Cirrus@Austlit

Novelised version of 1960 film Sink the Bismarck!.

Epigraph: Light falls, and out of the solemn ring the late mists climb,/ And ship to ship the antagonists gaze at each other astonished,/ Across the quaking gulf of the sea for a moment's time./ ... The German gun-layers stationed/ Brisk at their intricate batteries--guns and men both trained/ To a hair in accuracy, aimed at a pitiless end--/ Fired, and the smke rolled forth over the impassioned/ Face of a day where nothing certain but death remained. (From The Nabara by C. Day Lewis)

Author's note: The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Chief of Naval Information and his staff at the Admiralty, Esmond Knight, Esq., and Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Vian, G.C.B., K.B.E., D.S.O.