Wilhelm II, German Emperor after his consent had been gained that major changes to the high command could be effected. Wilhelm was in favour of the dismissal of Helmuth von Moltke the Younger in September 1914 and his replacement by Erich von Falkenhayn. In 1917, Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided that Bethman-Hollweg was no longer acceptable to them as Chancellor and called upon the Kaiser to appoint somebody else. When asked whom they would accept, Ludendorff recommended Georg Michaelis, a nonentity whom he barely knew. The Kaiser did not know Michaelis, but accepted the suggestion. Upon hearing in July 1917 that his cousin George V
HMS King George V (41) "Rodney" opened fire. "King George V" followed suit in less than a minute. "Bismarck" answered almost immediately, straddling "Rodney" on her second salvo. By 08:59 "King George V" had closed to and all her 14-inch guns were firing; "Rodney" was firing full 16-inch salvoes. "Bismarck" concentrated all her remaining guns on "King George V", but only an occasional shell came close. At 09:14 "King George V", at , had opened fire with her 5.25-inch guns, and "Rodney" had moved to . At 09:27 a shell hitting "Bismarck" penetrated the hydraulic machinery in turret 'Anton' and disabled it, causing the guns