That hit at 9:02 on Bismarck's forward part is a mistery for everyone. The damage was so severe that it's very difficult to explain...Dave Saxton wrote:
Although it can never be known, I have long suspected that a similar scenario ocurred in the case of Bismarck with the probable early blow against Bruno or its barbet (not the later hit that reportly blew off Bruno's back plate). This would explain Anton being able to come back on line breifly later on, but who knowns? Of course Anton on Bismarck shooting successfully with local control was hardly likely.
Lookouts on Rodney mentioned a "spectacular hit", very bright...
This makes me wonder if it wasn't an explosion occuring there - either 1-2 x 16" shells exploding on impact with the armored surfaces, or the impact caused something allready onboard the Bismarck to explode violently.
Because the "normal" behavior of heavy AP shells at 20km is insufficient to explain the dramatic turn of events...