Documentary. Battle of the Denmark Strait : Hood Vs Bismarck

The aim of operation Rheinübung was for Bismarck and Prinz Eugen to break into the Atlantic and attack Allied shipping. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder's orders to Admiral Günther Lütjens were that "the objective of the Bismarck is not to defeat enemies of equal strength, but to tie them down in a delaying action, while preserving her combat capacity as much as possible, so as to allow Prinz Eugen to get at the merchant ships in the convoy" and "The primary target in this operation is the enemy's merchant shipping; enemy warships will be engaged only when that objective makes it necessary and it can be done without excessive risk. On the evening of 23 May, Suffolk sighted Bismarck and Prinz Eugen in the Denmark Strait, close to the Greenland coast. The Admiralty was alerted and Norfolk and Suffolk, hopelessly outgunned, shadowed the German ships. British naval groups were redirected to intercept Lutjens' force.
Hood and Prince of Wales made contact with the German force early on the morning of 24 May, and the action started at 5:52 am, with the combatants about 25,000 yards apart. Hood suffered an early hit, which started a rapidly spreading fire amidships.
Then, at about 6 am, one or more of Hood's magazines exploded, probably as the result of another shell hit from Bismarck. The explosion broke the great battlecruiser's back, and she sank within minutes. All but three of her 1,417-man crew died.
Prince of Wales continued the action, but suffered badly, receiving multiple hits with 15-inch and 8-inch shells, and experiencing repeated mechanical failures with her main armament. Her commanding officer, Captain Leach, wounded when one of Bismarck's shells struck Prince of Wales' bridge, broke off the action, and the British battleship retreated under cover of a smokescreen.
Bismarck had been hit only three times. All of the hits had been inflicted by Prince of Wales' 14-inch guns. One of the hits had penetrated the German battleship's hull near the bow, rupturing her fuel tanks, causing her to leak oil continuously and at a serious rate. This was to be a critical factor as the pursuit continued, forcing Bismarck to make for Brest instead of escaping into the great expanse of the Atlantic. The resulting oil slick also helped the British cruisers to shadow her.

Видео Documentary. Battle of the Denmark Strait : Hood Vs Bismarck канала World War 2 Documentaries