Rodney repeatedly closed the range with destroyer-like aggression. At roughly 3,000 yards she launched torpedoes and fired heavy guns on nearly flat trajectories, disabling Bismarck's remaining main armament while blast and shock damaged Rodney's own deck fittings and guns. She expended 378 16-inch shells and 76 6-inch shells before ceasing fire at 10:16. The approach went far inside the Royal Navy's nominal decisive range of about 18,000 yards, showing Dalrymple-Hamilton's willingness to trade machinery and material condition for an unequivocal result.
Notable Point · 1:46:04-1:50:13
A battleship fights like a destroyer at point-blank range
Dalrymple-Hamilton drove Rodney to about 3,000 yards, fired torpedoes, and accepted severe self-inflicted blast damage to finish Bismarck.