This Day in Military History

On this day, May 24, 1939 the German Battleship Bismarck sank the HMS Hood.

Hood was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in July 1936. In June 1939, she joined the Home Fleet's Battle Cruiser Squadron at Scapa Flow; when war broke out later that year, she was employed principally in patrolling the vicinity of Iceland and the Faroes to protect convoys and intercept German raiders attempting to break out into the Atlantic. In September 1939, she was hit by a 250 kg (550-lb) aircraft bomb with minor damage. As the flagship of Force H, she took part in the destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir in July 1940. In August, she rejoined the Battle Cruiser Squadron and resumed patrolling against German raiders. From 13 January to 18 March 1941, she underwent a refit at Rosyth. Even after the refit she was still in poor condition, but the threat from the German capital ships was such that she could not be taken into dock for a major overhaul until more of the King George V-class battleships came into service.

When the German battleship Bismarck sailed in May, Hood was sent out under the flag of Admiral Holland, together with the newly-commissioned Prince of Wales, to intercept the German ships before they could break into the Atlantic and attack the Allied convoys. Holland's ships caught up with Bismarck and her consort, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, in the straits between Greenland and Iceland on May 24.

During the subsequent Battle of the Denmark Strait on 24 May 1941, Hood suffered from a series of unfortunate events which culminated in her destruction. She first engaged Prinz Eugen instead of Bismarck. When the German ships found the range of the Hood, 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 (Reference 7). 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 bows rose clear of the sea as the forepart also sank. Of the 1,418 aboard, only three men (Ted Briggs, Bob Tilburn and Bill Dundas) survived and were rescued about two hours after the sinking by the destroyer HMS Electra (it has been claimed that there was a fourth survivor named Frank Lambourne [citation needed]).

The dramatic loss of such a well-known symbol of British naval power had a great effect on many people; some later remembered the news as the most shocking of World War II. Enraged, the Royal Navy sent multiple warships to pursue the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen; the Bismarck was sunk in 27 May 1941.

Additional images of the Battle of Denmark Straits and the sinking of the Hood.

Personal account of the sinking.

Johnny Horton released The Sinking of the Bismark in 1960:

In May of nineteen forty-one the war had just begun
The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns
The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the seas
On her deck were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees

Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood
And ev'ry British seaman, he knew and understood
They had to sink the Bismarck, the terror of the sea
Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees

We'll find that German battleship that's makin' such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us
Hit the decks a-runnin' boys and spin those guns around
When we find the Bismark we gotta cut her down

The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day
The Bismarck started firin' fifteen miles away
"We gotta sink the Bismarck" was the battle sound
But when the smoke had cleared away, the mighty Hood went down

For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail
Churchill told the people "Put ev'ry ship a-sail
'Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she's gotta be
We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea"

We'll find that German battleship that's makin' such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us
Hit the decks a-runnin' boys and spin those guns around
When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down

The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the mornin' sun
Ten hours away from homeland the Bismarck made its run
The admiral of the British fleet said "Turn those bows around
We found that German battleship and we're gonna cut her down"

The British guns were aimed and the shells were comin' fast
The first shell hit the Bismarck, they knew she couldn't last
That mighty German battleship is just a memory
"Sink the Bismarck" was the battle cry that shook the seven seas

We found that German battleship was makin' such a fuss
We had to sink the Bismarck 'cause the world depends on us
We hit the deck a-runnin' and we spun those guns around
Yeah, we found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down

We found that German battleship was makin' such a fuss
We had to sink the Bismarck 'cause the world depends on us
We hit the deck a-runnin' and we spun those guns around
We found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down

This song was inspired by the movie Sink the Bismark in 1960.