In 1941, Germany had swept half of Europe with its powerful armored forces, but it was still difficult to break through the naval blockade of the British Empire at sea, and in order to turn passive into active, the German Navy dispatched the battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen to the Atlantic Ocean to attack British merchant ships. The British sent 1 battleship, 1 battlecruiser, and 2 heavy cruisers to intercept them.
On 24 May 1941, at sea in northwestern Denmark, a great battle broke out between the German fleet and the British fleet, and at six o'clock in the morning the battleship Bismarck carried out a fifth salvo at a distance of 12 kilometers from Hood, and a high-speed armor-piercing shell from the 380 mm main gun hit the ammunition compartment of the Hood, and with a loud noise, the huge battleship split in two, and the 1400 sailors on board sank into the sea.
BATTLESHIP HOOD
With a displacement of 42,000 tons, the Hood was considered a source of pride by the British Navy after its completion, and it did not expect to be sunk after only 10 minutes on the battlefield.
Subsequently, the Prince of Wales was severely damaged by the German attack and had to flee the battlefield, which saved her life.
Using the Prince of Wales
When the news reached the United States, Roosevelt, who was the president of the United States at the time, exclaimed: It seems that the British Empire is really going to end!
On the British Empire itself, the shadow of naval defeat hung over the country, and since the rise of the 17th century, Britain has constantly faced challenges from major opponents, whether Spanish, French, Russian, or Osuman, and finally defeated. The defeat at the Battle of Denmark was the second major defeat of the British Imperial Navy in 300 years, the last time was the Battle of Jutland in World War I, the opponent was also Germany, fortunately, at that time Germany was contained by France on land and had not yet gained the advantage. This time, however, most of Europe was already creeping at the feet of Nazi Germany, which was capable of concentrating on a naval showdown with Britain.
Moreover, at this time, the German army was not only victorious on the sea, but underwater, the German submarine force was gradually destroying the sea lines of communication of the British Empire in the form of wolf pack combat. By the time the Battle of Denmark broke out, 5 million tons of merchant ships had been sunk, most of them the result of submarines. If the Germans gained superiority over the water, then, the British mainland would undoubtedly be in a precarious situation.
After the battle, Bismarck and Prinz Eugen headed for the North Atlantic. In order to restore morale throughout the British, the Royal Navy ordered all warships in the region to join the siege of Bismarck.
By 5 p.m., six battleships, two carriers, 13 cruisers, and 21 destroyers had joined the pursuit and surrounded Bismarck. As bismarck was hit by 3 shells during the engagement, 2,000 tons of sea water were poured into the ship, the speed of the ship was affected, and the fuel oil also leaked. But Bismarck was still able to advance at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour, making it impossible for the pursuing fleet to intercept successfully.
Bismarck
At this time, the role of the fighter is reflected.
At 10 p.m., the first attack group of 15 fighters took off, and although only 1 torpedo hit the target due to inexperience, it really startled the Germans aboard the battleship Bismarck. While dodging torpedo attacks, the evasion action tilted the ship, allowing more seawater to pour into the ship, while also damaging a boiler, causing the speed of the ship to drop to 30 kilometers per hour. By this time, the pursuing British fleet had outpaced bismarck, and it seemed that it could not escape anyway.
However, when the two sides entered the open water, the pursuing fleet had to use a zigzag to avoid being attacked by the German submarine force, so that the speed advantage of the British ship was offset, and after the Bismarck was repaired, the speed gradually recovered, and the commander Lütjens ordered the whole ship to shake off the British ship at the highest speed and drive clockwise, circling the back of the British ship, so Bismarck successfully disappeared out of the radar range of the British ship.
After a day of searching, the British still found nothing, and later, with the help of the French Resistance underground organization, the British army once again determined the approximate location of the Bismarck, so they sent reconnaissance aircraft to search the relevant sea area.
At 10:30 a.m. on 26 May, Bismarck was spotted by A U.S. reconnaissance aircraft. At this time, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal was 110 kilometers away from Bismarck.
Ark Royal
At 7.10 p.m., 15 attack aircraft loaded with torpedoes flew to Bismarck, and 1.5 hours later flew over Bismarck and began to release torpedoes and destroy the left-rudder coupling. As a result, the Bismarck could only travel in circles.
At the same time, the arriving British warships began to attack Bismarck in turn, and although they did not sink the ship, they also put the officers and men on board in a state of high tension, which seriously affected the next day's battle.
By the next morning, the four heavy warships King George V, Rodney, Norfolk and Dorsetshire began to lay siege to Bismarck, and in about two hours the four warships fired more than 2,800 shells at Bismarck, of which more than 400 hit the target, and Bismarck was blown up into a pile of scrap iron, but still did not sink.
Commander Torvy ordered the cruiser Dorset to release a torpedo at Bismarck, who, after being hit by two torpedoes, sank to the bottom of the sea. Of the ship's more than 2,200 crew members, only 114 were rescued.
From the end of the Battle of Denmark to the sinking of bismarck, the British Navy took 3 days!