Royal descendants of Queen Victoria and King Christian IX were closely related due to their mutual descent from either Queen Victoria, King Christian IX or both. The most commonly cited example is the fact that Nicholas, his wife, Alexandra, and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany were all first cousins of King George V of the United Kingdom. Other countries who fought against Germany in addition to Russia and the United Kingdom were Romania, whose queen-consort, Marie, wife of King Ferdinand I, was a cousin of the Kaiser, and Greece, whose queen-consort, Sophia, wife of King Constantine I, was the Kaiser's own sister. Additionally, King George V was a first
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