Battle of the Denmark Strait

Battle of the Denmark Strait
Part of Operation Rheinübung
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

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.