BRITISH NAVY ACTION AGAINST BISMARCK, 27 MAY 1941 

 Chart of British naval operations by King George V, Rodney, Norfolk and Dorset-shire against the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic on 27 May 1941. Bismarck and her sister ship Prinz Eugen sailed from Gotenhaven on 18 May intending to break out into the Atlantic. They were detected by British reconnaissance aircraft on the 21st. The British Home Fleet under Admiral Tovey, which included the capital ships Hood and Prince of Wales, sailed to intercept and engaged on 24 May. In the ensuing battle, Hood was sunk with a massive loss of life (only three out of a complement of 1,421 survived) and the Prince of Wales was damaged, while Bismarck's fuel tanks were ruptured and Prinz Eugen ruptured and Prinz Eugen escaped to the south. After having been engaged by Swordfish torpedo bombers from HMS Victorious, contact with the German ships was lost on 25 May and regained the next day. She was engaged the next day by a powerful force of ships made up of Force H which was based in Gibraltar and whose ships included Renown and carrier Ark Royal, and the battleships King George V and Rodney, recalled from convoy duties. Bismarck was reduced to a blazing wreck, finally sunk by torpedoes from the cruiser Dorsetshire at 10.36 am on the 27th.