"Sink the Bismark" (later "Sink the Bismarck") is a

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

song by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Johnny Horton John LaGale Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American country, honky tonk, and rockabilly musician during the 1950s. He is best known for a series of history-inspired narrative country saga songs that became international ...

and songwriter Tillman Franks, based on the pursuit and eventual sinking of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

''Bismarck'' in May 1941, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Horton released this song through

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in 1960, when it reached #3 on the charts. As originally released, the record label used the common misspelling "Bismark"; this error was corrected for later releases of the song. It was inspired by the 1960 British war movie '' Sink the Bismarck!'' and was, with the producer John Brabourne's approval, commissioned from Johnny Horton by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

who were worried about the subject's relative obscurity in the United States. Inexplicably, the size comparisons of guns and shells are switched. While the song was used in U.S. theater trailers for the film, it was not used in the actual film.

Chart performance

Blues Brothers recording

The song was later recorded by

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul music, soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast ...

for a scene in the movie, ''

'', but was cut out.

Cover versions

*In the UK the song was a hit for Don Lang, also in 1960, where it peaked at #43. *Czech country band Plavci released a version on its 1976 album ''Country Our Way''.

References

External links

Lyrics
Songs about boats 1960 singles Johnny Horton songs Songs about World War II German battleship Bismarck Songs based on actual events Columbia Records singles Songs written by Tillman Franks Songs written by Johnny Horton 1960 songs {{1960s-single-stub

Chart performance

Blues Brothers recording

Cover versions

See also

References

External links