Bismarck's Last Battle changed the course of World War II. The Bismarck was Germany's most famous battleship during World War II and was sunk on May 27, 1941. The Bismarck had already sunk the battleship HMS Hood before being sunk itself. For many, the end of Hood and Bismarck symbolized the end of the days when battleships were the dominant force in naval warfare, replaced by submarines and aircraft carriers, and the advantages these ships provided to naval commanders . The Bismarck weighed more than 50,000 tons. and about half of that weight was armor. This amount of armor gave the Bismarck many protective advantages but did not slow it down. It was capable of reaching a speed of 29 knots under normal conditions. When launched in 1939, the Bismarck carried a wide range of weapons. The ship carried 8 15-inch guns, 12 5.9-inch guns, 16 4.1-inch anti-aircraft guns, 16 20 mm anti-aircraft guns and 2 Adaro 96 aircraft. The Bismarck had a crew of 2,200 people to make this ship functional. Compared to HMS Hood, built around 20 years previously, this ship weighed 44,600 tonnes. She was considerably faster than the Bismarck, reaching a maximum speed of 32 knots. The ship did not need as many men to make it functional and had a crew of 1,419. Hood was launched in 1918 and was equipped with 8 15-inch guns, 12 5.5-inch guns, 8 4-inch AA guns, 24 2-pounder guns, and 4 21-inch torpedoes. Even with all these advantages, the Hood had one major problem; it did not have the same amount of armor as the Bismarck. Less than two minutes after being hit by the Bismarck, the Hood broke its back and sank. On May 18, 1941, the Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen secretly escaped from the Baltic port of Gdynia to attack an Allied convoy.... .. middle of paper ...... the attack had injured the Bismarck. During the night, the Bismarck was hampered by destroyers under the command of Captain Vian. The destroyers followed the Bismarck and reported its position to Norfolk. On May 27 at 8:47 a.m., the Rodney opened fire on the Bismarck. At 8:48 a.m., King George V followed. The Bismarck attempted to return fire but a salvo from the Rodney destroyed the two forward turrets. By 10 a.m., all of Bismarck's main guns had been destroyed and her mast was missing. By 10:10 all of her secondary guns had been destroyed and Bismarck remained in the water as an easy target. At 10:15, Tovey ordered Dorsetshire to finally sink the Bismarck with her torpedoes. Three of the torpedoes were fired at the Bismarck, causing enormous damage. She sank in the ocean at 10:40 a.m. Of a crew of 2,200, there were only 110 survivors and 4 officers. .