Vian's destroyers exhausted Bismarck through the night

The 4th Destroyer Flotilla left convoy work and raced to the Bismarck action without waiting for detailed orders. Fifteen-inch shells appeared on destroyer radar screens as Vian's ships attacked and maneuvered through the night; he tried to turn the danger into a grim game that kept his crews functioning. He detached the Polish destroyer Piorun when fuel, the crew's struggle with the violent motion, and concern that her captain would take unjustifiable risks made continued contact unsafe. Her subsequent damage in an air attack led him to question whether she would have been safer staying. German accounts denied torpedo hits, while British participants reported explosions they interpreted as hits. Whatever the explanation of those explosions, repeated attacks kept Bismarck's crew at action stations and under stress before King George V and Rodney arrived. The Tribals understood the action as revenge for HMS Hood, a ship they had often escorted and believed they might have helped protect. Their crews regarded themselves as the force that should break through enemy light forces and open a path for other destroyers to attack.