On the morning of May 27, 1941 Bismarck was surrounded by British forces consisting of battleships King George V, with ten 14-inch guns and Rodney, with nine 16-inch guns, battlecruiser Renown, with six 15-inch guns, aircraft carrier Ark Royal, heavy cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire, cruiser Sheffield and nine destroyers.

            Even from that distance, Gavin could hear the speaker blaring from the British battleship KG V, as she was nicknamed.  Orders were issued by confident voices, which echoed across the waves.

“Starboard fifteen.”

“Starboard fifteen, sir.  Fifteen of starboard wheel on, sir.”

“Steer one-two-five.”

“Steering one-two-five, sir.”

“Midships.”

“Rudder is amidships.  Steady on one-two-five now, sir.”

“Very well.  Full ahead together.  Give me revolutions for twenty-nine knots.”

There was a clang of bells as the four great Parsons turbine engines delivered incredible horsepower to the four propellers.  The ship was charging straight in.

HMS Rodney was bearing down on the enemy in a reckless head-on approach, unmasking all nine of her forward-mounted sixteen-inch guns.  King George V was rapidly closing the range as well.

Yet the enemy did not alter her course.

Bismarck must have been seriously damaged by those torpedoes.

King George V turned toward the great German battleship, reducing the range, but also cutting down on X turret’s firing arcs.  An unnatural and deadly silence settled over the waves, as if each side was incapable of making the first move.  With blowers secured and vents closed, King George V seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

“Guns loaded,” the turret captains called out.

“On target, on target,” replied the trainers and layers.  “Bloody hell, on target!”

Gavin jumped as a commanding voice shouted through the speaker, “Shoot!”

There followed the sound of a high-pitched chime, floating on the wind.  It sounded melodious and innocent, but actually signaled the gunners to open fire.

Despite clinging to the dragon’s neck, Gavin was staggered by one massive concussion.  Six 14-inch guns fired as one, brilliant orange flames leaping from the muzzles, filling the air with cordite fumes and thick, swirling brown smoke.

HMS Rodney had opened fire!

The volcanic eruption reflected off the ocean surface and lit up the clouds above with a hellish combination of reds, oranges, and yellows.  The battleship jerked, sending visible shockwaves reverberating through the water.

Although Gavin had clapped his hands over his ears, the great thundering sounds of the mighty guns assaulted his ears.  The boy screamed in fear and awe.  He couldn’t help it, because the intensity of each blast pummeled him, as if he was surrounded by a thousand thunderstorms.

The battle was engaged.

Fortunately, Thaddeus withdrew to a safer distance.

Then King George V’s six 16-inch guns roared with a single gigantic orange-yellow flash, followed by billowing clouds of black smoke.

Simultaneously, Gavin witnessed a scene that frightened him even more, as it sent shivers racing up and down his spine.  Bismarck, looming out of the mist, had finally opened fire, the flash of her main armament lighting up scattered patches of fog and low clouds.  With his glasses pointed directly at the muzzles, the blast leapt at Gavin with a glare that nearly blinded him.

The boy was staring directly into the flames of hell.

He dropped his binoculars, cowering again behind the dragon’s lifted scales.  It was the most frightening sight he would ever see in his life.  Eight 15-inch shells were actually visible, arcing slowly in the clear blue of the morning sky and dropping down directly toward him.

Bismarck’s opening salvo hit at least 200 yards short, as eight great geysers of water towered hundreds of feet high, rising majestically into the air.

The British ships closed on the enemy, coming to point-blank range.  Norfolk, Dorsetshire, and the escorting destroyers scurried out of the line of fire.  This was a fight for the big boys.

The great ships were built to duel at ranges exceeding twenty miles.   However, the British commander rushed in, near enough to fire over open sights.  It would be a stand-up fight, toe-to-toe, where the battleships could pound each other to pieces.

HMS Rodney was the first to draw blood, lofting a 16-inch shell between Bismarck's two forward gun turrets, knocking out four of her eight 15-inch heavy guns.  The battle raged on, and after shelling from Rodney, King George V, and the Norfolk, which had joined the battle, the Bismarck’s fate was sealed.  

HMS Rodney veered to the south across Bismarck’s bow to keep her firing arcs open and to stand clear of King George V’s fire.  Repeatedly KG V fired her big guns.  Fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen-inch shells poured in, weakening the German armor.

Bismarck’s A Turret was flung into the sky, one barrel breaking off like a twig.  The main director was hurled into the sea and the mainmast tilted over to touch the main deck, before it toppled and plunged into the water, trapping every man and drowning her lookouts.  Slammed by a dozen direct hits, the bridge disintegrated in a shower of shattered plate and deadly fragments of flying glass.

Bodies and body parts rained down into the water.  The battleship’s stack exploded, followed by wild flames leaping high, as black smoke billowed over the horrific scene of destruction.  Wreckage, bodies, and secondary turrets shot into the air, as ammunition began to explode on her main deck.  Bismarck began to wallow in the swells.  Y turret continued firing defiantly, until a full salvo blew it off its barrette and it skidded across the fantail and toppled overboard.

Gavin Kane shuddered.  The exhilaration of battle faded quickly.  Men were dying horribly, blown to pieces or trapped in flooding compartments.  The boy tried desperately to remind himself that they were the enemy, bent on England’s destruction.  The Bismarck was just a ship, like any other ship.  Could he forget what had happened to the Hood?  Yet his binoculars visually took him aboard the burning wreck.  Gavin witnessed men being killed, blown high into the air.  He looked away, closing his eyes and praying the sights and sounds would fade one day.