Ship in old England, folded in two and plunged to the bottom of the sea.
With it went the vast majority of the 1,400 crew, trapped in the wreckage. It was several hours before a British cruiser came hunting for survivors. It found only three, cold and near death, clinging to small rafts in the middle of an oil slick.
The Prince of Wales was soon reeling from the effect of shells. It had been hit seven times, lost two officers and I I men and was plagued with difficulties m its gunnery, making its own attack ineffective. Moments after its stunned crew saw the Hood ditching into the sea, it was decided to withdraw. The showdown had lasted just 21 minutes.
Britain was devastated by the loss of the Hood and its men. After the shock, the public were baying for revenge - or feared the Bismarck really was indestructible. There was no time for sentimentality among the naval officers now in hot pursuit of the Bismarck.
The battleship Prince of Wales, plus the cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk shadowed the Bismarck as it moved south. Admiral Tovey, aboard King George V, was in command of Victorious, Repulse, four cruisers and nine destroyers hoping to intercept Bismarck from the south.
Visibility was poor, however, and the radar used by Suffolk to track its movements was patchy. Bismarck had, in fact, not escaped unscathed. It was holed twice by British shells which forced it to reduce speed and lost the vessel valuable fuel.
I. utjens felt he had no chttice but to head for France tor repairs. He released the Prmz F’ugen to make a clean getaway, firing lazily at the Prince of VC'alcs liy way of ilistrac-tion. Then he set a course which he hoped would take him to friendly
France or within the torpedo range of a protective U-boat.
It was with some degree of surprise that he and his crew looked up to the skies some hours later and saw a group of circus-style planes buzzing towards them. These were the Swordfish planes which had set off from the Victorious in order to wreak havoc on the Bismarck. With
Below: Hitler failed to share the nation s pride in the navy.
Above: Prim Eugen was released from escort duty to escape the Royal Navy.
World History
