The sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941 was one of the most dramatic naval engagements of World War II. After Bismarck sank HMS Hood and damaged HMS Prince of Wales in the Denmark Strait, the Royal Navy mounted a massive pursuit. Torpedo aircraft from HMS Ark Royal scored the hit that jammed Bismarck's rudders, and the battleships HMS King George V and HMS Rodney closed in for the kill on 27 May 1941. The March 1946 issue of All Hands published photographic evidence of the direct hits scored on Bismarck during those final gun actions, documenting the British gunnery that ended the career of Germany's most powerful surface warship.
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