Bismarck hero John Moffat visits Islay Airshow aged ninety

The German battleship Bismarck was the largest warship in the world in 1941. She was designed as a convoy raider, and if left to her own devices, could have crippled the supply lines from the USA to Britain, and severely impeded the British war effort. On May 19th 1941 she left her Baltic port with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and attempted to break out into the Atlantic. The two ships were detected by the Royal Navy however and brought to battle in the Denmark Straight off Greenland. The Bismarck quickly sank HMS Hood, the pride of the British Navy with the loss of 1,415 men.

The German battleship, Bismarck

The loss of the Hood provoked Churchill to issue the order ā€œSink the Bismarkā€ and threw all available resources into her pursuit. The first subsequent engagement was via Swordfish torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious which failed to do significant damage. The second wave of fifteen Swordfish was flown from the carrier Ark Royal - one of which was flown by pilot JWC Moffat with JD Miller and AJ Hayman as his crew. The Swordfish, built of wood and fabric and known as ā€˜Stringbagsā€™, were slow and ponderous biplanes, but their lack of speed may have contributed to their success as the Bismarckā€™s gunners found it difficult to target their attackers. Continue reading.....

In appalling weather conditions and against massive anti-aircraft fire, the tiny planes launched their torpedoes about 300 miles west of the French port of Brest, with Moffat and his crew scoring a vital hit on the stern of the giant battleship which jammed her rudders. It was this disabling strike which enabled the pursuing British battleships Rodney and King George V to close with Bismarck on 21st May and she was quickly rendered helpless by gunfire. She subsequently sank, her colours still flying, with the loss of 1,995 of her 2,200 crew.

Scotsman John Moffat left the Navy in 1946, gave up flying, and returned to Glasgow where he obtained a business degree and a diploma in hotel management. He was to start flying again in his 60s, and celebrated his 90th birthday in June of this year by looping the loop in a light aircraft.

Lord George Robertson of Port Ellen with Swordfish pilot John Moffat at Islay Airshow

This story was published with kind permission of the Ileach local newspaper and Museum of Islay Life.

Tag: history airshow