On May 23, 1941, the German battleship Bismarck, a symbol of Nazi naval power, embarked on Operation Rheinübung to disrupt Allied shipping. After sinking the HMS Hood and damaging the HMS Prince of Wales, Bismarck faced relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy.
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Early in World War II, Nazi Germany used its navy to isolate Britain from resupply by sea.
Germany capital ships, like the battleship Bismarck, were an important part of that strategy.
But it was Bismarck s destruction in May 1941 that solidified U-boats as Hitler s weapon of choice.
On the night of May 18, 1941, the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen steamed out of its base at Gotenhafen (now Gdynia, Poland), followed five hours later by the Kriegsmarine s crown jewel, the battleship Bismarck.
Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were on a mission to wreak havoc on British merchant shipping. German U-boats were already very effective at this, but Grand Adm. Erich Raeder, head of the Kriegsmarine, hoped to demonstrate to Hitler the value of Germany s surface fleet in order to avoid future budget cuts.