During the subsequent Battle of the Denmark Strait on 24 May 1941, Hood suffered from a series of events which culminated in her destruction. The Hood was caught in a poor tactical position as she only had her forward two gun turrets pointed at the Bismarck, while the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen were positioned to fire a full broadside when the engagement began. The first shots were fired at a range of about fourteen miles. The Hood raced toward the Bismarck to reduce plunging fire (high trajectory fire) that would impact on the Hood's weak deck armor (3 inches, 76.2 centimeters thick), while that on the side of the ship was 12 inches, (30.48 centimeters) thick. She first engaged Prinz Eugen instead of Bismarck. The German ships quickly found the range to the Hood and she was hit first by an 8 inch (204 mm) shell from Prinz Eugen on the boat deck which ignited 4 inch (102 mm) ammunition and UP rockets, causing a fire to burn out of control endangering the ship. Shortly after this, the Prinz Eugen shifted her aim to the Prince of Wales, in accordance with a semaphore order from Bismarck . At about 0600 (0601 in German reckoning), as Hood was turning to bring all her guns to bear onto the Bismarck, she emitted a huge jet of flame, reaching skyward from the vicinity of the mainmast. This was immediately followed by an explosion that destroyed the after part of the ship. The stern rose and sank rapidly, while the bow rose clear of the sea as the forepart also sank. The Hood had disappeared within ten minutes of engaging the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen. Of the 1,418 aboard, only three men (Ted Briggs, Bob Tilburn and Bill Dundas) survived; they were rescued about two hours after the sinking by the destroyer HMS Electra.
In remembrance R.I.P
The Hood (Wiki)
