12 December 2016
John Moffat, the Fleet Air Arm pilot whose Fairey Swordfish biplane launched the torpedo which crippled the Bismarck leading to its eventual sinking, has died aged 97.
John was 21 years old when he took off from the deck of HMS Ark Royal, with two other crew, on 26 May 1941 in foul weather. Their mission: to try and stop the German Navy’s flagship battleship, Bismarck, from reaching the German-held port of Brest on the west coast of France.
“When Churchill gave the order to sink the Bismarck, we knew we just had to stop her trail of devastation at all costs.” said John. “We dived in through the murk, into a lethal storm of shells and bullets.
“I thought the closer we were to the water the better chance we had of surviving so we flew in bouncing off the tops of the waves – and it worked.
“The great thing about the Swordfish was that the bullets just went straight through. After all, it was only made of canvas.”
A Fairey Swordfish, just like the one flown by John Moffat, takes off from the deck of the Ark Royal. Top: John Moffat with a Swordfish.
The torpedo launched by John damaged the rudder of the Bismarck and meant it could only steam around in circles. This gave time for the Royal Navy’s fleet of battleships and cruisers to catch up and sink the warship.
John wrote a book about the attack, titled I Sank The Bismarck, though he always said it was a team effort. After WWII, he became a hotel manager. Later, in his 60s, John took up private flying with the Scottish Aero Club at Perth, and flew into his early 90s.
4 comments
The Title of John Moffat’s book was “I sank the Bismarck” and was misleading on two accounts. Firstly, he attacked the Bismarck in the first wave against her port side and the leader of that flight recorded no hits and in fact th bby fatal torpedo was actually fired at her starboard side, entering her steering compartment, exploding and jamming her starboard rudder against her midship propellor. Secondly, this torpedo only crippled the Bismarck by rendered her unsteerable and the following morning the Force H and the Home Fleet caught up and closed in on her and then sank her, although her crew always claimed they scuttled her.
John Moffatt hated the title of his book, that the publisher forced him to take. He never made the claim his torpedo hit the Bismarck’s steering compartment, nor is that claim in the book. I believe all the men in his squadron can claim credit for this hit, enabling the Fleet to catch up with the Bismarck, and sink her. One of them got lucky. The Fleet would have never caught up with the Bismarck without the action of the brave men of this Swordfish squadron.
John Moffat agreed to and condoned the title of his book ‘i sank the Bismarck’. true, he never claimed a hit in the debrief or thereafter but the title created the myth and when praised he never-ending to denied it. The Fly Navy Trust, anxious to raise funds, wined and dined him for the last 8 years of his life at numerous functions and he relished in also the glory of it. He fired at her port side but the fatal shot hit her starboard steering compartment. On!y 2 pilots successfully attacked the starboard side, Godfrey-Fawssett and Ken Pattisson. The latter was in the best firing position and altered his aim at the last minute noticing Bismarck turning hard to port comb the torpedoes fired in the first wave, Moffat’s being one of them.
John Moffat never claimed a bit at the debrief following the attack on the Bismarck but when an amateur American historian mistakingly credited him he chose to subsequently co-write a book with Mike Rossiter an author and times it as “I sank the Bismarck”. Modest attacked her port side in the first wave but significantly when the film director James Cameron dived on her in 2002 and filmed her in a Russian submersible. He discovered and filmed the damage to her starboard steering compartment showing a rudder jammed against her central propellor. This is what crippled her and it can be viewed on YouTube “Expedition Bismarck”. Only 2 pilots successfully attacked Bismarck’s starboard side, Godfrey-Fawsett and Ken Pattisson and so it had to be one of these two brave pilots. Apparently it was a 1 in a 100,0000 chance, there being no armour plating in that area.