Search for the Battleship Bismarck

Sink the Bismarck!’’ was the cry as British forces searched the Atlantic for the German navy’s most powerful vessel. The pursuit ended on May 27, 1941, in a battle that plunged the Bismarck into waters nearly three miles deep, taking with it more than 2,000 lives. Almost half a century later, explorer and scientist Dr. Robert Ballard, who discovered the sunken Titanic, searched the Atlantic for the infamous Bismarck. On June 8, 1989, he located the sunken ship, 600 miles off the coast of France. National Geographic looks back at the first, and last, mission of the Bismarck and talks with survivors of the notorious World War II battle. Then, in its climatic chapter, the story reveals exclusive footage of this remarkable undersea exploration.