Sink the Bismarck Johnny Horton Written by Tillman Franks and Johnny Horton Peaked at # 3 in 1960 Inspired by the 1960 film "Sink the Bismarck! " In May of nineteen forty-one the war had just begun The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns The Bismark was the fastest ship that ever sailed the seas On her deck were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood And ev'ry British seaman, he knew and understood They had to sink the Bismark, the terror of the sea Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees We'll find that German battleship that's makin' such a fuss We gotta sink the Bismark ;cause the world depends on us Hit the decks a-runnin' boys and spin those guns around When we find the Bismark we gotta cut her down The Hood found the Bismark and on that fatal day The Bismark started firin' fifteen miles away "We gotta sink the Bismark" was the battle sound But when the smoke had cleared away, the mighty Hood went down For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail Churchill told the people "Put ev'ry ship a-sail 'Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she's gotta be We gotta sink the Bismark to the bottom of the sea" We'll find that German battleship that's makin' such a fuss We gotta sink the Bismark ;cause the world depends on us Hit the decks a-runnin' boys and spin those guns around When we find the Bismark we gotta cut her down The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the mornin' sun Ten hours away from homeland the Bismark made its run The admiral of the British fleet said "Turn those bows around We found that German battleship and we're gonna cut her down" The British guns were aimed and the shells were comin' fast The first shell hit the Bismark, they knew she couldn't last That mighty German battleship is just a memory "Sink the Bismark" was the battle cry that shook the seven seas We found that German battleship was makin' such a fuss We had to sink the Bismark 'cause the world depends on us We hit the deck a-runnin' and we spun those guns around Yeah, we found the mighty Bismark and then we cut her down We found that German battleship was makin' such a fuss We had to sink the Bismark 'cause the world depends on us We hit the deck a-runnin' and we spun those guns around We found the mighty Bismark and then we cut her down TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Prior to transcribing this, I had been under the impression that the Bismarck had been sinking Allied shipping left and right for at least several months. After all, Horton *does* say "makin' such a fuss." Then I saw a TV documentary of how the same folks who had located the Titanic had now found the Bismarck. Contemporary footage was interspersed with archival photos and I got a clue which I then researched further on the Internet. The TRUTH is that the Bismarck was sunk on her maiden voyage!! She finished her sea trials and put out on her first mission on May 19, 1941. The British, thanks to a lucky strike on her rudder by a torpedo from a bi-winged Swordfish aircraft, stopped her before she could reach the Luftwaffe air cover flying out from occupied France. After an hour and a half of relentless pounding by several British ships, she sank-although some say she was scuttled (a la the Graf Spee later n the war.) The date was May 27, 1941 and Bismarck had been operational for only EIGHT DAYS! With collaboration from: Paul Knipp