Bismarck firing at HMS Prince of Wales on 24 May 1941
Date
24 May 1941
Location
Denmark Strait
Result
German victory
Belligerents
Germany
United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Günther Lütjens
Ernst Lindemann
Helmuth Brinkmann
Lancelot Holland †
John Leach
Ralph Kerr †
Frederic Wake-Walker
Strength
Battleship Bismarck
Heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen
1 battleship
HMS Prince of Wales
1 battlecruiser
HMS Hood
2 heavy cruisers
HMS Norfolk
HMS Suffolk
Did not participate in combat:
6 destroyers (on approach detached evening before battle)
Casualties and losses
Bismarck damaged
5 wounded
HMS Hood sunk
HMS Prince of Wales damaged
1,428 dead
9 wounded
v
t
e
Atlantic campaign
Americas
United States
Caribbean
St. Lawrence
Northern Barrage
Blockade of Germany
Gibraltar
1939
River Plate
1940
HX 47
HX 49
1st Happy Time
HX 65
SC 2
HX 72
SC 7
HX 79
HX 84
Nordseetour
HX 90
1941
SC 19
SC 20
Berlin
HX 106
HG 53
OB 293
HX 112
4 April
OB 318
HX 126
Rheinübung
Denmark Strait
Bismarck
HX 133
OG 69
OG 71
SC 42
HG 73
SC 48
HX 156
HG 76
1942
Postmaster
2nd Happy Time
Torpedo Alley
SC 67
Neuland
ON 67
27 March
OG 82
ON 92
6 June
HG 84
SL 78
QS 15
ON 113
ON 115
SC 94
ON 122
Bell Island
QS 33
ON 127
Laconia
SQ 36
SC 100
SG 6/LN 6
SC 104
HX 212
SL 125
SC 107
ON 144
ON 153
ON 154
1943
TM 1
SG 19
SC 118
ON 166
UC 1
SC 121
HX 228
UGS 6
HX 229/SC 122
HX 231
Black May
ONS 5
HX 237
SC 129
SC 130
Faith
ONS 18/ON 202
SC 143
ONS 20/ON 206
Sept-Îles
ON 207
SL 138/MKS 28
SL 139/MKS 30
SL 140/MKS 31
Stonewall
Bay of Biscay
1944
Lyme Bay
26 April 1944
Capture of U-505
HX 300
WEP 3
BX 141
1945
Teardrop
Point Judith
5–6 May 1945
7–8 May 1945
The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a naval engagement in the Second World War, which took place on 24 May 1941 between ships of the Royal Navy and the 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) through the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland.
Less 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 been completed in late March 1941, and used new quadruple gun turrets that were unreliable. Prince of Wales soon broke off the engagement.[1]
The battle was 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.[1] Incensed by the loss of Hood, a large British force pursued Bismarck, resulting in her loss three days later.
^ abCite error: The named reference Barnett 2004, p. 295. was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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