World War II Day-By-Day: Day 974 May 1, 1942:
At 3.45 PM 165 miles Northeast of Iceland, British battleship HMS King George V and destroyer HMS Punjabi collide in dense fog while providing distant cover to PQ 15. HMS Punjabi crosses the bow of the battleship which slices clean through at 25 knots. Punjabi's stern sinks immediately, detonating primed depth charges, (49 killed) but her forepart sinks slowly allowing destroyers HMS Martin & HMS Marne to take off 169 crew (another 40 survivors picked up from the sea). HMS King George V suffers a 40 foot gash in the bow above the waterline and buckled plates below from Punjabi's exploding depth charges but reaches Scapa Flow under her own steam on May 4 (repaired at Liverpool, returned to service on July 1).
: http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2012/04/day-974-may-1-1942.html
