She was one of the largest ships built by any European power [1], and one of the two largest battleships (the other being Tirptiz) ever built by Germany [2]. And the fate for which she is remembered could likely have been avoided easily, had its commander not made a very simple mistake.
Named for the noted Prussian chancellor who had raised modern Germany to a place among the world’s great powers, the Bismarck was a monster of the sea—pure and simple. The U-boats (German submarines) were frightening enough to the British and the convoys on which the latter depended for survival, but surface raiders like Bismarck and Tirpitz were much more dangerous [3]. A tanker or freighter captain who sighted Bismarck setting a course across his bow knew his ship was doomed [4]. Convoy escorts (like destroyers and corvettes) may have been good at hunting and killing submarines, but their small guns were helpless against capital ships like Bismarck [5]. If she chose, Bismarck could ram her way through a convoy; a thin-skinned five-thousand-ton freighter would perish beneath her bows like a rowboat [6].
The Battle
On May 21, 1941, the Bismarck, the Prinz Eugen, and three escorting destroyers left Bergen, Norway, for an attempted breakout into the North Atlantic. Prior to departure, Admiral Gunther Lutjens, the ships’ commander, neglected to fill the Bismarck’s fuel tanks all the way to the top.
She thus left port 200 long tons short of a full load [7]. Some believe Lutjens’ failure in this regard was due to his desire to leave Norway under the cover of North Sea fog, which might have dissipated sooner than expected and thus exposed his ships to British air attack [8]. Whatever his reasons, Lutjens’ decision to not fully supply his fuel tanks would prove fatal to his mission, to the Bismarck, and to himself.
The Bismarck and her attendant ships escaped British detection, and a lone British reconnaissance fighter soon reported to Winston Churchill and the British high command that Bismarck was gone. The news disturbed Churchill greatly, as eleven convoys were at that moment about to leave British ports. One of these was a troop transport filled with 20,000 soldiers headed for the North African front. Were Bismarck to encounter this transport and her two escorting cruisers, all three would be sent to the bottom, and Churchill’s war in North Africa would be lost. Thus the Bismarck had to be located, and sunk immediately [9].
The German ships took the long, northern route, intending to enter the North Atlantic through the Denmark Straits between Iceland and Greenland. Two of Britain’s most powerful ships, the Hood and the Prince of Wales—together with an aircraft carrier, four additional cruisers, and seven destroyers—made for the mouth of the Denmark Straits with the intent of intercepting the Germans [10]. Prinz Eugen and Bismarck came into full view of the British ships at sunrise, May 23rd. In the battle that followed, the Hood was sunk [11], but the Prince of Wales had managed to put at least three 14-inch shells into Bismarck [12]. Admiral Lutjens now knew his decision to not fully fill Bismarck’s fuel tanks in Norway would be fatal—to himself as well as to the ship [13]. Prinz Eugen, by contrast, which had filled its tanks to the brim [14], would successfully reach the port of Brest in occupied France [15], and would survive till after war’s end [16].
Wounded and low on fuel, the Bismarck tried to make for the port of Saint-Nazaire, also in occupied France. But lack of fuel hindered her speed, which could have enabled her to evade the British and reach the French coast, under the Luftwaffe air umbrella. Thus, on the morning of May 27, 1941, British warships—along with torpedo planes from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal—closed in on the mighty German battleship [17]. Waves of shells and torpedo bombardment sent Bismarck beneath the waves at approximately 10:30 a.m. [18]. Of the 2,200 officers and crew on board, only 114 survived [19]. Admiral Lutjens, who had made the fateful decision not to fill Bismarck’s fuel tanks, perished with the ship [20].
An Object Lesson
Like the foolish virgins in Jesus’ parable (Matt. 25:8-9), Admiral Lutjens neglected his source of power, and thus lost one of the greatest warships of all time. (As he was on the wrong side of that great conflict, we can be glad for his mistake, but the object lesson still stands.) You and I, if we aren’t careful, can make the same fatal error.
Ellen White, commenting on the foolish virgins’ lack of oil, writes:
Without the Spirit of God a knowledge of His word is of no avail. The theory of truth, unaccompanied by the Holy Spirit, cannot quicken the soul or sanctify the heart. One may be familiar with the commands and promises of the Bible, but unless the Spirit of God sets the truth home, the character will not be transformed. Without the enlightenment of the Spirit, men will not be able to distinguish truth from error, and they will fall under the masterful temptations of Satan [21].
We don’t live, to be sure, in a time when theoretical knowledge of God’s Word is commonly prized. Subjective spirituality is by far the more ubiquitous pitfall for today’s Christians, especially in the developed world. But for the striving faithful, the temptation to make theoretical knowledge a substitute for heart-based, Spirit-empowered obedience is never absent. Daily surrender of the heart and life to the Spirit’s full control as revealed in the written Word, is as imperative for our salvation as full fuel tanks were for the Bismarck. Just as heavy armor and massive guns couldn’t save the Bismarck in the absence of sufficient fuel, so is vast Biblical and spiritual knowledge—and the attendant dexterity such knowledge affords in theological debate—unable to save our souls in the absence of the transforming, empowering Holy Spirit.
Ellen White speaks of how “in spiritual things no man can make up another’s deficiency” [22]. This would have been true in Bismarck’s last battle as well. Ships in a pitched battle can’t share fuel, as all of them need every drop for maneuverability and escape if necessary. So in our spiritual walk. Though God’s power is ever available for our use in the struggle for everlasting life, the struggle remains ours to execute and complete. In Ellen White’s words: “God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; we form the character” [23].
The good news for us is that unlike ships that go to battle, we don’t have just one chance to fill our hearts with the oil of God’s Spirit when faced with conflict. We can call upon the Lord any time we are vexed with temptation or spiritual challenges. The inspired pen offers the following assurance:
The gift of His Holy Spirit, rich, full, and abundant, is to be to His church as an encompassing wall of fire, which the powers of hell shall not prevail against [24].
REFERENCES
1. “German battleship Bismarck” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck
2. Ibid.
3. William Manchester and Paul Reid, The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965 (New York: Bantam Books, 2012), p. 356.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. “German battleship Bismarck” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck
8. Manchester and Reid, The Last Lion, p. 357.
9. Ibid, p. 358.
10. Ibid, pp. 358-359.
11. Ibid, p. 361.
12. Ibid, p. 363.
13. Ibid.
14. “German battleship Bismarck” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck
15. Manchester and Reid, The Last Lion, p. 363.
16. “German cruiser Prinz Eugen,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Prinz_Eugen
17. Manchester and Reid, The Last Lion, p. 364.
18. Ibid.
19. “German battleship Bismarck” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck
20. Manchester and Reid, The Last Lion, p. 364.
21. Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 408-409.
22. Ibid, pp. 411-412.
23. Ibid, p. 331.
24. ----Testimonies to Ministers, p. 18.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan