The Battle of the Denmark Strait

Book excerpt: Dawn, 24 May 1941, two groups of ships, one British, one German meet in the Denmark Strait. Here two giants of maritime history 'HMS Hood' and the 'Bismarck' meet. Within minutes of the battle beginning 'HMS Hood' blows up with a catastrophic loss of life. Out of a crew of 1,418 only three survive. Coupled with this, the Royal Navy's newest battleship is outfought. While this is a cause of celebration for the Germans, 'Bismarck' has been wounded curtailing her Atlantic raiding sortie. Despite the wealth of documentary information and photographic evidence available on the battle, there continues to be controversy as to how the conflict was actually fought. This book analyses the events of 24 May 1941 to both shed new light and provide clarifications on how the battle was fought, the damage that different ships sustained, and how it was that the pride of the Royal Navy was destroyed in such a catastrophic manner.