Bismarck's last battle, uncertain scuttling, and survivor rescue

Lutjens opened Bismarck's stores to the crew as the ship prepared to fight to the last shell. That fatalism followed Raeder's instructions and a wider naval pattern illustrated by the trapped destroyers at Narvik. Tovey committed Rodney and King George V alongside Norfolk and Dorsetshire, bringing the cruisers into the action. A comparison with Holland asks whether using cruisers against Prinz Eugen at Denmark Strait could have reduced the fires that helped reveal Hood's position, while leaving any effect on the outcome uncertain. Rodney methodically destroyed Bismarck's command and fire-control positions, and a 16-inch salvo probably killed Lutjens on the bridge. The account leaves preparations for scuttling unresolved and also describes torpedoes from Dorsetshire before Bismarck sank. Dorsetshire and Maori recovered survivors, and U-74 rescued additional sailors. The submarine reached the area too late to retrieve Bismarck's war diary, leaving another gap in the record of the final mission.