| United Kingdom battleship HMS Prince of Wales (left smoke column) turns to open the range, after she was hit by German gunfire. Smoke at right marks the spot where HMS Hood had exploded and sunk a few minutes earlier. Photographed from the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Smoke at left is screen from HMS Norfolk. Thousands of British sailors and citizens recalled receiving the news as the single greatest shock of the war. Several officers recalled decoding the message again and again, in the absolute certainty that an error must have been made. The story hit the papers the next day. The May 25, 1941, headline in the New York Times headline read, “Nazi Battleship Bismarck Sinks The Hood In North Atlantic Duel; British Give Chase; Royal Air Force (RAF) Flies to Crete, Blasts Fourteen Air Transports,” Describing Hood as a symbol of British naval power and the “…show ship of the British Navy,” the paper called the action the greatest naval victory of the war since the River Plate. The London Times carried the story matter-of-factly on page 4 of the edition of May 26, calling it “…the heaviest blow the navy has received in the war,” and in an editorial entitled “The Price of Sea Power” characterized it as a “…heavy calamity.” German communiqués, which were remarkable for their lack of self-congratulation, stated simply that HMS Hood had been sunk in a 5-minute engagement between a German flotilla and heavy British naval forces, and that the Germans had received no damage worthy of mention in return – a not unreasonable assessment at the time. This photo was copied from the report of officers of Prinz Eugen, with identification by her 2nd Artillery Officer Kapitänleutnant Paul S. Schmalenbach (August 21, 1909 – September 26, 1986). In 1970, Schmalenbach identified this photo as part of Prinz Eugen’s war diary. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1716.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.32 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5630 x 3242 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Kriegsberichter Prinz Eugen |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 24, 1941 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | |
| Country | Denmark Strait |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | NH 69725 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database