Bismarck vs Hood: 8 Minutes IN REAL TIME | Denmark Strait 1941

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:13]Holland signals Prince of Wales Captain John Leech to stay close and follow his every move. He still believes the lead ship is his prized target, Bismar. Hood opens fire with her four forward 15inch guns. The target ship is in fact Prince Oegan. On Bismar, the puzzled Linderman wonder why the British are targeting the smaller ship instead of them. On Prince of Wales, Captain Leech correctly identifies the right-hand ship as Bismar. He ignores Holland's order and opens fire with his six forward 14in guns at a distance of 26,500 yds, but without a hit. Holland finally realizes that Bismar is behind Prince Oyen and orders a shift of target to the right-hand ship. However, this order is never executed and Hood continues to fire at Prince Oyen. The German guns remain silent.

[00:01:16]Bismar's first gunnery officer, Adelbe Schneider, requests permission to open fire.

[00:01:24]He receives no reply and calls the bridge. The British fire their third and fourth salvos without a hit, but closing. Still no answer from Luchians.

[00:01:36]Bismar remains steadily on course. But now Holland suddenly changes tactics in the middle of the fight. He turns his ships broadside to broadside.

[00:01:47]This maneuver reveals the silhouettes of both his ships to the Germans. The Germans now identify the battle cruiser Hood and the battle ship Prince of Wales. The sight of the two British ships confounds Lutians. German intelligence has reported both to be still in port. Their appearance in the Denmark Strait could mean only one thing. His operation had long been discovered. More British ships would certainly follow and could be just over the horizon. Luchians hoists the fire signal. JD Yot Dora Brinkman responds at once and Prince Oegan opens fire on Hood from 22,100 yd, but scores no hits.

[00:02:37]Finally, Bismar's 15-in guns roar into action as Lutians returns fire on Hood at a distance of 24,100 yd, but the shells fall ahead of the target. Hood fires her fourth salvo at Prince Oegan, again with no hits. Prince of Wales fires her fifth salvo against Bismar from a distance of 22,100 yd. Prince of Wales's sixth salvo at a distance of 21,150 yd scores the first hit on Bismar. The shell tears through her portside bow, penetrating through the ship and exiting the starboard bow. The damage causes a huge oil leak and flooding of the forward compartments. At exactly the same time, Prince Oegan scores a first hit on HMS Hood. The shot lands between the second funnel and the main mast near stores of anti-aircraft ammunition and anti-aircraft rockets, starting a fire.

[00:03:39]Hood fires her fifth and sixth salvos against Prince Oegan. All miss. Prince of Wales fires her seventh and eighth salvos against the Bismar.

[00:03:51]Again, all miss. Bismar's third salvo hits Hood's fire control tower, killing most of the men inside.

[00:04:00]Hood is now without central fire control. A shell from Prince Oegan's sixth salvo lands near the base of the forward superructure, starting a second fire. The distance between the German and British ships is now down to 19,700 yd. But it is Prince of Wales 9inth 14in salvo which scores another hit on the Bismar. The shell explodes against the 45 mm armored bulkhead below the water line amid ships. This causes flooding in the number four port electric plant and number two boiler room. Bismar is now leaking a conspicuous quantity of oil.

[00:04:42]Prince of Wales prepares to use her Y turret, but one of the guns malfunctions, though burning and without full fire control. Hood fires her eighth and ninth salvos against Prince Oegan, but misses.

[00:04:58]Prince Oegan fires her eighth and ninth salvos at Prince of Wales. Again, no hits are scored. Prince of Wales fires her 13th salvo and scores a third hit on Bismar, but the shell fails to explode.

[00:05:16]Hood fires a 10th salvo at Prince.

[00:05:20]The distance now down to 15,300 yds, but Hood fails to score a hit. Holland orders another 20° turn to port. Bismar fires her fifth salvo at Hood. One minute later, Hood is ripped apart by a sudden and cataclysmic explosion.

[00:05:44]Only three men survive. The rest of Hood's crew of 1,418 men are lost, including Vice Admiral Lancelot Holland.

[00:05:56]No one knows exactly what caused the catastrophic near instant destruction of a 48,000 ton battleship.

[00:06:06]Within just 3 minutes, the mighty Hood, Pride of the Royal Navy, is gone.

[00:06:14]Prince of Wales is on her own against the mighty Bismar and Prince Oegan. She had been about 1,000 yards behind Hood when she blew up. To avoid plowing into debris, Leech orders hard turn to starboard, but her off turrets can no longer bear on the enemy and several of her forward guns are out of action. On board Bismar, Lutens orders a change of target to Prince of Wales.

[00:06:42]Bismar hits Prince of Wales on her command tower.

[00:06:47]The shell fails to explode, but its impact kills the crew inside. Realizing his perilous situation, Captain Leech ceases fire, disengages with evasive maneuvers, and turns to port. Prince of Wales lays a smokeokc screen, but a shell from Bismar's salvo still manages to hit her below the waterline.

[00:07:10]Miraculously, it fails to explode, but Prince of Wales is now increasingly at the mercy of the two German ships.

[00:07:19]Prince Oegan fires her 16th and 17th salvos.

[00:07:24]Again, Prince of Wales is hit in the stern below the waterline.

[00:07:29]All her return fire falls short.

[00:07:33]Bismar scores another hit on Prince of Wales, destroying her portside crane and service boats. Prince Oegan fires her 18th salvo, scoring two more hits on Prince of Wales. One hits the stern below the waterline.

[00:07:48]Another shell hits the fourth 5.25 in turret ammunition storage on the port side. Luckily, the shell fails to explode. Prince of Wales fires her 20th salvo from Y turret at 16,400 yd, but it's not much of a salvo. Three out of four guns are out of action and only one shell is fired. The shot falls short of Bismar's stern. Suddenly, the Germans change course, making a 50° turn to port. Bismar's captain, Linderman, wants to finish off the Prince of Wales, but Luchens will not pursue the British battleship. He doesn't know how many more British ships are on their way to avenge the Hood.