Evening star., 1941-05-31
Eyewitness Tells
How Hood Sank With
Guns Still Firing
Ports Thrown Hundreds
Of Feet Into Air in
Battle Of the Giants
Nv I. r. n. NIXON.


Reuters Special Correspondent With the
Royal Navy
LONDON. May 31.-I watched the
@battle of giants" which eliminated
In the sinking of the 35,000-ton Ger
man battleship Bismarck.
Standing on the bridge OF one of
his majesty's ships 1 saw the 42,1O0,-
ton H. M. S. Hood, long the worlds
largest WarShip, go down only 200
or 300 yards away with her guns
still firing.
The end of the mighty Hood was
an almost unbelievable nightmare.
Shortly after the engagement be-
gan, shells hit the 21-year- battle
cruiser.
There was bright sheet of flame
and she blew up.
Parts of her great hull were
thrown hundreds of feet into the
air and in a few minutes all that
remained was a patch of smoke on
the water and some small bits of
wreckage.
Shell Hits Prince of Wales.
The battleship Prince of Wales
was hit soon afterward by a Is
inch naval shell, but the damage
was slight.
The battle of the giants" was
the climax of chase by the Hood
and Prince of Wales and their ac-
companying deStroyers at top speed
to prevent the Bismarck from break
ing out into the Atlantic to attack
convoys.
Pursuit began off Iceland and con-
tinued hour after hour. The cruisers
Suffolk and Norfolk, which had been
shadoWing the Bismarck since the
big vessel left Bergen, Norway, kept
the Hood and Prince of Wales in
formed of her movements and thus
helped find the quarry.
1t did not get completely dark at
any time that night.
We sighted the enemy at am.
when curtain of snow suddenly
lifted.
For some minutes our ships sped
on toward the Germans to shorten
the range.
They, too (the Germans) turned
In toward their pursuers, and the
worlds biggest Warships were
laundering toward each other at a
combined speed of probably more
than go miles an hour.
Tension Acute.
The tension of waiting for the
battle to begin became acute.
The "open fire" order was given
by signal.
Almost simultaneously, flame
burst with a roar from the Hoods
forward guns. Within three seconds
puffs of black smoke shot out from
the Bismarck as she opened fire.
The Prince of Wales guns then
began firing. Dense clouds of yel-
low cordite smoke enveloped her
bridge. She was to the left of the
Hood, 200 or 300 yards away, and
still Surging forward on a parallel
course.
Fountains of water shot up in
her wake-first about 100 yards be-
hind her and then only so yards
astern.
The Hood thundered on and then,
suddenly. she was hit.
A shell, or shells, appeared to fall
Just forward of one of her after 15-
inch gun turrets and great flames
and heavy black smoke burst from
her.
The Hood continued to fire and
still raced forward.
What happened next was
strangling, sickening sight. There
was a terrific explosion and the
whole of vast ship was enveloped
in flash of flame and smoke which
rose high into the air in the shape
of giant mushroom.
Parts Hurtle High in Air.
Sections of tunnels, masts and
other parts of the ship hurtled
hundreds of feet into the air and
some of them fell on our ship.
The Hoods bow tilted vertically
into the air and within three or four
minutes she was gone entirely.
A destroyer was diverted to rescue
work and managed to pick up three |
of the ships company-tWo seamen |
and a midshipman.
All this time the Prince of Wales |
continued pouring shells at the Bis
marck. More than once spurts of
water showed she was straddled.
Again shells from the Bismarck
crashed near the Prince of Wales,
but she came out of the battle with
little damage.
Then the Bismarck turned away
to be pursued all that day and night
and the next day over the Atlantic
at top speed.
Twice during the night the Prince
of Wales fired salvos and aircraft
made attacks.
Finally these came the dramatic
message that the cruiser Dorsetshire
had torpedoed the Bismarck.