Reuben James and the Bismarck

Subject: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From:
Date: 15 Aug 98 - 09:47 PM

I was quite surprised to be unable to find "The Sinking of the Reuben James" in the database, since plenty of other Woody Guthrie songs are here. The Chad Mitchell Trio sang it with an extra verse that is not on the Woody Guthrie tape I have. I would like to get the complete lyrics. Also -- no entry for "Sink the Bismarck"! (I'm pretty sure I'm spelling it right.) There are 2 versions of this, the "straight" one which is still played on Oldies radio stations sometimes, and a parody I heard only once, at a teen party in the mid-sixties. I would like to have all the words to the straight version, but I would esp. love to get the lyrics to that parody. All I remember is, "We didn't sink the Bismarck, we didn't fight at all, we spent the war in Norfolk drinking -- something, something alcohol."

---

The Sinking of the Reuben James in the Digital Tradition database

Search for "Reuben James" threads

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Aug 98 - 10:04 PM

Keep hinting, and maybe Dick will add "Reuben James" to the database. In the meantime, click here
-Joe Offer, also hinting to Dick-

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 15 Aug 98 - 10:59 PM

Joe- Hinting does little good--subtlety is wated on me. Reuben James WILL be in the next edition of the DT. Why has it taken so long? Well, i was sitting down to my computer, when suddenly there was a flash of violet light and a huge extraterrestrial appeared and ate my notes...

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: rich r
Date: 15 Aug 98 - 11:41 PM

Was there a whine and a rock right after the flash of light?

rich r

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Gene
Date: 16 Aug 98 - 02:03 AM

The parody was done by Homer & Jethro....thought I posted that somewhere....but will repost...

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Bojangles
Date: 16 Aug 98 - 06:46 AM

I would like very much to see the Homer and Jethro parody.

Subject: Lyr Add: SINK THE BISMARCK-No. 2 (Homer & Jethro)
From: Gene
Date: 16 Aug 98 - 11:30 AM

SINK THE BISMARCK-No. 2
Recorded by Homer & Jethro
Original words and music by Johnny Horton & Tillman Franks

Way back in nineteen-forty-two or maybe forty-three,
I sailed with Captain Tuna, the chicken of the sea.
We didn't sink the Bismarck, no matter what they say,
For when we seen the German ships, we sailed the other way.

We seen torpedos comin' and we saw a periscope.
We were full of fightin' spirit and our souls were full o' hope.
The captain yelled, "Now hear this!" He really flipped his lid.
We haven't yet begun to fight. What's more, we never did.

CHORUS: Oh, we didn't sink the Bismarck and we didn't fight at all.
We spend our time in Norfolk and we really had a ball,
Chasin' after women while our ship was overhauled,
A-livin' it up on grapefruit juice and sickbay alcohol.

Then they made me a frogman on the demolition team.
I sunk a battleship, a cruiser, and a submarine.
I blew up ammunition dumps. I did my best to please.
I did it all before the Navy sent me overseas.

Tony, our Italian cook, was a-settin' on the deck,
And we were a-peelin' 'taters. We must 'a' peeled a peck.
The captain yelled, "Hey, Tony! Is that a U-boat I see?"
Tony says, "It's not-a my boat; it's-a no belong to me." CHORUS

And now the war is over and our story can be told
About our captain's fightin' and the young ones and the old.
We stayed in San Francisco, away from the battle scenes.
We spent our time on Treasure Island a-fightin' the Marines. CHORUS

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From:
Date: 16 Aug 98 - 03:36 PM

Thanks for posting the words to the Bismarck parody. I've been wondering about that for a long time.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: BSeed
Date: 16 Aug 98 - 07:26 PM

The additional verse to The Ruben James was written by Pete Seeger years after WWII:

Many years have passed since that good ship went down,
And those cold icy waters now are still and they're calm.
Many years have passed, but still I wonder why,
Why the worst of men must fight, and the best of men must die.
--seed

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Aug 98 - 08:05 PM

Seed, my information is that the extra verse to "Reuben James" was by Fred Hellerman of the Weavers. Can anybody come up with proof one way or the other?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Aug 98 - 08:10 PM

Well, I have pretty good proof - in his 1993 book, Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Pete Seeger himself says it was Hellerman who wrote the verse.

Say, did anybody ever post the lyrics to the original "Sink the Bismarck"?

...oh, never mind. I shoulda known. Some guy named Gene L. Graham posted them in Cowpie (click here). -Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Pete M
Date: 17 Aug 98 - 01:45 AM

Thanks for the link Joe. Now.. I know all about artistic licence, scansion etc, but "1941 and the war had just begun"?? Two years is a rather long time for an "only just" I think!

Pete M

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: BSeed
Date: 17 Aug 98 - 02:32 AM

I stand corrected--again. Well, definitely a Weavers connection, at least, so I was close...which counts only in horseshoes and hand grenades.--seed

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 17 Aug 98 - 11:46 AM

I enjoyed the "Sink the Bismarck" parody. Don't know the original - what's the air please?

Regards

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Barbara
Date: 17 Aug 98 - 01:22 PM

Martin, would you believe Wildwood Flower the Carter family song?
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Bill D
Date: 17 Aug 98 - 01:23 PM

I guess in 1941 the war HAD just begun for American servicemen...Europeans had endured it alone for quite a while...there were lots of cars made in the U.S. in '39 & '40...but only tanks and jeeps in '41-'45..(I was born in May of '39...the final days of the war are still part of my memories, as is the memory of 'where I was' when Roosevelt died.

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: SINK THE BISMARCK (Horton, Franks)
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 17 Aug 98 - 10:46 PM

From: Gene Graham
Subject: HERE THEY ARE

SINK THE BISMARCK
Written by: Johnny Horton and Tilman Franks, ©1960.
As sung by Johnny Horton
Capo on first fret.

In [D] May of nineteen-forty-one the [A] war had just be-[D] gun.
The [G] Germans had the biggest ship that [D] had the biggest guns.
The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the sea.
On her decks were guns as big as steers and [A] shells as big as [D] trees.

Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship The Hood,
And ever' British seaman he knew and understood
They had to sink the Bismarck, the terror of the sea,
Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees.

CHORUS #1: [D] We'll find that German battleship that's [A] mak'in' such a [D] fuss.
We gotta sink the Bismarck 'cause the [A] world depends on [D] us.
[G] Hit the decks a-runnin', boys, and [D] spin those guns around.
When we find the Bismarck, we [A] gotta cut 'er [D] down.

The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day,
The Bismarck started firin' fifteen miles away.
"We gotta sink the Bismarck" was the battle sound,
But when the smoke had cleared away the mighty Hood went down.

For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail.
Churchill told people: "Put ever' ship a-sail,
'Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she's gotta be.
We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea."

CHORUS #1

The fog was gone the seventh day an' they saw the mornin' sun.
Ten hours away from homeland, the Bismarck made its run.
The Admiral of the British fleet said, "Turn those bows around.
We found that German battleship and we're gonna cut 'er down."

The British guns were aimed and the shells were comin' fast.
The first shell hit the Bismarck; they knew she couldn't last.
That mighty German battleship is just a memory.
"Sink the Bismarck!" was the battle cry that shook the seven seas.

CHORUS #2: We found that German battleship for makin' such a fuss.
We had to sink the Bismarck 'cause the world depends on us.
We hit the deck a-runnin' and we spun those guns around.
Yeah! we found that mighty Bismarck and we had to cut 'er down.

CHORUS #2 (Last line)
Yeah! we found that mighty Bismarck and then we cut 'er down.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 18 Aug 98 - 03:37 AM

Barbara

Thank you. Assuming it's the one in the DT - I can't get the midi to play at the moment, but will sort it out.

Regards

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From:
Date: 18 Aug 98 - 08:22 AM

While we're on the subject, a friend insists that there is a cowboy song that uses the melody of Sink the Bismarck. The melody he refers to is the Johnny Horton recording. I've hunted for the thing for two years with no luck. Has anyone run across it? (How about it Gene?) Regarding the melody to Wildwood Flower, at least as recorded by the Carter Family and others, I see little similarity to the melody of Sink the Bismarck. Just thought I might stir things up. Rex Rideout

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Gene
Date: 18 Aug 98 - 10:13 AM

HI Rex....need just a little more to go on for the sound alike cowboy song......a phrase/key words/ Who Dunnit? would help...
and I think the reference was to Wildwood Flower applied to Reuben James rather than Sink The Bismarck..
The thread title included both...

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From:
Date: 18 Aug 98 - 03:46 PM

Whoops! Yup, I'll hush up about melodies now. Anyway, all my friend can recall is that he heard a cowboy song years ago and the melody was Sink the Bismarck. I know that's not much but I hoped it would jog someone's memory. Rex

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From:
Date: 31 Aug 98 - 12:25 PM

Just in case any of you were wondering, I did some more digging into this cowboy song with the melody to Sink the Bismarck. It turns out to be Root, Hog or Die. The melody is close. I sang the words to my friend and yup, it was the one. So now you know. Rex

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Art Thieme
Date: 01 Sep 98 - 10:54 AM

I was born in July of '41 and my earliest memory is the end of the war and all the jubilation. We lived on Sheridan Road in Chicago then and guys were walking down the street with fife & drum dressed like bedraggled Revolutionary War soldiers--bandages and all. You could hardly see 'em for all the newspaper confetti being tossed by everyone out of their windows. I did my share of ripping up paper & heaving it out the window too. I asked my mother what was happening and she told me, "It's a parade!" For years afterward I thought a parade meant tossing paper out of the window!

The Ruben James (the ship) was sunk by the German submarine U-505 as I recall. But that might be an urban legend. The U-505 is now on display at the Museum Of Science And Industry on the South side of Chicago. You can go through it there. It was captured at sea by our Navy.

Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston and Jimmy Longhi shipped out together several times with the Merchant Marine. They were torpedoed twice. Check out the University Of Illinois Press's recent book by Jimmy Longhi called WOODY, CISCO AND ME. It's a fine read!

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 01 Sep 98 - 01:49 PM

For lots of people, World War II started in 1931, when Japan invaded Manchuria. No doubt in 1939 the Chinese wondered what the fuss was about.

Is it just me, or is "Sink the Bismarck" a very weird song? First of all, it's a highly American song about a British military engagement, before the U.S. joined the war. Second, the way I learned it was that, though the Royal Navy eventually did sink the Bismarck, the battle was an embarrassment to them because the German sub held out so long against the odds.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Sep 98 - 02:32 PM

Jerry, you certainly didn't mean to call the mighty battleship Bismarck a submarine, did you? I'm quite sure the Bismarck was not a sub - at least, not until after the battle.
I guess it must have been quite an accomplishment to sink the ship. The battle lasted three or four days. When the ship finally sank, all but 110 of her 2,300 crew members sank with her. Sometimes, we forget that the people on the other side in a war are people, too. Two thousand families must have grieved for years after that battle.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Bob Schwarer
Date: 01 Sep 98 - 03:29 PM

For more info on the Bismarck go to:

www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/4273/bismarcki.html

Bob S.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: BSeed
Date: 01 Sep 98 - 05:34 PM

The Bismarck was a great threat to British shipping because, as a battleship, it had big guns which could fire high explosive shells at targets 10 miles or so away. The British cruisers which came after it were armed with smaller guns with significantly less range (I don't know what the size and range difference was). The cruisers, in order to fire on the Bismarck, had to get well within the range of the big guns (easier then than now: darkness offered protection, as radar had not yet been developed). For the cruisers to target the Bismarck made them targets of the Bismarck. The cruisers had to get off enough effective fire to sink the battleship before it could get its guns trained on them.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Dick Wisan
Date: 02 Sep 98 - 01:24 AM

I think that last post has mixed up the Bismarck with the Graf Spee.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: BSeed
Date: 02 Sep 98 - 01:57 AM

Not at all. Check the song. Similar stories, two different wars. --seed

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 02 Sep 98 - 08:31 AM

In fact: same war - different ocean! Graf Spee was scuttled off S. America, after being disabled. Bismarck sunk - trying to get out of the North Sea? She (B) had primitive radar, as far as I remember. I have an interesting account written shortly after the war, by a German naval officer.

Regards

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Bob Schwarer
Date: 02 Sep 98 - 10:58 AM

What really sank the Bismarck was it got its rudder jammed & could only go in circles. In other words a sitting duck.

Bob S.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Jon W.
Date: 02 Sep 98 - 11:27 AM

True enough, but the rudder was jammed by the British naval torpedo planes. See here.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Bob Schwarer
Date: 02 Sep 98 - 01:42 PM

I know, but it makes an interesting "what if". I guess you have to play the cards your dealt tho.

Bob S.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Pete M
Date: 07 Sep 98 - 09:23 PM

Ohmigosh, I don't want to turn this into a naval history lesson, but please if you are going to comment on historical occurances per se rather than the songs about them, do enough research to get it right even if not complete! Jerry, I agree about the song, I found it a very strange mixture, but no, the length of time taken to sink the Bismarck in the final engagement was not an embarrasment, Battleships were built to absorb a tremendous amount of punishment, and the closing range meant that a flat trajectory of the shells were less likely to hole the ship below the waterline.

A very brief timeline of the entire sortie follows for anyone interested.

18.5.1941 Bismarck with Prinz Eugen in company sails from Gydinia (Admiral Lutyens commanding the squadron.

21.5.41 Coastal command aircraft report ships in fiord south of Bergen. Prince of Wales (KGV class battleship), Hood (Battlecruiser) and six destroyers (Admiral Holland flying flag in Hood) despatched from Scapa Flow for Keflavic. (it should be noted that PoW was a new ship, had not been worked up and sailed with civilian workmen still on board completing the commissioning of the main armament) 22.5.41 Coastal command recon confirmed that ships had left Norweigen waters. 23.5.41 1922 Suffolk (heavy cruiser) sighted Bismarck in Denmark Straits. Norfolk (sister ship) made contact shortly after. (Admiral Wake-Walker commanding cruiser squadron) 24.5.41 around 0030 Wake-Walkers cruisers lost touch and as a result Holland altered course and detached his destroyers to extend the sweep. 0247 Suffolk regained contact. 0535 enemy sighted from Hood fine on starboard bow (this position meant that althogh Bismarck and Prinz Eugen could use their full broadsides, Hood and PoW could only use their forward turrets. 0552 - 0553 All ships open fire at a range of 25,000 yards. 0600 Hood destroyed by explosion in a magazine. 0613 PoW breaks of action Although the action was a clear tactical success for ther German squadron, a hit from PoW 14" guns had ruptured Bismarck's after fuel tanks and at 0800 Lutyens abandoned his sortie and signalled the Kreigsmarine of his intention to make for Brest. For the rest of the day, Wake-Walkers cruisers with PoW in company shadowed the Germans by radar to remain out of range. Admiralty orders Force H (Ark Royal, Renown and Sheffield, Admiral Somerville commanding) North from Gibralter, and detaches Rodney from convoy escort. The Home Fleet (King George V, Victorious, Repulse and four cruisers - Admiral Tovey) steam to intercept. 1800 Prinz Eugen detached. (this was unobserved by the shadowing forces as they were operating at extreme range for the radar fitted.) 2200 strike of 9 Swordfish flown off from Victorious in "atrocious" weather. 2400 One torpedo hit obtained on Bismarck's main armour belt. 25.5.41 0306 contact lost by shadowing forces. 1100 Admiralty instruct Force H to place himself athwart the course for Brest from Lutyens last known position. 26.5.41 1030 Bismarck sighted by Coastal Command Catalina 690 miles West of Brest. About 1100 recon aircarft from Ark Royal make contact and Sheffield detached to shadow. 1450 Strike of 14 Swordfish flown off from Ark Royal. (Visibility was now very bad and sea state nearly too rough to fly off aircraft) 1550 Swordfish attack on radar plot only to find they had attacked Sheffield! 1800 Rodney and five destroyers join company with Home Fleet. 1910 Strike of 15 Swordfish flown off from Ark Royal. Two hits achieved one of which jammed the Bismarck's rudder and reduced her to a few knots speed.

The home fleet made contact during the night, but held off until daylight apart from harrassing attacks by the destroyers. Repulse and Renown were ordered to stand clear because of their thin armour.

27.5.41 0845 Home Fleet (KGV and Rodney) open fire at 16,000 yards. 1036 Bismarck sinks at 48 10 North 16 12 West, a flaming shambles with all guns silent and her ensign still flying. 110 survivors were picked up.

As Joe says, the crews of the Hood and Bismarck were all seamen and all left grieving families.

Pete M

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Sep 98 - 09:29 AM

This thread really brings home the problem of 'getting it right' in recording History. Even in an event so comparatively recent and well documented as the sinking of the Bismarck, we see how the 'facts' can be slippery and confusions slip in...and when singers begin to commerate and take poetic license,it only gets worse. Couple that with the intentional distortion of 'official' history for political purposes and it is a wonder that ANY 'truth' survives...

Perhaps a forum like this can actually help sort out a lot of varied interpretations, but as always, 'getting it right' is hard...making it 'interesting' is so much easier...and more fun!

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 08 Sep 98 - 11:25 AM

Please don't confuse facts with truth.
Folklore is always true;
it usually gets the facts wrong, though.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Pete M
Date: 08 Sep 98 - 04:47 PM

Whilst doing a some more reading yesterday, I came across a bit of information that I had forgotten. The attack on the Bismarck by the aircraft from Victorious was observed by the US Coastguard cutter Madoc (Lieut. Cmdr. Belford) which was searching for survivors from convoy HX126. I wonder if the author of the song served on her, or knew someone in her crew?

Pete M

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 08 Sep 98 - 06:12 PM

Bill D.....

Good post, and right on!

If you think 'getting it right' in music is tough, try genealogical research.

...Tiger

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Sep 98 - 10:24 PM

Tiger...*grin*...I have tried a bit of genealogical research...it is easy...there are people who will sell you any ancestors you want!!the few of MINE I am able to document dont seem to turn up in these online databases!

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Jon W.
Date: 09 Sep 98 - 10:51 AM

Come out to Utah, go to the Family History Library downtown Salt Lake City, it's the largest geneological library in the world (isn't it?). And it's free - selling of ancestors is not allowed. Plus it is staffed by volunteers who can help you out. And while you're here, look me up and we can share some music.

Jon W.

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From:
Date: 09 Sep 98 - 01:38 PM

Jon..I do believe it IS the largest...but, of course,even thay can only have what is available...and so much information was never written down, or has been lost in courthouse fires...etc..but, if I am ever near there, the music offer will be in my mind!!(there are major woodturning conferences held there each year..perhaps someday...)

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: GUEST,James Holloway
Date: 29 Apr 03 - 06:16 PM

My dad was a 23 year Navy Vet and used to sing that Homer and Jethro song around the family.

"living it up on grapefruit juice and sickbay alcohol!"

He was a Navy corpsman, too...

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: The O'Meara
Date: 30 Apr 03 - 12:00 AM

I've always thought "Sink the Bismarck" was a fairly strange song, too. Shouldn't "guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees" be the other way around?

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: JJ
Date: 30 Apr 03 - 08:59 AM

"Sink the Bismarck" has a tune highly similar to the post-Civil War song "Oh, I'm a Good Old Rebel," sung by Hoyt Axton on "Songs of the Civil War," a followup CD to the Ken Burns series. Shelby Foote says it was written by former Confederate Major Innes Randolph as a parody. Can anyone identify the tune?

Oh, I'm a good old rebel, now that's just what I am
And for this Yankee nation I do not give a damn
I'm glad I fought agin her -- I only wisht we'd won
'N I don't ask any pardon for anything I've done

I always thought "Sink the Bismarck" was written to shill up interest in the American release of the UK movie of the same name. The movie's preview featured the song. Imagine my shock when I saw the movie and the song wasn't in it!

(And even then I thought, "Guns as big as STEERS?!?")

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: The O'Meara
Date: 30 Apr 03 - 08:02 PM

"I'm a Good Ol' Rebel" is on the soundtrack album of the movie "The Long Riders", (one of the top westerns ever made,) and it's an exceptionally good album of civil war music, most by Mr. Ry Cooder. I don't notice much resemblance at all between the Rebel and Bismarck tunes.

O'Meara

Subject: RE: Reuben James and the Bismarck
From: Little Hawk
Date: 01 May 03 - 07:26 PM

Yes, I believe the song was marketed in order to draw more viewers to see the movie. The song is unintentionally funny...it should be on a Ktel collection called: "Know-nothing Songs for No-nothing People"

Bismarck's Guns were considerably bigger than any steer. Her shells (15-inch diameter) were considerably smaller than any reasonable-sized tree, unless the lyric refers specifically and only to the diameter of the shell. Even then, you'll find a lot of trees that are wider than 15 inches.

The Bismarck wasn't "the fastest ship", although she was pretty fast as battleships went. The Hood was about a knot faster.

The Bismarck did not have the biggest guns. She had eight 15-inch guns (each firing a 15" diameter shell, in other words). One of her opponents in the final battle, the British battleship Rodney had nine 16-inch guns, making her class (Nelson and Rodney) the most heavily-armed ships in European waters in '41. The Americans and Japanese also had battleships with 16" guns in service and the Japanese were just completing two with 18" guns at that time.

The Bismarck's fame is probably mainly due to the fact that she sank the Hood, Britain's most famous and highly regarded fighting vessel of that era. That was bad luck for the Hood. Bismarck herself was brought down by bad luck of her own a few days later, when one torpedo from a British carrier plane jammed her rudders hard over, making the ship unmaneuverable. The British closed in the following day and pounded the Bismarck into a wreck with hundreds of hits from 2 battleships (King George V and Rodney) and several smaller cruisers.

In the final battle the Germans never had a chance. This lends a tragic aspect to the end of a long and desperate chase where one ship tried to elude many, and failed.

Bismarck's companion, the cruiser Prinz Eugen, did elude the British pursuers, made it to France, and survived the war, only to be expended in an American A-bomb test in the Pacific after the war's end. The oddest footnote of all is that it was Prinz Eugen which scored the first hit on the Hood, starting a big fire on the main deck amidships, and may have actually been the ship which sank the Hood as a result...with smaller caliber 8-inch shells. But that remains merely speculative...

- LH