Could the Hood have sunk the Bismarck?

Bismarck had the same armaments as HMS Hood, yet superior armour. Her internal subdivision made her hard to flood and therefore sink. Bismarck could absorb more damage while firing faster and more accurately than Hood – and was thus extremely dangerous.

Was HMS Hood bigger than the Bismarck?

The Bismarck had a crew of 2,200. In comparison, HMS Hood (built 20 years before Bismarck) was 44,600 tons, had a crew of 1,419 and was faster than the Bismarck with a maximum speed of 32 knots.

Could Prinz Eugen have sunk the Hood?

It has been sometimes suggested in naval forums that it was the Prinz Eugen the ship that actually scored the fatal hit on the Hood. However, the Prinz Eugen could not have been responsible for this hit because at the time the decisive hit occurred (0600 hours) the German cruiser was firing at Prince of Wales.

How hard was it to sink the Bismarck?

No single element of the Royal Navy present at the battle was strong enough to defeat Bismarck singlehandedly, but together a force of aging aircraft carriers and torpedo bombers, twenty-to-thirty-year-old battleships, and more than a dozen scrappy cruisers and destroyers were able to ensure that the mighty German ...

How long did it take for the Bismarck to sink the HMS Hood?

It was over in 15 minutes. In a blow to rank alongside the sinking of the Royal Oak in Scapa Flow in 1939, the Hood blew up when a 15-inch shell from Bismarck penetrated the ship's armor belt and exploded in an after magazine.

How Did The Bismarck Manage To Sink HMS Hood So Quickly? | History Documentary | Reel Truth History

How many shells did Bismarck fire at Hood?

The secondary 5.5- to 6-inch guns of both battleships, plus the guns of the two heavy cruisers, expended a total of 2,156 shells on the battleship, plus numerous torpedo attacks.

Why did HMS Hood sink so fast?

HMS Hood was struck by several German shells near its ammunition magazines which subsequently exploded, causing the ship to sink. It sparked a huge Royal Navy pursuit of the Bismarck, which was destroyed three days later.

Who Really Sank the Bismarck?

On May 27, 1941, the British navy sinks the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic near France. The German death toll was more than 2,000.

How many torpedoes did it take to sink the Bismarck?

On the morning of May 27 the King George V and the Rodney, in an hour-long attack, incapacitated the Bismarck, and an hour and a half later it sank after being hit by three torpedoes from the cruiser Dorsetshire.

Is the Prinz Eugen still radioactive?

The Navy determined in 1974 that neither Prinz Eugen nor the oil inside the wreck is still radioactive. The oil retrieval process is now ongoing, a joint project of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and the Republic of Micronesia.

Why did the Prinz Eugen leave the Bismarck?

Prinz Eugen was detached from Bismarck during the operation to raid Allied merchant shipping, but this was cut short due to engine troubles. After putting into occupied France and undergoing repairs, the ship participated in Operation Cerberus, a daring daylight dash through the English Channel back to Germany.

Where is the Tirpitz wreck?

The sinking place of the German battleship Tirpitz off Håkøy Island near Tromsø, Norway, in position 69º 38' 49" North, 18º 48' 27" East.

Did HMS Rodney Sink the Bismarck?

During the early stages of the Second World War, she searched for German commerce raiders, participated in the Norwegian Campaign, and escorted convoys in the Atlantic Ocean. Rodney played a major role in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in mid-1941.

What is the most powerful battleship ever built?

Yamato 's Last Voyage. On her last morning, before the first American planes intercepted her, Yamato would have appeared indestructible. After all, she was the heaviest and most powerful battleship ever built, carrying the most formidable guns ever mounted at sea.

Did the Bismarck sink any ships?

On May 24, 1941, Germany's largest battleship, the Bismarck, sinks the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood.

Could the Bismarck have been saved?

First, the Bismarck would have had to elude detection—an unlikely possibility. Second, the warship would have had to escape damage in the Battle of the Denmark Strait—a possibility, since historically the Bismarck had damage minor enough that Admiral Lütjens could have continued the mission.

Can the Bismarck be raised?

Any deep sea salvage company will tell you that it is impossible to raise a wreck from these depths, thank god and as for raising the guns, the huge turrets contained a large crew, which nearly all perished so these are war graves in themselves so please let The Bismark rest in peace.

Was Tirpitz bigger than Bismarck?

Like her sister ship, Bismarck, Tirpitz was armed with a main battery of eight 38-centimetre (15 in) guns in four twin turrets. After a series of wartime modifications she was 2000 tonnes heavier than Bismarck, making her the heaviest battleship ever built by a European navy.

Are any Bismarck survivors still alive?

The only surviving Bismarck officer still alive, the baron was the senior surviving officer when the 51,000-ton, 823-foot-long ship sank in 12,000 feet of water.

Was the Bismarck any good?

Overall, the Bismarck class was an impressive combination of firepower, speed, and protection. The Iowa-class battleships were the most powerful battleships built for the U.S. Navy. Four ships: Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wisconsin were built.

What ships helped sink the Bismarck?

Unable to manoeuvre, the Bismarck stood little chance and was finally sunk by two torpedoes fired by HMS Dorsetshire, having withstood two hours of bombardment. Admiral Lutjens went down with the ship, along with 2,089 others.

What was Hitler's reaction to the Bismarck sinking?

She capsized and sank, with the loss of all but 110 of her crew of some 2300 men. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's reaction to Bismarck's loss produced a very cautious approach to future German surface ship operations against Britain's vital Atlantic sea lanes.

Did the Bismarck have a sister ship?

Bismarck and her sister ship Tirpitz were the largest battleships ever built by Germany, and two of the largest built by any European power.

Why did HMS Invincible sink?

Built by the French in 1744, HMS Invincible was captured by the Royal Navy in 1747 and became the blueprint for all Royal Navy 74-gun ships. HMS Invincible sank after 14 years in service running aground at Horse Tail Sand, in the Solent, near Portsmouth.