The Sinking of the Bismarck
“He mistook the German cruiser Prinz Eugen for the battleship Bismarck and directed the opening 15-inch gun salvos of his flagship against the smaller enemy vessel.The captain of the Prince of Wales realized the mistake at once and disregarded the Admiral’s signal to follow suit. Instead he aimed his 14-inch guns immediately at the Bismarck. But his turrets were new and untried and his first shots landed wide of the target.Vice-Admiral Holland had put his two battleships at a disadvantage from t...he moment the engagement began. Two minutes after sighting the German squadron he had turned his ships directly toward the enemy to shorten the range. The result was that the four rear guns on each of the British ships could not fire. Only the fore turrets, pointing toward the Germans, could be used.Admiral Luetjens, on the other hand, steered a course so that all of his eight heavy guns could bear on the enemy. Had the British ships turned their full broadsides on him, they would have had the advantage of eighteen big guns against his eight.MoreLess
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