Hi RF,RF wrote: ".....My own view is that if I was in Holland's shoes I would have switched POW in front of Hood at the start of the run in.....but if Holland had won a famous victory and despatched both German ships by the method outlined in my previous paragraph, then his switching of POW ahead of Hood would have been seen as a brilliant tactical move."
I see the points you mention re. the opportunity to put PoW first and I do agree that PoW should have been put ahead of Hood from a pure risk calculating viewpoint.
The big problem here is that Holland received by Tovey a (wrong IMHO) explicit order to fly his flag on Hood, while In Scapa, before sailing against a modern and powerful battleship like Bismarck. There was all the evening to transfer the admiral staff to PoW, and if Tovey was really aware of the risk, he should have asked Holland to fly his flag in PoW, instead of speaking after the battle......
Due to the order received, if I was in Holland's shoes, I don't see how I could have asked someone else to "draw Bismarck fire" in my place.....
I can possibly agree with your outcome, in case of a victory. However, in case of a defeat (PoW sunk even if not blown up, after a possibly longer duel), I think everybody would have accused Holland of cowardice....
Bye, Alberto