Before Somerville's clamor had dissipated, a bad news blocked his mouth.

"The Prince of Wales sent a report that the ship was seriously damaged and the main artillery malfunctioned. The battle was unable to continue, so he requested to evacuate the battlefield."

Somerville immediately looked at the location of the Prince of Wales battleship. Sure enough, he saw the 227-meter-long big guy releasing smoke, and his slightly tilted body was turning around and retreating southeastward.

"The little boy is indeed unreliable. Let it go, but don't go too far, let it hide behind the Nelson to provide us with firepower support." Somerville made a quick decision.

The Prince of Wales was just completed on March 31, and was less than a month into service. It had not completed commissioning and training. It was nicknamed the Little Boy within the Royal Navy.

Due to the unfavorable war and the shortage of battleships, the "Little Boy" Prince of Wales was incorporated into the local fleet to make up the numbers.

Somerville soon received a report of damage from the Prince of Wales, and the Prince of Wales was hit by two shells.

The first shell hit the bridge from right to left, splashing steel debris to kill almost all the people in the bridge, only Captain Colonel Ritchie and a communications soldier survived.

The second shell was fatal.

After the shell entered the water, it hit the underwater part on the starboard side, causing a boiler on the starboard side to be destroyed, the generator cabin of No. 1 was flooded with water, the hull was tilted to the front right, the propeller tip on the left was lifted away from the water surface, and the speed dropped to twenty-five knots.

In addition to two shells, the supply chain of the four-unit turret on the head of the ship failed and could not load the bullet, and the firepower was sharply reduced.

The retreat request was approved. With the help of smoke, the Prince of Wales fired with the main gun at the stern of the ship while extending the distance from the German warship and hiding behind the Nelson.

The Hood was sunk and the Prince of Wales was seriously injured. He could only exert less than half of his firepower. None of the German main ships were sunk except the scapegoat.

The Royal Navy is no longer in its dominance. Should it be time to retreat?

Somerville picked up the telescope and stared at the German warship with black smoke rising from afar.

That battleship was one of the Bismarck-class battleships. It had at least two Nelson shells and was seriously injured. I will hold on for a few more minutes to see if it can sink it. It will always have to achieve a major result before retreating.

Somerville issued an order in a tight juncture.

"Order the Reputation and the Prince of Wales to concentrate fire on the German warship that was emitting black smoke."

......

Inside the bridge of the Prince Eugen, Lütjens gave an order similar to Somerville.

Two 406mm armor-piercing bombs were shot in a row, and the Tirpitz, which was shrouded in black smoke, turned around and drove southwest, and also sprayed a large area of ​​cover smoke in place.

"The smoke is also being released on the opposite side, and they also have ships to evacuate from the battlefield. It should be the Prince of Wales." Lütjens said.

After a few seconds of silence, Lütjens continued, "When will they come out? Should they wait for the battle to end?"
Chapter completed!