"Bismarck: 10.35 hrs; May 26th 1941 (one battleship bearing 240 degrees; speed 20 knots)"

Watercolour &Bodycolour

12 x 20 inches (30 x 51 cm)

Signed, lower right, & dated '23, lower right

SOLD

This is the fourth and final painting in Ian Lowe's series depicting the exceptionally famous Second World War action against the German warship KMSBismarck.

Ian depicts here the dramatic moments on the morning of 26th May 1941 when an RAF Catalina of 209 Squadron findsBismarck. On a morning of very bad weather, the Catalina came under heavy fire from Bismarck but the pilot, Denins Briggs, was able to transmit the vital message giving the German ship's position. Although damaged, the flying boat was able to return safely to her base at Loch Erne in Northern Ireland.

A highly controversial aspect of the mission was that there was an American pilot - Lieutenant Leonard B. Smith - on board the Catalina. It was known that Britain had purchased 200 Catalinas but not that three American pilots had been supplied with them to train the RAF flyers. Had it been known at the time that an American was part of the Bismarck mission it would have led to very serious political problems.

Once located, Bismarck's time was running out. Slowed down by damage from an attack by Swordfish aircraft later on the 26th, she was engaged on the morning of the 27th by a large British force led by HMS King George V and HMS Rodney. Bismarck sank at 10.40 hrs; evidence has been found to suggest that she was scuttled in her last moments.

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