Battle of the Denmark Strait
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The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a World War II naval engagement between the British and the Germans.
The British battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Hood fought against the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, both of which were attempting to break out into the North Atlantic to destroy Allied merchant shipping.
Background
Admiral Lütjens, the German fleet commander, intended to break out into the Atlantic through the Denmark Strait and attack Allied convoy traffic in the North Atlantic.Earlier raids by German capital ships such as the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had done enough damage to cause the British to use some of their older battleships such as the Revenge class as convoy escorts. Although old and slow, these ships were well armed with 15-inch guns, more powerful than most of the guns of the German heavy cruisers and pocket battleships. The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, though, could risk attacking a convoy escorted by battleships: the Bismarck could engage and hopefully destroy the escorting battleship, leaving the Prinz Eugen to chase down and sink the fleeing merchant ships.
The two ships had been expected to try to break through the GIUK gap as soon as the start of their operation had become known. Royal Navy ships and aircraft were watching their likely route. On the evening of May 23 they were spotted by the heavy cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk, patrolling the Denmark Strait under the command of Rear-Admiral Wake-Walker.
With the help of the Suffolk's newly-installed radar set, the cruisers shadowed the German ships through the night, reporting on their movements. The next morning the German ships were intercepted in the Strait between Iceland and Greenland by a force of British ships. These were the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Hood, along with a destroyer screen, under the command of Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland, on the Hood.
Despite the visible British superiority, their force was not as capable as it seemed. Hood, in spite of her reputation, was not in optimal condition. As a symbol of the Royal Navy, she had been in constant service since the first war, and the second war had begun before her next refit. The Prince of Wales was a brand-new modern design but had not been properly "shaken down"; her crew was green, having not yet settled into a team. Furthermore she had mechanical problems, especially with her main armament. She had sailed with shipyard workers still aboard working on her. The rough seas in the Strait kept the destroyers' role to a minimum. The Norfolk and Suffolk were miles behind the German force and would not reach the battle.
Even with these disadvantages, the British force was capable of fighting on equal terms with Lutjens' two ships, and Holland ordered his squadron into action at approximately 0537.
The Battle Begins
The British capital ships opened fire at 0552 at a distance of approximately 16 miles, taking the German ships by surprise. Holland had ordered firing on the lead ship, Prinz Eugen, believing from its position that she was the Bismarck. Holland ammended his order and directed both ships to engage the rear ship, Bismarck. Prince of Wales had already correctly targeted Bismarck, whereas Hood is believed to have continued to target Prinz Eugen for some time.Holland ordered his ships to close with the enemy. Since the Hood's deck protection was relatively weak in certain areas, Holland wanted to reduce the range as quickly as possible—at a shorter range the trajectory of the Bismarck's shells would be flatter resulting in the shells hitting the sides of the ship rather than the decking.
Prince of Wales struck first, ultimately hitting Bismarck a total of three times: One shot struck the commander's boat and put the hydroplane catapult amidships out of action. The second passed through her bow from one side to another. The third one struck her hull underwater. These last two caused minor damage and flooding. The bow hit was crippling as it cut access to the fuel tanks. This would ultimately lead to Bismarck aborting her mission and to her eventual destruction. Lutjens held fire until 0555, and which point both German ships targeted Hood. She was hit by Prinz Eugen on the boat deck, starting a fire among antiaircraft ammunition stored there. Although unconfirmed, it is possible that Hood was struck again at the base of her bridge and in her foretop radar director.
Sinking of the Mighty Hood
At 0600, VADM Holland ordered his force to turn once again to port to ensure the main guns on both Hood and Prince of Wales could bear on the enemy. During the execution of that turn, a salvo from Bismarck was seen by men from Prince of Wales to straddle Hood'' abreast her main mast. It is believed that at least one 15" shell struck somewhere astern, between the main mast and "X" turret.This was immediately followed by a huge pillar of flame that shot upward like a giant blow torch. This was followed by an explosion that destroyed a large portion of the ship from amidships clear to the rear of "Y" turret. The stern broke away and sank. The bow, pointed upward and pivoting about, followed shortly thereafter. The ship sank in less than 5 minutes, taking 1,415 of her crew, to include VADM Holland with her. Only three of her crew survived to be rescued by the destroyer Electra.
It has been suggested from examination of the wreckage, found in 2001, that the shell set off a magazine in the secondary armament (the vertical flame), which in turn ignited the magazines in the main armament in the rear of the Hood (the explosion that wrecked the stern). This explosion went through the starboard fuel tanks, igniting the fuel oil there, setting off the forward magazines and completing the destruction of the ship. While this is possible, it is also equally possible that the forward magazines did not blow-up. The forward part of the ship may have been damaged due to hydrodynamic forces experienced during the rapid sinking.
Prince of Wales alone
The Prince of Wales, found herself steering towards the sinking Hood. Her commanding officer, Captain John C. Leach, ordered an emergency avoidance turn away from Hood's wreckage. This violent change of course disrputed her aim and put her in a position that made it easier for the Germans to target her. She resumed her previous course, but was now under the concentrated fire of both German ships.She was subsequently struck four times by Bismarck and three times by Prinz Eugen. One of these shells passed through her upper superstructure, killing or wounding several crewmen in the Compass Platform and Air Defence Platform. Pieces of another shell struck her radar office aft killing crewmen within. An 8" shell from Prinz Eugen found its way to the propelling charge/round manipulation chamber below the aft 5.25" gun turrets, and a 15" shell from Bismarck hit underwater very close to the aft 14" magazine. Fortunately for the Prince of Wales, neither shell exploded; if they had, the Prince might have succumbed to a fate similar to the Hood's.
By this point, due to the increasing damage being incurred and in no small part to the serious gunnery malfunctions, Captain Leach ordered the ship to make smoke and withdraw from the battle. He saw nothing to be gained from continuing the battle in the state his ship was in. Prince of Wales turned away just after 0604, firing from her rear turret under local control. The salvoes were ragged and are believed to have fallen short. She retired from the battle around 0610. 14 of her crew were lost as a result of the battle.
Aftermath
Both sides were amazed by the swift and total destruction of the Hood. The Germans celebrated the achievement, while the British were shocked that the pride of their navy had been destroyed so suddenly. The Admiralty mobilized every ship in the Atlantic to hunt down the Bismarck and destroy her.Prince of Wales's hit on the Bismarck's fuel tanks meant that the German ship could not operate effectively against the Atlantic convoys, so Bismarck headed for Brest, France, for repairs. Prince of Wales and the cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk continued to shadow the Germans, but the German ships slipped away from their pursuers. Shortly afterwards, Bismarck and Prinz Eugen separated and escaped into the Atlantic.
Later, moves were made to court-martial the captain of the Prince of Wales, John Leach, and the Admiral commanding the Suffolk and Norfolk, Frederick Wake-Walker. The view was taken that they were wrong not to have continued the battle with Bismarck after the Hood had sunk. John Tovey, Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, was appalled. A row ensued between Tovey and his superior, Admiral Sir Dudley Pound. Tovey stated that the two officers had acted correctly, not endangering their ships needlessly and ensuring that the German ships were tracked. Furthermore, Prince of Wales's main guns had repeatedly malfunctioned and she could not have matched the Bismarck. Tovey threatened to resign his position and appear at any court-martial as 'defendant's friend' and defense witness. No more was heard of the proposal.
References
Bibliography
- Storia Militare, "La battaglia dello Stretto di Danimarca", 2005
- B.B. Schofield "La fine della Bismark",ed. Mursia, 1972
- Kennedy "Affondate la Bismark", ed. Mondadori, 1992
See also
- Rheinübung Sortie of the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen
- [Battle of the Denmark Strait Documentation Resource]
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