12. The sinking of Bismarck marked the end of surface raiding by the Kriegsmarine
On May 26, a Catalina flying boat located Bismarck, still bound for Brest, but some 700 nautical miles distant. Aircraft from HMS Ark Royal attacked, and in two separate strikes hit the German battleship with at least two torpedoes. One jammed one of the great ship’s rudders, and the vessel began to steam in a circle. Throughout the night the ship was harassed by British destroyers. On the morning of May 27, the British battleships Rodney and King George V opened fire on the crippled German. Bismarck fought back until its gun turrets were out of action, its decks aflame, and much of its crew dead. Although the British claimed to have sunk the ship with cruiser-launched torpedoes, evidence revealed when the wreck was examined indicated the Germans scuttled the ship.
The loss of Bismarck led Hitler to instruct Admiral Raeder, Commander in Chief of the German Navy, to end surface raiding of convoys in the Atlantic. The remaining capital ships of the Kriegsmarine moved to northern ports by transiting up the Channel, which they did in the face of the British Navy. From there they threatened the convoys moving supplies to the Soviets for the rest of the war. Attacks on Atlantic Convoys were left to the U-boats and when in range of German aviators. Fuel for the surface ships was also restricted. The German surface fleet became a fleet in being, a threat due to its existence which the British were forced to counter.