Hull's striker Jon Parkin should have earned his side a point when he raced around everyone and with an open goal at his mercy smashed his shot against the post in the last five minutes.
His frustration boiled over as a couple of minutes later he clashed with Radhi Jaidi and earned himself a red card with the Birmingham defender knocked to the ground.
The new-look Birmingham side may have been streets ahead of Hull early on but dogged defensive work foiled and frustrated the Blues to such an extent that they were restricted to only one first half goal in a somewhat scrappy game.
It might well have been different if skipper Ian Ashbee, making his first appearance for 12 months, hadn't wasted a glorious chance to make a story-book return when he fluffed his shot following some early pressure with Birmingham's defence all at sea.
Nicky Forster and Michael Bridges made their first appearances together for Hull and it was Bridges who created an early impression with confidence to take the ball forward through a packed defence only to see his shot go just wide.
There is little doubt that this incident gave bottom of the table Hull some much needed confidence against a Birmingham side that is still struggling to come to terms with life in the Championship.
Hull, however, made no effort to disguise their intentions as they defended in depth to the consternation of Birmingham's attack.
The back four hardly ventured past their penalty area and these tactics did much to stifle Birmingham's attacking ideas with Bendtner struggling to shine in the first half.
Hull's tactics may not be pleasing on the eye but their hard work will eventually earn them valuable points as they played with commitment.
Hull finally succumbed in the 16th minute following a long spell of inter-passing before the ball found its way out to Gary McSheffrey on the left. The former Coventry player produced a snappy cross which was met first time by Campbell to turn the ball into the net for his second goal of the season.
As a result of this goal Birmingham swamped Hull, who retreated at the first sign of trouble and subsequently contained the Midlands club to only one goal in the first period.
But they had a lucky escape when Campbell linked up again with McSheffrey only to see his header from a free-kick bounce against the post with Boaz Myhill transfixed on his line.
McSheffrey continued to trouble Hull and eight minutes into the second period he produced an accurate left wing corner which the unmarked Bendtner nonchalantly headed home.
There was, nevertheless, the isolated danger from a Hull attack in which Bridges was a potential threat and this was emphasised in the 67th minute. Birmingham's defence, in particular N'Gotty, became far too casual and David Livermore latched onto a loose ball to drive his shot past a helpless Maik Taylor.
Losing their composure and control, Birmingham had to hang on and Nicky Forster nearly earned a point with a screaming shot which smashed against the post.
Parkin then popped up with an even better chance only to carelessly waste the opportunity.