Several years ago at a military collectors show I met Bruno Roncza, one of the few Bismarck survivors. Most people know the ship from the Johnny Horton song, which does not appear in the movie.

Note: Bismarck took between 400-700 hits out of over 2800 fried against her and 7-10 direct torepedo hits out of nearly 30 launched- yet none pierced her armored double belt as Ballard's footage proves. She was scuttled. The heroics of the turret crews as the ship was bombarded and on fire speaks volumes of naval valor. If only she had not broken radio silence... nor experienced the lone Swordfish's "lucky" hit on the rudder.

I'm not even going to grade this essay because IT DOESN'T HAVE ANY PARAGRAPHS. I'll just have to hand it back to you to do over.

Your stubborn resistance to this simple formatting device, a courtesy 'rule one' for all who aspire to be professional writers, is intriguing. It seems you won't do it because people have asked you to, like a naughty boy who won't co-operate out of sheer spite. It really says a lot about your attitude.

You once remarked that paras don't belong in comment boxes, and this is not a forum. Well, it is very much a forum, whether you want to call it that or not, and any substantial piece of writing, whether in a comment or an introduction, requires formatting to indicate how one's ideas are organized. When you speak, do you draw breath between sentences, or pause for effect, or take a moment to gather your thoughts, think before speaking? Paras are the literary equivalent of that. If you don't do it, it shows a complete lack of regard for the sensibilities of your readers and and negates any claim you may have to professionalism.

All the same, I read it. Your main thrust seems to be that the Bismarck was not destroyed by allied firepower but scuttled by its own crew. I'm not sure why you think this fact is important, or why others might find it so, but I think this is definitely a potentially fruitful line of exploration you should take up with your analyst.

Actually, I don't even really know why I'm commenting. Some of your parodies are mildly interesting and impressively researched, and this was one, original and substantial although the bulk of this warmed-over WW2 tale story has been told many times, and you brought something new to it. But your propensity for vote-rigging, one and five-bombing (they're the same thing), and lately the removal of any comments that draw attention to it just puts decals on everything you write.

This is a little know fact, Patrick, but Screaming Jay Hawkins actually sent this very song in to be used as the theme song for the movie ... but it was rejected as being a little too pro-Bismark