"Prince of Wales" struck her target first. She would ultimately hit "Bismarck" three times. One shell struck the commander's boat and put the seaplane catapult amidships out of action (the latter damage not being discovered until much later, during an attempt to fly off the ship's War Diary on the eve of her final battle). The second shell passed through the bow from one side to the other without exploding. The third struck the hull underwater and burst inside the ship, flooding a generator room and damaging the bulkhead to an adjoining boiler room, partially flooding it. The last two hits caused damage to "Bismarck"s machinery and medium flooding. The hit also severed a steam line and wounded five of "Bismarck"'s crew by scalding. The damage to the bow cut access to of fuel oil in the forward fuel tanks, caused "Bismarck" to leave an oil slick and reduced her speed by . "Bismarck" was soon listing 9° to port and lost of freeboard at her bow.