British vs Germans

The final battle has begun and the first British shells fall near the Bismarck. Morning of 27 May 1941.The Rodney opened fire at 0847, followed by the King George V one minute later. The distance at this time was about 20,000 meters. The Bismarck returned fire at 0849 with the forward turrets against the Rodney. At 0854, the Norfolk joined the battle with her eight 20.3cm guns, and at 0858 the secondary battery of Rodney joined the action.

At 0902, the Bismarck was hit by several shells that struck the forecastle, foremast and disabled the foretop rangefinder. Only a few secondary guns were still in action, but these were soon to be silenced, too, by the enormous avalanche of British fire. At this time, Captain Lindemann, gave the order to scuttle and abandon ship.

Once the Bismarck lost her fighting capability, Rodney got closer, and from distances between 2,500 and 4,000 meters continued firing with her nine 40.6cm guns against the German battleship. From this point blank range it was virtually impossible to miss a shot, and shell by shell hit the Bismarck which amazingly was still afloat. The destruction aboard the Bismarck was complete, and men had begun jumping overboard. All guns were out of action, their barrels pointing in different directions at odd angles. The funnel and superstructure were holed in many places. The port forward hangar was demolished. In some places the decks looked like a slaughterhouse. Ironically, the mainmast was still standing with the battle flag flaying with the wind.