Bismarck and Hood: The Battle of the Denmark Strait, a Technical Analysis for a New Perspective

Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
	Aim of this study
	Aspects of the battle worthy of further investigation
	An analysis and a synthesis
1. The Strategic Context
	1.1 Anglo-German naval rivalry between the Belle Époqueand the First World War
	1.2 The importance of the force ratio
	1.3 The strategic context from 1935 to 1941: the reasons for commerce raiding
	1.4 Technical aspects of shipbuilding
2. The Operational Context
	2.1 General remarks on Operation RheinÜbung
	2.2 British operations to block access to the central Atlantic
	2.3 The German forces and the opposing British units
	2.4 Planning RheinÜbung: critical aspects
	2.5 Remarks on the first part of RheinÜbung
	2.6 The Battle of the Denmark Strait and its effects on RheinÜbung
3. Tactical Aspects
	3.1 British interception manoeuvres
	3.2 Fighting manoeuvres of the British units
	3.3 Manoeuvres of the German group
	3.4 Remarks on the choice of targets and artillery fire
	3.5 Further remarks
	3.6 A different scenario?
	3.7 ‘Virtual’ analysis of the battle
4. Technical Analysis of KMS Bismarck’s Fire
	4.1 General remarks
	4.2 Shots and hits against HMS Hood
	4.3 Shots and hits against HMS Prince of Wales
	4.4 Remarks on the Bismarck’s accuracy of fire
	4.5 A statistical analysis of the effects produced by the Bismarck’s fire
	4.6 Determining observed hit frequency and SSHP values
	4.7 Results of the statistical analysis
5. Aspects of Terminal Ballistics
	5.1 Preliminary remarks
	5.2 Investigation of terminal aspects
	5.3 The probability of destroying HMS Hood: an assessment
6. A New Perspective
Picture Section
Conclusion
Appendices
	A: Kinematic model of the courses followed by the opposing naval groups from 0537 to 0609 on 24 May 1941
	B: HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales: size of the hitting space (HS) and SSHP calculation procedure
	C: Fire dispersion of the Bismarck’s 380/47 gun battery and SSHP calculation
	D: Statistical analysis of the Bismarck’s firing accuracy
	E: Specifications of Krupp large-calibre guns on board German units participating in the battle
	F: Applying Lanchester’s Laws of Concentration to the battle
Notes
Sources and Bibliography