firing of scuttling charges.
Sir Ludovic Kennedy and Geoffrey Brooke give commentary from the British side, so this was obviously done before the former's death.
All in all, with so many similar documentaries, it's hard to see what the point was in doing another one with nothing dramatically new to report. But it made for good TV viewing anyway!
Also, there was another "supership" documentary aired just before - "Sinking Hitler's Supership" - the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustlov in 1945. Not sure why they considered the Gustlov a "supership", but the sinking was nevertheless a harrowing event.
I'm sure they'll be aired again.
Paul
