Johnny Horton’s “Sink the Bismarck” Is The Battle Outcry That Will Keep You Hooked

The 1960 march song “Sink the Bismarck” was recorded by Johnny Horton and co-written by the country singer himself with songwriter Tillman Franks. The single was released under Columbia Records, and with its folk-country style that made use of a catchy children’s song tune, it peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. 

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The track was inspired by the same-titled 1960 film as it was actually commissioned by the film production company 20th Century Fox with the approval of producer John Brabourne. That is, they were worried that the topic was too obscure in the US and wouldn’t attract an audience. The song was only used in the trailer for the films to build popularity and wasn’t heard in the film itself. 

The Epic History Behind

There are not a lot of popular country songs about war, but one of the famous ones is a song called “Sink The Bismarck” by Johnny Horton. Yes, this was inspired by a true historical event about how the British sank one of the most feared warships that the Germans produced though there were a few inaccuracies just as the switching of the size comparisons of guns and shells. Nevertheless, it was a great narration of an epic event that happened during World War II. 

The Bismarck was one of Germany’s aces during the war, it was the fastest ship, and it was loaded with humongous guns, and its cannon shells were as big as trees. It was a foggy night, the seas were full of mists when the British seamen came out of nowhere riding The Hood, ready to ambush the Bismarck. They knew and understood that everything must be done to finally put an end to the bringer of doom. And so, they went in with guns blazing with “Sink the Bismarck!” as their war cry, but when the Bismarck started firing and all the smoke went down, The Hood found itself in desolation.

But that attempt to destroy the ship was not completely futile. The warship may have survived, but it was left wounded, so they tried relentlessly to follow her trail for six days. And on the seventh day of pursuit, when all of the fog and smoke went down, they finally found the warship. The British admiral told everyone to focus their guns on Bismarck, and the first shell fired proved to be fatal. That was when they would not be able to last, so they continued firing, and the once mighty warship was now just a memory. ‘Sink the Bismarck!” was the war cry that reverberated throughout the seven seas.

Johnny Horton’s “Sink the Bismarck” is one of Johnny Horton songs that everyone should hear about. It’s a really great historical song that taught one of the most important moments in history in a fun and catchy way. You can listen to it by clicking the video below.