Scottish pilot who helped sink the Bismarck dies
A Scottish veteran pilot who helped to sink the Bismarck during World War Two has died at the age of 97.
Lt Cdr John "Jock" Moffat was credited with launching the torpedo that crippled the German warship in 1941.
The air strike carried out by the biplanes from HMS Victorious and Ark Royal on 26 May 1941 was said to have been Britain's last hope of stopping the Bismarck.
Mr Moffat described flying through "a lethal storm of shells and bullets".
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The air strike on the Bismarck was launched as the battleship headed to the relative safety of waters off the coast of France.
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Mr Moffat and his crew took off in his Swordfish L9726 from the deck of Ark Royal and headed for the Bismarck, fighting against driving rain, low cloud and a gale.
Naval chiefs said he flew in at 50ft, nearly skimming the surface of the waves, in a hail of bullets and shells, to get the best possible angle of attack on the ship. At 21:05 he dropped the torpedo which hit its target, jamming the rudder of Hitler's flagship.
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The battleship was forced to steam in circles until the guns of the Royal Navy's home fleet arrived the next morning.
