Just to add my own little bit of reseacrh, this web site is a must to read, it describes a personal log of the escape from the Bismark of some of its crew.
http://www.warships1.com/W-INRO/INRO_Bismarck_p3.htm
Hers's a cut and paste from that site.
Bismarck was a sinking ship, and her" scuttling merely hastened an inevitable demise. Bismarck had been decisively defeated by the gunfire from her British opponents. The order to scuttle the ship was given at 0930, about 45 minutes after the start of the gunnery action, after all main battery turrets were out of commission. By this time, the ship was a total wreck, incapable of defending herself.
By 1000 on 27 May, only one 20mm gun remained operational on board Bismarck. All the 380mm, 150mm, 105mm, and 37mm guns had been disabled. Some shells had holed the armor belts and water was flooding compartments below. Fires had occurred in turrets Bruno, Anton, and Dora; and several 150mm, 105mm, and 37mm magazine fires had forced flooding of magazines to prevent explosions. "