The Battle Of Denmark Straits was about to begin. On the morning of May 24th, The Hood and Prince of Wales engaged the German fleet. The Hood opened fire on the lead ship, mistakenly believing it was The Bismarck with Prince of Wales firing moments later but all shells missed their targets. After a couple of tense moments, the Germans returned fire on the British lead ship, The Hood. Both German ships attacked The Hood and the Prinz Eugen scored a direct hit, before hitting the ship twice more. The Bismarck had also been hit by fire from Prince of Wales and had sustained a fuel leak. Bismarck had fired three salvos towards the British, neither of them hitting either ship.
The Hood Is Sunk
After eight minutes of battle, the Hood fired a fifth salvo at Bismarck, before turning to bring her full armament weight towards the Bismarck. Moments later, Bismarck fired its fifth salvo at The Hood. A shell tore into The Hood’s hull and moments later a huge fireball lit the morning sky. The Hood had been hit mid ship, splitting the ship in two. The stern rose into the air and sank before the bow within three minutes. The British were later to conclude that the shell had pierced Hood’s hull and ignited the magazine. Only three men from The Hood survived and were not rescued until over two hours later.
To avoid hitting the sinking Hood, The Prince of Wales was forced to turn towards the German fleet and was hit a number of times, but still managed to return fire, causing further damage to Bismarck. Prince of Wales was forced to leave the battle after receiving seven direct hits, causing mechanical malfunctions and leaving only one of her main guns in action. The battle had lasted just twenty minutes.
British Seek Revenge For The Hood’s Sinking
The Bismarck’s crew celebrated their victory but the commanders were cautious. The British now knew their position and the ship had received three hits, one of them forcing her to reduce speed to just twenty knots. In order for them to carry out repairs, they would have to head for the safe French port of Saint-Nazaire and leave Prinz Eugen to continue alone in its mission. By now, the Prince of Wales had joined Norfolk and Suffolk and all three continued to shadow the German fleet. On May 24th the British attacked Bismarck again, this time with Swordfish bi-plane torpedo bombers. However only superficial damage was made and the ship continued.
Bismarck Is Tracked Down
On the morning of May 26th, a Royal Air Force squadron had flown over the Atlantic and spotted an oil slick which was later identified as belonging to the Bismarck. But the only chance the British had of stopping her meant relying on just three ships; the ageing battlecruiser Renown, the cruiser Sheffield and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, all thee of which had been diverted from Gibraltar. In the late evening, the Ark Royal launched another attack on the Bismarck using Fairey Swordfish, but the first wave of the attack mistakenly targeted The Sheffield. The error benefited the British as they discovered the torpedoes used in the attack were defective and were replaced by a type designed to explode on contact.
Final Attack On Bismarck
In the final attack on Bismarck, a torpedo hit the rudder of the ship, jamming the steering and sending her in circle directly into the path of two battleships; King George V and Rodney. The battle raged through the night with Bismarck under repeated attacks. The ship’s low speed had made her an easy target and by the morning of May 27th, Norfolk and Dorsetshire had joined the battle. That morning, after forty five minutes of battle and the guns of Bismarck fell silent, destroyed by the British fleet. Rodney moved closer to finish the ship while King George V stayed further out. It was clear the ship was not going to reach its destination and Rodney and King George V were ordered back to base while Dorsetshire fired three torpedoes at the stricken ship.
Bismarck Sinks
At 1039 that morning, Bismarck’s stern disappeared beneath the water. The Dorsetshire and the destroyer Maori had stopped to rescue survivors, but quickly retreated following a U-Boat alert. They had only picked up 110 sailors. The following morning, another five were rescued by a German U-Boat, but 1,995 of the 2,200 crew perished.
Sources: Various WWII books and Internet
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