* During World War II Gotland sighted the German battleship Bismarck when it broke out of the Baltic Sea. The sighting was reported to Swedish Navy headquarters but the message was intercepted by the British embassy, which triggered the Battle of the Denmark Strait and the Allied chase of the great battleship. | * During World War II Gotland sighted the German battleship Bismarck when it broke out of the Baltic Sea. The sighting was reported to Swedish Navy headquarters but the message was intercepted by the British embassy, which triggered the Battle of the Denmark Strait and the Allied chase of the great battleship. |