After steaming at high speed the British finally spotted their quarry. Admiral Holland, conscious of Hood's weak deck armour, turned to charge the German vessels head on. This meant that only the forward turrets of the Hood and the Prince of Wales could be bought to bear, while the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen could bring all of their guns into action from the start.

Hood opened fire first, quickly followed by the Prince of Wales. The Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen did not return fire. Unfortunately for the British Hood's initial shots were aimed at the Prinz Eugen, due to the fact it was in the lead and had a remarkably similar profile to the Bismarck. The Hood realized her mistake and switched her fire to the Bismarck, but by this time the German vessels had opened fire themselves. Both the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen concentrated fire on the lead British ship which was the Hood, their first shots landing nearby.

It was at this point that Admiral Holland ordered the British ships to turn, in order to bring all their guns to bear. Just as this manoeuvre was being carried out the Hood was hit by another 15 inch shell from the Bismarck, a jet of smoke shot from her amidships and she was suddenly torn in half. The Prince of Wales had to swerve to avoid the wreckage of the Hood, as her stern plowed into the sea. The bows of Britain's famous warship, rose to vertical and as they did so a quirk of her firing mechanism caused one of her guns to fire uselessly into the air. Then the bows slid beneath the waves leaving only burning oil where the mighty ship had been.