The sinking of HMS Hood sparked Churchill’s lust for revenge as empire hunted the Bismarck

WHEN the German battleship Bismarck sank British battleship HMS Hood on May 24, 1941, it generated calls for revenge, sparking one of the great sea chases of the war — the hunt for the Bismarck.

HMS Hood at Ocean Pier in Hobart on its visit in April 1924.

IT was the pride of the British naval fleet, but when the German battleship Bismarck sank HMS Hood on May 24, 1941, it sent shock waves across Britain and the empire. The incident, known as the Battle of the Denmark Strait, generated calls for revenge, sparking one of the great chases of the war — the hunt for the Bismarck.

Commissioned in May 1920, HMS Hood incorporated all of the lessons learned about naval warfare during World War I. In 1924 the Hood was part of the “Empire Cruise” of the Special Service Squadron, a public relations tour sailing to South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. It was partly to help reinforce the image of Britain as a great naval power and to remind the dominions which side to support in a war. In Australia thousands of people queued up to tour the ship.

But by the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Hood was past its prime and naval technology had moved on. The Germans, knowing that they were well behind the British in terms of sheer numbers, focused on submarines and creating advanced battleships such as the Bismarck with state-of-the-art electronics, accurate firing capabilities and better armour.

Women sit on the deck of HMS Hood during its visit to Sydney 1924.

On May 18, 1941, the Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen set out on Operation Rheinubung (Rhein Exercise) a mission to disrupt Allied shipping convoys in the Atlantic. The German ships were soon detected off Norway and on May 22 the Hood and the recently commissioned Prince of Wales headed from Scapa Flow off Scotland to intercept the Nazis.

Hood closed in on the enemy ships early on May 24. The Hood fired first but the Germans soon returned fire. The Eugen hit the Hood’s boat deck, causing a fire, but as the Hood turned to bring its rear turrets into range it was hit behind the mainmast by the Bismarck. The shot caused a huge magazine detonation, breaking the ship in two. The ship quickly sank, with only three survivors. Among the 1415 crew who died were four Australian sailors who had been sent to the Hood for consolidation training.

World War II German battleship Bismarck.

The loss of the ship spurred the British admiralty into action. Prime minister Winston Churchill told them, “I don’t care how you do it, you must sink the Bismarck”. Part of the motivation was to take revenge, but it also made sense to disable such a dangerous piece of the German war machine.

The British called into play every available ship, including the RAN ship Nestor, to give chase. A reconnaissance aircraft reported seeing an oil slick in the wake of the Bismarck, the ship had been hit in the bow. As it limped toward the German-controlled French port of Saint Nazaire the Allies attacked the Bismarck with torpedo bombers but only managed one superficial hit.

Over the next few days the Bismarck evaded its pursuers, making running repairs and manoeuvres to confuse the Allies. But on May 26 a force, including the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, closed in. The Ark Royal launched an attack accidentally targeting the British ship Sheffield. Fortunately its torpedoes were duds.

On May 27 a more successful attack was launched. A torpedo fired from a British Fairey Swordfish bomber biplane hit the Bismarck’s rudder, disabling it, before it was pounded by the British until the German captain gave the order to set scuttling charges and abandon ship.

There is still some debate whether the British finished the ship off or whether it was the Germans who scuttled the ship, but either way it sank at about 10.40am that day. The British lingered for a time picking up about 110 survivors, but a U-boat warning caused them to abandon the remaining 2200 men.

Originally published as The sinking of HMS Hood sparked Churchill’s lust for revenge as empire hunted the Bismarck