 At 05 : 53 , despite seas breaking over the bows , Prince of Wales opened fire on Bismarck at 26 @,@ 500 yards . There was some confusion among the British as to which ship was Bismarck and thirty seconds earlier Hood had mistakenly opened fire on Prinz Eugen as the German ships had similar profiles . Hood 's first salvo straddled the enemy ship , but Prinz Eugen , in less than three minutes , scored 8 @-@ inch @-@ shell hits on Hood . The first shots by Prince of Wales – two three @-@ gun salvoes at ten second intervals – were 1 @,@ 000 yards over . The turret rangefinders on Prince of Wales could not be used because of spray over the bow and fire was instead directed from the 15 @-@ foot ( 4 @.@ 6 m ) rangefinders in the control tower . 
