Peak
3
Weeks
18
Score
3,303
Chart Year
1960
///
"Sink the Bismark" (later "Sink the Bismarck") is a march song by American country music singer Johnny Horton and songwriter Tillman Franks, based on the pursuit and eventual sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941, during World War II. Horton released this song through Columbia Records 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 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.
In May of 1941 the war had just begun The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the sea On her decks were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood And every British seaman he knew and understood They had to sink the Bismarck the terror of the sea Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees We'll find the German battleship that's makin' such a fuss We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us Yeah hit the decks a runnin' boys and spin those guns around When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day The Bismarck started firing fifteen miles away We gotta sink the Bismarck was the battle sound But when the smoke had cleared away the mighty Hood went down For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail Churchill told the people put every ship asail Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she's gotta be We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea We'll find the German battleship... The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the morning sun Ten hours away from homeland the Bismarck made its run The Admiral of the British fleet said turn those bows around We found that German battleship and we're gonna cut her down The British guns were aimed and the shells were coming fast The first shell hit the Bismarck they knew she couldn't last That mighty German battleship is just a memory Sink the Bismarck was the battle cry that shook the seven seas We found the German battleship t'was makin' such a fuss We had to sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us We hit the deck a runnin' and we and spun those guns around Yeah we found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down We found the German battleship...
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 7, 1960 | 69 | 57 |
| 2 | Mar 14, 1960 | 30 | 96 |
| 3 | Mar 21, 1960 | 28 | 98 |
| 4 | Mar 28, 1960 | 14 | 112 |
| 5 | Apr 4, 1960 | 6 | 120 |
| 6 | Apr 11, 1960 | 7 | 119 |
| 7 | Apr 18, 1960 | 5 | 121 |
| 8 | Apr 25, 1960 | 3 | 123 |
| 9 | May 2, 1960 | 4 | 122 |
| 10 | May 9, 1960 | 6 | 120 |
| 11 | May 16, 1960 | 9 | 117 |
| 12 | May 23, 1960 | 15 | 111 |
| 13 | May 30, 1960 | 16 | 110 |
| 14 | Jun 6, 1960 | 28 | 98 |
| 15 | Jun 13, 1960 | 48 | 78 |
| 16 | Jun 20, 1960 | 43 | 83 |
| 17 | Jun 27, 1960 | 70 | 56 |
| 18 | Jul 4, 1960 | 72 | 54 |