The encounter between Hood and P of W with Bismarck and Prinz Eugen was not accidental as the above implies. The RN knew when Bismarck left port and had ships following. In addition there was a determined air search. Although some contact was lost at times at least they knew their approximate location and heading.Baldir wrote: ↑11 Mar 2019, 10:47''...never imagined they were to meet each other on the high seas...'
I think we all agree that is not probable they would meet 1:1. But it is not impossible. Either Iowa is transfered to GB and accidentially meets Tirpitz (like Hood vs Bismarck e.g.) or they have a duel amidst other ships. Or on the D day, Tirpitz sails south and Iowa, which is the closest to Tirpitz intercept it before other ships. Not very likely, but not impossible.
Hood and P of W were specifically sent out to engage the German battleship and were actively looking for them when they met up.
On another note I had a bit of a hiccup typing this on my Ipad. For some reason selections from my first post in his thread kept popping in by themselves. This was without using the cut and paste function btw. Not sure if it is a site glitch or my hardware. Has this happened to anyone else?