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(U) The b ~ ~ b u t exciting voyagepfthe ilI.fatedGenna.:ribattleship l J i , f ~ ~ ~ 1 S . ~ ~ : f ~ : . I ! ' ~ knaval stories o f W o t l ~ War r t ; ~ d perhaps of the 20th cenrory.Ho1H ihi$ s h i P ; ~ m P . ~ ~ ~ Y i ~ : ~ : ~ : ; Gennan cruiser Prinz Eugen; daShedilito the North A t l i m t i ( ; , j i a n k B r i t i i i n ' s l l l i g ~ r W _ i p , ~ ; Q : i l ; ~ l i ~ ~ cruiser H.M.S. Hood, and was f u i ~ n y ' c o t n e r e d and sunk afteibeing h i i n i e d b y 4 o ~ ~ ~ t ) f : a o y j 1 N a ; v Y ships, is still an exciting tale. ". .. .. ".' . . '":"\': .., ,: .. . ~ ~ ' : ' : : ~ : ~ , : ; ; ~ ~ . : : , : ~ : - . : . , : . ". ' .

. (U) I n t e r ~ t i n g l y , a l l i e d c o m n w n i c a ~ o n s intelligeri: bad iittledke , a n i J .the Balkans. During the 1930s, the B-Dienst had monitored the communications oftbe.. F ~ ~ l I P d . : ~ i 'British navies and learned much about their procedures and cryptographic systems; e s p e c i ~ ~ : r d ~ t h eSpanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939.pproved for Release by NSA on 12-26-2006 pursuant to E.O.12958,s amended MDR 51971

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..Bri '.. " l i l h ~' e ~ s ~ s I t q ~ a I N a f $ : L . "',"'.:'. i . , . i h l l i ~ b a s ~ ; ( ) "....." B e r i C h t " l t l ) a l l ~ ~ C ! ) ~ d S l l I 1 ~ J l I a j y r ~ ~ ~ ~ i!P.. . ; ~ I ~ i ' l U \ r i ; ~ a i J i ~ 1missions o f t h e 1 ) t ~ ~ t w a s i p . t ~ f c ( : ~ t i p . ~ a l 1 i ~ . c < ? t 1 ' . positioning ofGet/llalli U ~ b o a t s a ~ t c o n v o y s w ~ i n t e l l i g e n c e d e r i v C d t r ~ m CQMJNT. .

(U) To supplement this e f f o r t , t h f B ~ D i e n s t a l s o h ~ ~ ~ Q { t W U 1 $ ' ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~in the German navy"They were composed of intercept operators, 1 . s t s , a ~ ~ ~ ! l J ~ ~ ." ..''teams were tecbnicallyexcellentandUsually included a civilian expert or t w C l ; T h e ~ ~ o f ~ l i ~ ~ Svaried accordingrothe size of the ship. In fact, the skjpperofthe P r i n z ~ u g e n c o m ~ l a i . n ~ i p . l \ i ~ ~ . action report that the team on the Bismarck was larger than his unit. Two e x a m p l ~ s ~ t , l s i j t l i c ~ f i i ' the ability of these teams. . . . .. . .

. ..(U) The fIrst influence ofGerman COMINTin the Bismarck o p e r a ~ o n ~ ~ ~ ~ ( J i . f ! l y . l ~ hThe Bismarck and Prinz Eugen had sailed from the area near Bergen. N o r w a y , 1 h e p i i : Y i ~ U 1 > ~ y . Adesperate British aerial reconnaissance flight late on 22 Maydiscovered that the. shipslJlld l r f t . ~ eaircraft radioed its report to its base. The Germans inteteepted the m e s s a g e , b u t d i d n o H ~ r t t b . i s t o ' l h ~Bismarck until the next day. (It is possible that the original interceptwasfr(jm a I . . ~ e ~ O ~

unit, which might ex.plain the delay.) Furthermore, the BismarckwasOOt i n f o r m e d p m ~ ~ ~ ~ . ,from CQMINT, the German naval staff knew that major elements o f t h e B r i t i s h t l e e t m : ~ ' b ( l t 1 l : e > ~ ~already had left in pursuit. The task force commanderswere angry over this lapse m . r e p o ~ i ~ ~ . B ~ ~ $ :time, the Bismarck, shadowed by two British cruisers, ElMS SUifolk and H M S N 0 1 9 1 k . i ' Y a s ; > e O l t l l j ~ : tforcing a passage to the North Atlantic via the Denmark Straits. Whether the G e r m ~ ~ s ; ~ ~ ~ e : \ \ ' ( ) ~have continued on this voyage knowing that the British home fleet had sallied o u t t 6 m ~ ~ f , .. " .'retreated to Norway, is unknown.

" " ,""', "" ""' ' ' ' ' ' ' ,,0' ' ,,.(U) In late 1940, the German pocket b a t t l e s h J p , A d n l l * a l $ G i / ' e ~ ; w a s r a i ~ ~ ~ ~ l i ~ ~ ~ ' ',''hh

the coast of southemAfrica. QIleday, the ScheerspottedafreighternyinganAr1llett .Scheer approacfied, the commander of the B.Dienstteam called the h r i d g e a n d i i n t ~ merchant ship was using British merchant callsigns a n d p r o c e d u r ~ w h i l e tI'anSltlittipjshipping center at Durban, South Africa. It turns out that the ship was a B r i t i s h f r ~ g b m y American flag. A second example occurred during the evacuation ofAllied f o r c e s f r o m ~ ~ r w a 1 . i t : t ~ ~ 1940. The Britishaircraft carrierRM.S Glorious, whichwas covering the evacuatiOl!l,.. . . ~ .sunk by German warships. The BPienstteam aboard one ()fthecombatartts b e ~ : I ~ :communications of the carrier and, for a day, convinced the British t h a t t h e c ~ ' Y .su

(U) On the morning of24 May, the B-Dienst teams aboard both t h e B i s m a r c k a n d ~ e . P t ' ~Eugen intercepted the caUsigns of two Royal Navy capital ships. One they could i d e n t i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Hood. The other was new to them, but they could determine from the callsign s y s t e m t h ~ t J t w l l S ~ J 1 l l ! /battleship - it was the HMS Prince ofWales, which had deParted with some o f i t s . w o r k c r : e : 9 V ' s ~ I .,>' ,, ,,' --,,' "

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to make rt;AdJnii:atLut'ens turned theP'inzEu e n l o o s e : : t O c e r i t i r i U e C e ~ e / ' " '"po . ' . J. . r . g .' .. .'c .. . ': '. ". . .. .. .' i " . i..ech.",."..... . . . ","":"' .." _had the Bismarck double back and atl8ck the BritisQ crWsetSfJ.!at continued to t t a C k , ; t b J : i ~ H i ~ : i . l ! i ' M ; ~ ~ ~with their r a d a r , D ~ g t h e attack. the two c r u i s e r S h a d S c a t t e r e d a n d s u i : i s ~ ~ ~ t l ~ ' ! ~ ~ t : t i . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ o / i i ' lthe Bismarck. Theyii)formed Royal Navy Headq1Jilrtei'$: fheiwo ships c o n t i D ~ e d t . 9 ~ I f w 1 t & : i l i ~ i ~ }radar but could not find t b e B i s l n a r c k ; F o r t h e l i i ~ t ; a t l e a s t ' ~ ~ P A ' m a r c k W $ V L ? t ~ t ! ~ ~ f f ~ ~ ~ ,

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(0) H o w ~ e r ; the GeJinans did,nottake a ; d ~ ~ ~ ~ : l > , f : ~ i ~ $ i t u ~ t i ( ) A ' f . 9 t i ~ 5 1 ! e . j ~ b .team apparently did not intercept .themessage frqm. thecniise;s that tlleY h a t l . J o ~ j ~ ~ i l i " , , : : - -importantly, while the British cru.iserscould not find the bartleshipwith their rida!i:;tb:d:1{# ..i.... . .still intercept their faint radar signals with its radar receiver. Thisability.to r e c i ! l v ~ n t ~ : P r i t i S l i ' ~ signals probably .convincedAdmiral Lutjens thatthe B i ~ ' 1 1 a r c : k was still being. ~ ~ e 4 ' ~ Y r ~ a r ; ithe signals the Germans were hearingwere too weak, dlf'fUse