Warfare in News
Posted on Wednesday 14th December
SCOTTISH PILOT WHO HELPED SINK THE BISMARCK DIES
A Scottish veteran pilot who helped to sink the Bismarck during World War Two has died at the age of 97.
Lt Cdr John “Jock” Moffat was credited for launching the torpedo that destroyed the German warship back in 1941. HMS Victorious and Ark Royal were the biplanes that carried out the air strike, launched as the battleship headed to the relative safety of waters off the coast of France. said to have been Britain's last hope of stopping the Bismarck. Mr Moffat described 26 May 1941 as flying through “a lethal storm of shells and bullets”.
He served with four squadrons in total spanning a career of eight years in fleet air arm. Mr Moffat took up flying in his 60's and flew into his early 90's.
Mr Moffat's death was announced by the Royal Navy.
A Scottish veteran pilot who helped to sink the Bismarck during World War Two has died at the age of 97.
Lt Cdr John “Jock” Moffat was credited for launching the torpedo that destroyed the German warship back in 1941. HMS Victorious and Ark Royal were the biplanes that carried out the air strike, launched as the battleship headed to the relative safety of waters off the coast of France. said to have been Britain's last hope of stopping the Bismarck. Mr Moffat described 26 May 1941 as flying through “a lethal storm of shells and bullets”.
He served with four squadrons in total spanning a career of eight years in fleet air arm. Mr Moffat took up flying in his 60's and flew into his early 90's.
Mr Moffat's death was announced by the Royal Navy.
Further Reading
Only £14.99
Killing the Bismarck
(Paperback - 320 pages)by Iain Ballantyne
In May 1941, the German battleship Bismarck, accompanied by heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, broke out into the Atlantic, to attack Allied shipping. The Royal Navy's pursuit and subsequent destruction of Bismarck was an epic of naval warfare. In this new account of those dramatic events at the height of the Second World War, Iain Ballantyne draws extensively on the graphic eye-witness testimony of veterans, to construct a thrilling story, mainly from the point of view… Read more...
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