Soon, the command went out to scuttle the ship, and the Bismarck quickly sank. By mid-morning, the pride of the German navy had become a floating wreck with numerous fires aboard, unable to steer and with her guns almost useless because she was listing badly to port. On May 26, the ship was sighted and crippled by British aircraft, and on May 27 three British warships descended on the Bismarck, inflicting heavy damage. The Bismarck escaped, but because it was leaking fuel it fled for occupied France. In a ferocious battle, the Hood exploded and sank, and all but three of the 1,421 crewmen were killed. On May 24, the British battle cruiser Hood and battleship Prince of Wales intercepted it near Iceland. Learning of its movement, Britain sent almost the entire British Home Fleet in pursuit. Once in the safety of the open ocean, the battleship would be almost impossible to track down, all the while wreaking havoc on Allied convoys to Britain. In May 1941, the order was given for the Bismarck to break out into the Atlantic. However, after the outbreak of war, Britain closely guarded ocean routes from Germany to the Atlantic Ocean, and only U-boats moved freely through the war zone. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler hoped that the state-of-the-art battleship would herald the rebirth of the German surface battle fleet. On February 14, 1939, the 823-foot Bismarck was launched at Hamburg. The German death toll was more than 2,000. On May 27, 1941, the British navy sinks the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic near France. Today, the Golden Gate Bridge remains one of the world’s most recognizable architectural structures. At 4,200 feet, it was the longest bridge in the world until the completion of New York City’s Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964. On May 27, 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was opened to great acclaim, a symbol of progress in the Bay Area during a time of economic crisis. Strauss and his workers overcame many difficulties: strong tides, frequent storms and fogs, and the problem of blasting rock 65 feet below the water to plant earthquake-proof foundations. Construction began on January 5, 1933, at the depths of the Great Depression. In November 1930, residents of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District voted 3-1 to put their homes, farms, and businesses up as collateral to support a $35 million bond to build Strauss’ Golden Gate Bridge. These counties agreed to collectively take out a large bond, which would then be paid back through bridge tolls. To finance the bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District was formed in 1928, consisting of San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Del Norte, and parts of Mendocino and Napa counties. In 1929, Strauss was selected as chief engineer. Morrow would later help choose the bridge’s trademark color: “international orange,” a brilliant vermilion color that resists rust and fading and suits the natural beauty of San Francisco and its picturesque sunsets. Moisseiff’s concept of a simple suspension bridge was accepted by Strauss, and Morrow, along with his wife, Gertrude, developed the Golden Gate Bridge’s elegant Art Deco design. During the next few years, Strauss’ design evolved rapidly, thanks to the contributions of consulting engineer Leon S. Although unsightly compared with the final result, his design was affordable, and Strauss became the recognized leader of the effort to bridge the Golden Gate Strait. In 1921, Cincinnati-born bridge engineer Joseph Strauss submitted a preliminary proposal: a combination suspension-cantilever that could be built for $27 million. The concept of bridging the nearly mile-wide Golden Gate Strait was proposed as early as 1872, but it was not until the early 1920s that public opinion in San Francisco began to favor such an undertaking. The next day, on May 28, the Golden Gate Bridge opened to vehicular traffic. On opening day–“Pedestrian Day”–some 200,000 bridge walkers marveled at the 4,200-foot-long suspension bridge, which spans the Golden Gate Strait at the entrance to San Francisco Bay and connects San Francisco and Marin County. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, a stunning technological and artistic achievement, opens to the public after five years of construction. Let's start with a little history, shall we?
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