 At 05 : 37 an enemy contact report was made , and course was changed to starboard to close range . Neither ship was in good fighting trim . Hood , designed twenty @-@ five years earlier , lacked adequate horizontal protection and would have to close the range quickly , as she would become progressively less vulnerable to plunging shellfire at shorter ranges . She had completed an overhaul in March and her crew had not been adequately retrained . Prince of Wales , with thicker armour , was less vulnerable to 15 @-@ inch shells at ranges greater than 17 @,@ 000 feet ( 5 @,@ 200 m ) , but her crew had also not been trained to battle efficiency . The British ships made their last course change at 05 : 49 , but they had made their approach too fine ( the German ships were only 30 degrees on the starboard bow ) and their aft turrets could not fire . Prinz Eugen , with Bismarck astern , had the Prince of Wales and Hood slightly forward of the beam , and both ships could deliver full broadsides . 
