HMS Hood Construction photos, Superb Quality Images.
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When I was a young sprog, Johnny Horton's "Sink the Bismarck' was big on the hit parade.
The Hood found the Bismarck on that fatal day.
The Bismarck started firin' 15 miles away.
"We gotta sink the Bismarck" was the battle sound.
But when the smoke had cleared away, the mighty Hood went down.
The Hood found the Bismarck on that fatal day.
The Bismarck started firin' 15 miles away.
"We gotta sink the Bismarck" was the battle sound.
But when the smoke had cleared away, the mighty Hood went down.
There were actually 4 British ships vs 2 Germans.
The Bismark was hit multiple times by Prince of Wales.
Battle of the Denmark Strait, 24 May 1941
In the early morning hours of 24 May 1941, the German battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen steamed southwesterly through the Denmark Strait, shadowed by the British heavy cruisers Suffolk and Norfolk. Shortly before 6AM, Prinz Eugen, which was ahead of Bismarck, sighted ships to the southeast. These were the Royal Navy's battlecruiser Hood, long the World's largest warship, and battleship Prince of Wales, a new ship that was not yet properly "shaken down".
The British capital ships soon opened fire with their forward turrets, while rapidly closing the range. Hood initially fired her fifteen-inch guns at Prinz Eugen. Her consort, which carried fourteen-inch guns, shot at Bismarck, but neither made hits. As the British began a turn to bring their after turrets to bear, the two Germans opened fire at Hood, whose identity was clearly apparent. Bismarck's fifteen-inch guns, and the much smaller eight-inchers of Prinz Eugen, soon found the range and started hitting. Fire broke out amidships on Hood, and at a minute past Six, immediately after Bismarck's fourth salvo arrived, the great battlecruiser's after ammunition magazines exploded in a jet of flame and a large cloud of smoke. Hood's bow rose as her shattered after hull filled with water, and she was soon gone, leaving but three survivors of her crew of over 1400 officers and men.
The Germans shifted fire to Prince of Wales, making three 15" and four 8" hits that seriously damaged the British ship. She was troubled throughout the action by gun functioning problems, but still managed to hit Bismarck with three shells before her own damage forced her to turn away and break off the battle. One of the three British 14" projectiles hit Bismarck's hull forward, flooding some of the German ship's bow compartments. Another hit low and amidships, bringing more water into the ship. This damage, though hardly vital, left Bismarck listing to port, down at the bow and unable to use all her oil fuel. Her maximum speed, seakeeping ability and range were all reduced, and she was now leaving an oil slick in her wake. The third shell, which struck high and amidships, made it impossible for Bismarck to launch her floatplane.
The brief Battle of the Denmark Strait, which lasted only about seventeen minutes from opening shot to "cease fire", caused the Germans to terminate Bismarck's sortie. After parting ways with Prinz Eugen later in the day, she turned southeast, toward France. The British, who already had sufficient cause to want Bismarck eliminated, now had an additional motive: revenge for the tragic loss of Hood and nearly all of her crew.
This page features views of the 24 May 1941 Battle of the Denmark Strait, between the German ships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen and the British HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales.
For more views of the Battle of the Denmark Strait, see:
Battle of the Denmark Strait--Sinking of HMS Hood.
The Bismark was hit multiple times by Prince of Wales.
Battle of the Denmark Strait, 24 May 1941
In the early morning hours of 24 May 1941, the German battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen steamed southwesterly through the Denmark Strait, shadowed by the British heavy cruisers Suffolk and Norfolk. Shortly before 6AM, Prinz Eugen, which was ahead of Bismarck, sighted ships to the southeast. These were the Royal Navy's battlecruiser Hood, long the World's largest warship, and battleship Prince of Wales, a new ship that was not yet properly "shaken down".
The British capital ships soon opened fire with their forward turrets, while rapidly closing the range. Hood initially fired her fifteen-inch guns at Prinz Eugen. Her consort, which carried fourteen-inch guns, shot at Bismarck, but neither made hits. As the British began a turn to bring their after turrets to bear, the two Germans opened fire at Hood, whose identity was clearly apparent. Bismarck's fifteen-inch guns, and the much smaller eight-inchers of Prinz Eugen, soon found the range and started hitting. Fire broke out amidships on Hood, and at a minute past Six, immediately after Bismarck's fourth salvo arrived, the great battlecruiser's after ammunition magazines exploded in a jet of flame and a large cloud of smoke. Hood's bow rose as her shattered after hull filled with water, and she was soon gone, leaving but three survivors of her crew of over 1400 officers and men.
The Germans shifted fire to Prince of Wales, making three 15" and four 8" hits that seriously damaged the British ship. She was troubled throughout the action by gun functioning problems, but still managed to hit Bismarck with three shells before her own damage forced her to turn away and break off the battle. One of the three British 14" projectiles hit Bismarck's hull forward, flooding some of the German ship's bow compartments. Another hit low and amidships, bringing more water into the ship. This damage, though hardly vital, left Bismarck listing to port, down at the bow and unable to use all her oil fuel. Her maximum speed, seakeeping ability and range were all reduced, and she was now leaving an oil slick in her wake. The third shell, which struck high and amidships, made it impossible for Bismarck to launch her floatplane.
The brief Battle of the Denmark Strait, which lasted only about seventeen minutes from opening shot to "cease fire", caused the Germans to terminate Bismarck's sortie. After parting ways with Prinz Eugen later in the day, she turned southeast, toward France. The British, who already had sufficient cause to want Bismarck eliminated, now had an additional motive: revenge for the tragic loss of Hood and nearly all of her crew.
This page features views of the 24 May 1941 Battle of the Denmark Strait, between the German ships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen and the British HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales.
For more views of the Battle of the Denmark Strait, see:
Battle of the Denmark Strait--Sinking of HMS Hood.
HMS Rodney, along with HMS King George V, got the payback for the loss of the Hood. Rodney pummeled Bismarck into junk with multiple main battery hits.
We had to sink the Bismarck because the world depends on us.
We hit the deck a-runnin' and we spun those guns around.
We found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down.
We had to sink the Bismarck because the world depends on us.
We hit the deck a-runnin' and we spun those guns around.
We found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down.
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Funny thing about battlecruisers v. battleships......
Neat to see that it looks like she was launched without her main belt armour installed.
bdft
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Its like tank design; a constant trade-off between protection, speed and firepower. The battlecruisers carried big guns and could pick up their skirts and move, but at the cost of armor protection. In recent times we saw this with the Leopard 1 tank; good gun and fast, but comparatively lightly armored.
The trouble with Battle Cruiser's in general was not the concept but the fact that the Admiralty kept treating them as Battleships. Battlecruisers were never intended to go toe to toe with Battleships, they were designed to faster and disengage from Battleships. You think they would have learned from Jutland after losing Indefatigable, Queen Mary and Invincible and almost losing the Lion all to Magazine explosions. The German Battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were used more as intended and performed adequately in that role given British dominance of the Atlantic. Even then with the advent of naval air power the whole concept of both Battleships and Battlecruiser went the way of the Dodo.
The Hood was a beautiful ship, built a model of her once.
The Hood was a beautiful ship, built a model of her once.
Also a question of safety handling the the gun charges from the magazines to the guns. The germans learned that lesson at Dogger Bank before Jutland, so they were better prepared and suffered fewer losses.
https://inmilitary.com/maritime-risk-safety-battle-jutland-exposed-flaws-british-naval-procedures/
The German ship that taught the German navy the lesson.
https://inmilitary.com/maritime-risk-safety-battle-jutland-exposed-flaws-british-naval-procedures/
The German ship that taught the German navy the lesson.
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Those are fantastic quality photos for the time! Not often seen.
Interesting point on the Bismarck, or definitely took everything they could muster to sink it. But not my point. A more recent dive to the Bismarck shows the Red white and black swastikas still painted on the deck! These beasts are just incredible no matter their allegiance. I toured the Iowa in Cali. Just blew my mind
Interesting point on the Bismarck, or definitely took everything they could muster to sink it. But not my point. A more recent dive to the Bismarck shows the Red white and black swastikas still painted on the deck! These beasts are just incredible no matter their allegiance. I toured the Iowa in Cali. Just blew my mind
