The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a Second World War naval battle between ships of the Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine, fought on 24 May 1941. The British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Hood fought the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, both of which were attempting to break out into the North Atlantic to destroy Allied merchant shipping.
Less than 10 minutes after the British opened fire, a shell from Bismarck struck Hood near her aft ammunition magazines. Soon afterward, Hood exploded, and sank within three minutes with the loss of all but three of her crew. Prince of Wales continued to exchange fire with Bismarck but suffered serious malfunctions in her main armament as the British battleship had not fully worked up after being completed in late March 1941 and soon broke off the engagement. The battle was considered a tactical victory for the Germans; however, Bismarck was forced to abort her Atlantic mission due to damage suffered to her forward fuel tanks, and was eventually sunk herself three days later.
Read more about Battle Of The Denmark Strait: Background, Plan Gone Awry, The Battle Begins, Sinking of Hood, Prince of Wales Alone, Breaking Off Action, Aftermath, Parallels To Jutland
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