On this day in 1941, the Bismarck sank the Hood.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Battle of the Denmark Strait

The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a naval engagement on 24 May 1941 in the Second World War, between ships of the Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine. The British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Hood fought the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which were attempting to break out into the North Atlantic to attack Allied merchant shipping (Operation Rheinübung).

Fewer than 10 minutes after the British opened fire, a shell from Bismarck struck Hood near her aft ammunition magazines. Soon afterwards, Hood exploded and sank within three minutes, with the loss of all but three of her crew. Prince of Wales continued to exchange fire with Bismarck but suffered serious malfunctions in her main armament. The British battleship had only just been completed in late March 1941, and used new quadruple gun turrets that were unreliable. Therefore, the Prince of Wales soon broke off the engagement. The battle was considered a tactical victory for the Germans but its impact was short-lived; the damage done to Bismarck's forward fuel tanks forced the abandonment of the breakout and an attempt to escape to dry dock facilities in occupied France, producing an operational victory for the British. Incensed by the loss of Hood, a large British force pursued and sank Bismarck three days later.

Those of you of a certain age know what's coming:

Is this in the public domain now? It seems to be the entire movie:

From British Pathé:

From British Movietone:

[Sneederbunk]

1. And Johnny Horton was 16 years old in 1941.

[CanonRay]

2. One of my distant cousins died on the Bismarck

[longship]

3. "Sink the Bismarck" is a pretty good flick.

The fictional back story parts, the roles that take on the romantic leads, do little to detract from the facts.

I have that one on DVD and watch it every once in a while. Well worth a viewing.

[malthaussen]

4. I recall reading speculation it might have been a shell from Eugen...

... and not Bismarck at all. It was a long time ago, and I forget the rationale. Something about an imperfection in the turrets which allowed a flash to reach the magazines (a similar flaw destroyed a couple of British battlecruisers in the previous war, prompting British admiral David Beatty to comment "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.&quot

-- Mal

[Dennis Donovan]

5. Bismarck was a North Sea terror...

...but, as battleships go, very sexy!

[Archae]

6. It was aircraft that crippled it...

The Pearl Harbor attack by Japan finished off the battleship as a major force.

[Dennis Donovan]

7. Just as General Mitchell predicted...

...but was court-martialed over it.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. And three days later, on May 27, 1941, the Royal Navy returned the favor. NT