stroyers picked up only three survivors from a crew of 1,419. With the Hood sinking the fire was shifted to The Prince of Wales which had maneuvered towards the German ships to avoid hitting debris from the Hood. At 0602 two hits were made on the British cruiser. When the range got down to 18,000 meters, the Bismarck opened up with her 150-mm guns. Shells now hit all around the Prince of Wales, which finally had to withdraw from the action. At 0609 the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen ceased fire, after scoring three 380-mm and four 203-mm hits on The Prince of Wales. The Bismarck had fired 93 armor-piercing shells, while the Prinz Eugen fired a total of 179 armor-piercing and high-explosive shells. The Prince of Wwales had been the target of the majority of these shells and sustained heavy topside damage, minor flooding, and several malfunctions in her main-battery turrets. The ship eventually was repaired, but never recovered from the action. Damage to the German ships however was relatively light. Early in the Battle the Bismarck had been hit by two 356-mm shells fired from The Prince of Wales. The most significant damage was from a shell that penitrated the hull and caused the loss of 1000 tons of fuel. This resulted in the decision to head for France, for repairs. On the 27th at 1814 the Bismarck set sail leaving the Prinz Eugen to continue with the mission by herself. She was followed by the Suffolk, Norfolk, and Prince of Wales. By sinking the pride of the British fleet the Germans had unwittingly signed the death warrant of the Bismarck. By 1830 on May 24 the British had ordered 19 warships into the chase. The carrier victorious was ordered to launch an air strike against the Bismarck in hopes of slowing her down. At 2200 six fighters and nine torpedo bombers, flown by unexperienced pilots flew towards the Bismarck. The attacks were made under severe weather conditions and intense gunfire, but none of the Britis...
