During three days in 1941 the stories of two ships, Germany's Bismarck and Britain's Hood, were forever entwined by their dramatic destruction. A Nazi plan to cripple merchant shipping in the Atlantic - operation Rheinübung - went terribly wrong and, instead of avoiding her enemy's powerful capital ships, Bismarck and Prinz Eugen encountered the Hood and her companion, the Prince of Wales, in the Denmark Strait on May 24th.


The Hood sank soon after, swiftly and surprisingly shattered in less than five salvoes by the Bismarck, who was herself hunted and slowly blown apart over the next 72 hours, thanks partly to damage incurred in the first encounter. Over 3,400 men from both sides died: the Hood had 3 survivors, the Bismarck 115.

The battle entered both navel and european history immediately, lacking the malice and triumphalism often associated with memories of war. Instead, both ships are remembered with considerable respect and fondness. However, despite a twenty-year difference in operational life, the Bismarck and Hood shared common elements in their histories well before Rheinübung. Indeed, the fatal days in March gain an extra political and cultural dimension when viewed in the context of early twentieth century naval and, more critically, imperial history.