Sir Horace Hood had been killed while commanding the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron and flying his flag on Invincibleone of the three battlecruisers which blew up at the Battle of Jutland. The container and its contents were subsequently lost, but its lid survived and was eventually presented to the Royal Navy shore establishment HMS Centurion in 1981.[103][104]. The middle armour belt had a maximum thickness of 7 inches over the same length as the thickest part of the waterline armour and thinned to five inches abreast 'A' barbette. The catapult and crane were removed in 1932, along with the flying-off platform on 'B' turret. Despite the appearance of newer and more modern ships, Hood remained the largest warship in the world for 20 years after her commissioning, and her prestige was reflected in her nickname, "The Mighty Hood". This theory was ultimately adopted by the board. . To make room in the shipyard for merchant construction, Hood sailed for Rosyth to complete her fitting-out on 9 January 1920. To compensate for the additional weight, the 4 midships above water torpedo tubes and the armour for the rear torpedo warheads were removed, and the armour for the aft torpedo-control tower was reduced in thickness from 6 to 1.5 inches (38mm). Harold Thorpe. HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy (RN). Over 1,400 of these died while building or serving in her. This change increased the ship's vulnerability to plunging (high-trajectory) shells, as it exposed more of the vulnerable deck armour. [43] Her size and powerful armament earned her the nickname of "Mighty Hood" and she came to symbolise the might of the British Empire itself. Updated 06-Jun-2022. The official Admiralty communiqu on the loss, broadcast on the day of the sinking, reported that: "during the action, HMS Hood received an unlucky hit in a magazine and blew up. [23], The armour scheme of the Admirals was originally based on that of the battlecruiser Tiger with an 8-inch (203mm) waterline belt. King George V and Smaller Vessels of RDF279", "Memorials in Southsea Portsmouth Naval Memorial", "The July 2001 Channel 4 Expedition to Locate and Film the Wrecks of, "Statutory Instrument 2006 No. C.P.O. While Type 279 used two aerials, a transmitter and a receiver, the Type 279M used only a single transceiver aerial. When the threat of an invasion diminished, the ship resumed her previous roles in convoy escort and patrolling against German commerce raiders. [2] Here you will find our attempt at creating such a listing. Hood Crew Information- The main waterline belt was 12 inches (305mm) thick between 'A' and 'Y' barbettes and thinned to 5 to 6 inches (127 to 152mm) towards the ship's ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. No hits were scored, but the submarine crash-dived and retreated. Updated 10-Apr-2022. This position shows the rudder locked into a 20 port turn, confirming that orders had been given (just prior to the aft magazines detonating) to change the ship's heading and bring the aft turrets 'X' and 'Y' to bear on the German ships. Hood was hit by a 250kg (550lb) bomb from a Junkers Ju 88 bomber that damaged her port torpedo bulge and her condensers. We work with our members around the world in remembering the Mighty Hood and all those who sailed in her. The pieces of the propeller were kept by dockyard workers: "Hood" v "Renown" Jan. 23rd. David Hunt. Colin Kitchen. Its impact is still felt today . Two years later, the "pom-pom" directors were moved to the rear corners of the bridge to get them out of the funnel gases. H.M.S. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the bridge. Lutjens, commander in chief of the German Fleet, the Bismarck sunk the Hood, resulting in the death of 1,500 of its crew; only three Brits survived. More recently, the records for men who joined the Royal Navy before 1929 have been released into the public domain and are available on Ancestry (subscription required) or The National Archives (free if registered). Hood's crew gained their first clue that something was developing at 1939, 23 May when full speed was ordered. [8], The Admirals were powered by four Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by 24 Yarrow boilers. [32], She was launched on 22 August 1918 by the widow of Rear Admiral Sir Horace Hood, a great-great-grandson of Admiral Samuel Hood, after whom the ship was named. She was the most powerful warship afloat during the interwar. [66] A huge jet of flame burst out of Hood from the vicinity of the mainmast,[Note 1] followed by a devastating magazine explosion that destroyed the aft part of the ship. The Admiralty dissented from the verdict, reinstated Sawbridge, and criticised Bailey for ambiguous signals during the manoeuvre. In overall charge of HMS Jervis Bay was the Royal . Hood was ordered to the Norwegian Sea on 19 April when the Admiralty received a false report that the German battleshipBismarck had sailed from Germany. Despite the official explanation, some historians continued to believe that the torpedoes caused the ship's loss, while others proposed an accidental explosion inside one of the ship's gun turrets that reached down into the magazine. The Board came to a conclusion almost identical to that of the first board, expressed as follows: That the sinking of Hood was due to a hit from Bismarck's 15-inch shell in or adjacent to Hood's 4-inch or 15-inch magazines, causing them all to explode and wreck the after part of the ship. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. John Woodcock. Midshipman Dundas and Signalman Briggs, who had been on the compass platform with Admiral Holland and his staff, and AB Tillman who had been closed up on the upper deck. Crew Lost During the Sinking of Hood, 24th May 1941 This included the standard-use 1,920lb Common Pointed Capped (CPC) shell and the equal . They were supplemented by two additional control positions in the fore-top, which were provided with 9-foot (2.7m) rangefinders, fitted in 19241925. [31], Although the Royal Navy always designated Hood as a battlecruiser, some modern writers such as Anthony Preston have classified her as a fast battleship, since Hood appeared to have improvements over the fast Queen Elizabeth-class battleships. She was used for harbour service from 1872 and was sold in 1888. Hood Crew Information- H.M.S. Click here to access the list of dates men joined the ship. We are particularly grateful to Barry Roberts who has dedicated many hours undertaking this task and has identified several thousand "Hood men" thereby. It has been suggested that the fatal fire spread from the aft end of the ship through the starboard fuel tanks, since the starboard side of Hood "appears to be missing most, if not all of its torpedo bulge plating". Previously K 64910 (further details absent), Re-entered as Stoker 1st Class (Pensioner) now KX88498, Re-entered for 3 years non continuous service, Transferred to Supply Assistant MX50989 (service record not available), Victory I (Reverts from N.Z.N. Prinz Eugen was probably the first ship to score when a shell hit Hood's boat deck, between her funnels, and started a large fire among the ready-use ammunition for the anti-aircraft guns and rockets of the UP mounts. [16], The ship's main battery was controlled by two fire-control directors. On paper, Hood retained the same armament and level of protection, while being significantly faster. She embarked a Fairey IIIF from No. The spectacular end of HMS Hood demonstrated what many in the Royal Navy already knew . HMS Hood was the pride of the Royal Navy. Barham Navy List: Hood, Robert: 05/10/1893: Gunner RMA: 09/08/1915: 20/02/1918: 13714: ADM 159/87/13714: Hope, Robert: [27] The torpedo-warhead armour was reinstated during the ship's 19291931 refit. There are 757 crew members registered for the USS Mount Hood (AE 29). Joseph Steward. [39] Most seriously, the deck protection was flawedspread over three decks, it was designed to detonate an incoming shell on impact with the top deck, with much of the energy being absorbed as the exploding shell had to penetrate the armour of the next two decks. [49], While en route to Gibraltar for a Mediterranean cruise, Hood was rammed in the port side quarterdeck by the battlecruiser Renown on 23 January 1935. The database remains a "work in progress" and records are added to it at regular intervals. It is held by a private collector and stamped HMS HOOD v HMS RENOWN 23 1 35. The lower deck was 3inches thick over the propeller shafts, 2inches thick over the magazines and 1inch elsewhere. [93] Bill Jurens points out that there was no magazine of any kind at the location of the break and that the location of the break just forward of the forward transverse armoured bulkhead suggests that the ship's structure failed there as a result of stresses inflicted when the bow was lifted into the vertical position by the sinking stern section. [107], Coordinates: 6320N 3150W / 63.333N 31.833W / 63.333; -31.833, This article is about the Admiral-class battlecruiser. For officers, the situation is easier as The Navy Lists do list all Commissioned and Warrant officers serving in Hood at any given time. Hood Crew Information- In the afternoon two more Swordfish conducted an A/S patrol around the carrier force. List of crew killed in action aboard HMS Prince of Wales on December 10, 1941. Hood was straddled during the engagement by Dunkerque; shell splinters wounded two men. The names can be accessed by clicking on the links at right (alphabetical by surname or a listing of all names). HMS Hood Walk-Around HMS Hood was something of a majestic design in terms of warships. The remaining 90% for 1861, 1862, and years ending in '5', are held by the National Maritime Museum. The discovery of the ship's wreck in 2001 confirmed the conclusion of both boards, although the exact reason the magazines detonated is likely to remain unknown since that portion of the ship was obliterated in the explosion. After the sinking of Hood, seven large caliber shells hit Prince of Wales forcing the battleship to disengaged under a smokescreen and joined HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk. The Special Service Squadron are on a tour around the world. The memorials were assembled by blending official records with public casualty listings. Monthly listings of officers who served in Hood, Admirals & Captains A second inquiry was held after complaints that the first board had failed to consider alternative explanations, such as an explosion of the ship's torpedoes. Crew & Dockyard Workers Lost Prior to the Sinking (Sept 1916 - May 1941) HMS Hood - Specifications: Displacement: 47,430 tons Length: 860 ft., 7 in. [60], In January 1941, the ship began a refit that lasted until March; even after the refit she was still in poor condition, but the threat from the German capital ships was such that she could not be taken into dock for a major overhaul until more of the King George V-class battleships came into service. Just eight days after the French surrender, the British Admiralty issued an ultimatum that the French fleet at Oran intern its ships in a British or neutral port to ensure they would not fall into Axis hands. In 1941, 'The Mighty Hood' and the battleship Prince of Wales were ordered to intercept the . Photos of many of the men who served in Hood, Navy Lists . H.M.S. One of these hits contaminated a good portion of the ship's fuel supply and subsequently caused her to steer for safety in occupied France where she could be repaired. The stern of the Hood was located, with the rudder still in place, and it was found that this was set to port at the time of the explosion. With the backing of the HMS Hood Association, Mearns planned to return the bell to Portsmouth where it would form part of the first official and permanent memorial to the sacrifice of her last crew at the newly refitted National Museum of the Royal Navy. 19 rare photos of HMS Hood - the Royal Navy's final battlecruiser First launched more than 100 years ago, HMS Hood was one of the greatest warships ever built by the Royal Navy. Navy Artwork. [72], Both boards of enquiry exonerated Vice-Admiral Holland from any blame regarding the loss of Hood. You can learn more about these men here. For this reason, she was the only ship of her class to be completed, as the Admiralty decided it would be better to start with a clean design on succeeding battlecruisers, leading to the never-built G-3 class. H.M.S. Updated 01-Jan-2020. THE only three British sailors to have survived the sinking of HMS Hood after an attack by the Nazis have spoken about their terrifying ordeal the day after the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Hood Crew List -H.M.S. Service records list all ships in which a individuals served but it is not possible to search for "Hood" or any other individual ship. [18] The 5.5-inch control positions and their rangefinders on the spotting top were removed during the 1932 refit. Such a shell could only have come from. They returned home 10 months later in September 1924, having visited South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and some smaller colonies and dependencies, and the United States. Hood Crew List -H.M.S. This was to be used for a major event documentary to be aired on the 60th anniversary of the ships' battle. [88], After footage of Bismarck was collected, Mearns and the search team began scanning a 600-square-nautical-mile (2,100km2) search box for Hood; completely covering the area was estimated to take six days. Unlike Tiger, the armour was angled outwards 12 from the waterline to increase its relative thickness in relation to flat-trajectory shells. Only Hood was completed, because the ships were very expensive and required labour and material that could be put to better use building merchant ships needed to replace those lost to the German U-boat campaign. -H.M.S. It was more thorough than the first board but concurred with the first board's conclusion. Captain Arthur Pridham assumed command on 1 February 1936 and Hood returned to Portsmouth for a brief refit between 26 June and 10 October 1936. He is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the . [65] A note on a survivor's sketch in the RN Historical Branch Archives gives .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}6320N 3150W / 63.333N 31.833W / 63.333; -31.833 as the position of the sinking. Terms & Conditions! [45], Captain John Im Thurn was in command when Hood, accompanied by the battlecruiser Repulse and Danae-class cruisers of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, set out on a world cruise from west to east via the Panama Canal in November 1923. She had an extensive battle history, first seeing action in August 1940 while still being outfitted in her drydock when she was attacked and damaged by German aircraft. [21] An Admiralty document indicates however that, following the 1941 refit at Rosyth, Hood's Type 279 radar was indeed functional. Shipwreck Select the period (starting by the reporting year): precomm - 1971 | 1972 - 1973 | 1974 - 1976 | 1977 - 1979 | 1980 - 1981 | 1982 - 1983 | 1984 - 1986 | 1987 - 1988 | 1989 | 1990 - 1991 | 1992 | 1993 - 1994 | 1995 - 1997 | 1998 - now . Notes: (1) Casualty information in order - Surname, First name, Initial(s), Rank and part of the Service other than RN (RNR, RNVR, RFR etc), Service Number (ratings only, also . If you have information about a man who served in the ship please contact William Sutherland by e-mail at crewsubs@hmshood.org.uk In the first instance if would help if you include in your e-mail the following information relating to the crew man: When he is able, William will reply to your e-mail so that we can draw it together into a page for the man concerned. The amidships section, the biggest part of the wreck to survive the explosions, lies inverted south of the eastern debris field in a large impact crater. Hood, Renown and Repulse were deployed to the Bay of Biscay on 5 November to prevent the "pocket battleship" Admiral Scheer from using French ports after she had attacked Convoy HX 84, but the German ship continued into the South Atlantic. The explosion was initiated by 4-inch ammunition stored outside the magazines. August 4, 2020. Bismarck was temporarily able to evade detection, but was later spotted and sunk on 27 May.[69]. Ratings & officers known to have served in Hood, Crew Complements She displaced 42,670 long tons (43,350t) at load and 46,680 long tons (47,430t) at deep load, over 13,000 long tons (13,210t) more than the older ships. HMS Hood broke in two and sank in a mere matter of minutes. Additional information on the service of individual officers is contained in the ADM196 series of records which are available on Ancestry (subscription required) or The National Archives (free if registered). Also one Swordfish carried out a photographic reconnaissance of the east east of Bogen and the Herjangsfjord. Areas that Mearns felt were more likely to hold the wreck were prioritised, and the side-scan sonar located the battlecruiser in the 39th hour of the search.[89]. [14] When they detonated, the rockets shot out lengths of cable that were kept aloft by parachutes; the cable was intended to snag aircraft and draw up the small aerial mine that would destroy the aircraft. [87], In 2001, British broadcaster Channel 4 commissioned shipwreck hunter David Mearns and his company, Blue Water Recoveries, to locate the wreck of Hood, and if possible, produce underwater footage of both the battlecruiser and her attacker, Bismarck. [88], The search team and equipment had to be organised within four months, to take advantage of a narrow window of calm conditions in the North Atlantic. The men lost in the sinking are not the only ones who died whilst serving in Hood: It is known that nearly 40 men, possibly more, died whilst building or assigned to Hood between 1916 and her loss in May 1941. [48], Hood was given a major refit from 1 May 1929 to 10 March 1931, and afterwards resumed her role as flagship of the battlecruiser squadron under the command of Captain Julian Patterson. They were and are the very heart and soul of the ship. She formally transferred to the Mediterranean fleet on 20 October, shortly after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. A Queen Elizabeth -class battleship, Warspite was completed in 1915 and fought at Jutland the following year. RN men were needed to fully crew ships such as HMS Hood, HMS Prince Of Wales etc. . Late in her career, Hood was outclassed by the armour and protective arrangement of Second World War-era fast battleships, but few of the RN's available "big gun" vessels could match Bismarck's speed. The other theories listed above remain valid possibilities. The objective of the cruise was to remind the dominions of their dependence on British sea power and encourage them to support it with money, ships, and facilities. ENGINEER Served from 1941 - 1943 Served in HMS Rodney. . The terms were rejected and the Royal Navy opened fire on the French ships berthed there. Later that year, her crew participated in the Invergordon Mutiny over pay cuts for the sailors. 2016 is also the centenary of the Hood's keel laying. The 4-inch fire-control director lies in the western debris field. He then joined HMS Letchworth and was promoted to Wireman (LC) on 26/10/43. Unfortunately, there is no surviving official single listing of ALL men who served in her. [65] A shell from this salvo appears to have hit the spotting top, as the boat deck was showered with body parts and debris. The bell was rung eight times in a commemorative service at midday attended by descendants of crew members who died in the battle before being placed in the museum's exhibit on the Battle of Jutland. The Bismarck took some beatings from the best battleships in the British navy. AB Served from 1946 - 1955 Served in HMS Duke Of York. [11] Two of these guns on the shelter deck were temporarily replaced by QF 4-inch (102mm) Mk V anti-aircraft (AA) guns between 1938 and 1939. The hit split the ship in two and it sank in three minutes! Out of the of 1,418 sailors onboard, only three including Midshipman . Hood Association Archives and various family sources. Answer (1 of 4): Three. Contained here are 1,415 individual memorial pages - one for each man confirmed lost when Hood sank during combat with the German battleship Bismarck in the Denmark Strait on 24th May 1941. Of the known surviving pieces, one is privately held and another was given by the Hood family to the Hood Association in 2006. Hood's wreck lies on the seabed in pieces among two debris fields at a depth of about 2,800 metres (9,200 feet). On 13 September she was sent to Rosyth along with the battleships Nelson and Rodney and other ships, to be in a better position to intercept a German invasion fleet. [9] She carried enough fuel oil to give her an estimated range of 7,500 nautical miles (13,900km; 8,600mi) at 14 knots (26km/h; 16mph). As a result, the greater part of the infomation that we have brought together in this database has come from the service records of individual men. After a cruise to Scandinavian waters that year, Captain Geoffrey Mackworth assumed command. H.M.S. The single guns were removed in mid-1939 and a further three twin Mark XIX mounts were added in early 1940. Albert Edward Pryke "Ted" Briggs was the last survivor of the battle cruiser HMS Hood, sunk by the German warship Bismarck in the North Atlantic during the Second World War. Information about men who served in Hood, NAAFI Men All crew were off the ship at 0430 on 14 Nov as the list increased to 35 degrees. Patrick Drennan. The HMS Hood is exceptional in more ways than one: She was the last battlecruiser, launched way after the Japanese Kongo class ships. The starboard side of the amidships section is missing down to the inner wall of the fuel tanks and the plates of the hull are curling outward; this has been interpreted as indicating the path of the explosion through the starboard fuel tanks. She was above all the proud steel ambassador of the whole Royal Navy and of the country. It endorsed this opinion, stating that: (c) (The) probable cause of the loss of HMS Hood was direct penetration of the protection by one or more 15-inch shells at a range of 16,500 yards [15,100m], resulting in the explosion of one or more of the aft magazines.[71]. [4], The main battery of the Admiral-class ships consisted of eight BL 15-inch (381mm) Mk I guns in hydraulically powered twin gun turrets. Moreover, Sir Stanley V. Goodall, Director of Naval Construction came forward with an alternative theory, that the Hood had been destroyed by the explosion of her own torpedoes. In Jurens's opinion, the popular image of plunging shells penetrating Hood's deck armour is inaccurate, as by his estimation the angle of fall of Bismarck's 15-inch shells at the moment of the loss would not have exceeded about 14, an angle so unfavourable to penetration of horizontal armour that it is actually off the scale of contemporaneous German penetration charts. [32][33], Around 1918, American commanders, including Vice Admiral William Sims, commander of US naval forces in Europe, and Admiral Henry T. Mayo, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, became extremely impressed by Hood, which they described as a "fast battleship", and they advocated that the US Navy develop a fast battleship of its own. [46], While in Australia in April 1924, the squadron escorted the battlecruiser HMASAustralia out to sea, where she was scuttled in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty. Hood was the first of the planned four Admiral-class battlecruisers to be built during the First World War.Already under construction when the Battle of Jutland occurred in mid-1916, that battle revealed serious flaws in her design despite drastic revisions before she was completed four years later. [38] Following the loss of three British battlecruisers at the Battle of Jutland, 5,000tons of extra armour and bracing were added to Hood's design. Whatever caused the explosion, it proved fatal for the ship and most of her crew. Hood reported an accuracy of 3 degrees with her 279M set. The Battle of the Denmark Strait was effectively part of the larger Battle of the Atlantic, the conflict fought as Germany tried to isolate Britain from its colonies and allies in hopes of forcing a negotiated peace. That said, it is the work of more than 20 years, and is unlikely to be surpassed elsewhere else. During the same action, The ship was destroyed by the explosion of her own torpedoes. William was born in Jarrow 1929, the son of Thomas and Catherine Ramshaw (nee Gibson) of Jarrow. These deaths constituted the Royal Navy's greatest single ship loss of the Second World War. According to Goodall's theory, the ship's torpedoes could have been detonated either by the fire raging on the boat deck or, more probably, by a direct hit from. [29], Hood was initially fitted with flying-off platforms mounted on top of 'B' and 'X' turrets, from which Fairey Flycatchers could launch. [85], The evidence of the wreck refutes Goodall's theory of a torpedo explosion, while the eyewitness evidence of venting from the 4-inch magazine prior to the main explosion conflicts with the theory that the Hood was blown up by her own guns. She was also the largest warship afloat when she was commissioned, and retained that distinction for the next 20 years. [97][98], The expedition also took the opportunity to re-film the wreck and survey her using techniques unavailable in 2001. Hood Crew Information- H.M.S. In May 1941, Hood and the battleship Prince of Wales were ordered to intercept the German battleshipBismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which were en route to the Atlantic, where they were to attack convoys. The Hood had been launched in 1918 and was armed with 8 x 15 inch guns, 12 x 5.5 inch guns, 8 x 4 inch AA guns, 24 x 2 pound guns and The memorials were assembled by blending official records with public casualty listings.
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