Dundass survived by kicking out a starboard side window and swimming away. Though mighty, the battle cruiser H.M.S. They were supplemented by two additional control positions in the fore-top, which were provided with 9-foot (2.7m) rangefinders, fitted in 19241925. HMS HOOD - 15in gun Battlecruiserincluding Convoy Escort Movements. Hood Association. The search team also planned to stream video from the remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) directly to Channel 4's website. This work is still very much in development but we have about one-third of the people who died already listed. However, these records are only available for men who joined the Royal Navy before 1931. 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. -H.M.S. When war broke out later that year, she was employed principally to patrol in the vicinity of Iceland and the Faroe Islands to protect convoys and intercept German merchant raiders and blockade runners attempting to break out into the Atlantic. 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. It ended peacefully and Hood returned to her home port afterwards. To make room in the shipyard for merchant construction, Hood sailed for Rosyth to complete her fitting-out on 9 January 1920. The relevant series of documents are ADM188 (men joined before 1926), ADM362 (men joining 1926-1928) and ADM363 (service after 1929 for men joining before before that date). Hood Roll of Honour List (24th May 1941), You can also try searching our database for a particular name 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 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. Hood Crew List Updated 11-Apr-2022 Background It is estimated that as many as 18,000 men, perhaps more, served aboard the "Mighty Hood" during the operational portion of her 21 year career. HMS Hood was 44,600 tons, had a crew of 1,419 and was faster than the Bismarck with a maximum speed of 32 knots. [2] In addition to the above, submissions by individuals remains a valuable contribution to the database. To save construction time, this was accomplished by thickening the existing armour, rather than redesigning the entire ship. Temporary repairs were made at Gibraltar before the ship sailed to Portsmouth for permanent repairs between February and May 1935. HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy (RN). 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. [102], Some relics from the time of Hood's sinking still exist. [92] This damage, ahead of the armoured bulkhead, could have been implosion damage suffered while Hood sank, as a torpedo room that had been removed during one of her last refits approximates the site of the break. But, three survivedWilliam Dundass, Bob Tilburn, and Ted Briggs. 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. Ratings & officers known to have served in Hood, Crew Complements [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. 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. HMS Hood had a crew of 1,419 and was faster than the Bismarck with a maximum speed of 32 RN Northern Ireland - In Remembrance. Conceptualized during World War I as the follow on to the Queen Elizabeth class super-dreadnoughts, which were some of the most powerful battleships in the world at the time, the Admiral-class . HMS Hood was a battlecruiser not a battleship, a flawed concept from the Edwardian age that sacrificed armour for speed in the mistaken belief the latter would protect her when under fire from 'heavy' opponents. what was the premier league called before; Tags . Unfortunately, there is no surviving official single listing of ALL men who served in her. H.M.S. The hit split the ship in two and it sank in three minutes! 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. During the same action, The ship was destroyed by the explosion of her own torpedoes. 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. At this point, the order to abandon ship was given. Hood Crew Information- H.M.S. HMS Ledbury saved some of her crew out of the blazing sea. Wherever possible, records were cross-referenced and/or supplemented with information from the database of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), Northeast War Memorials Project, FLEET-DNPERS, The National Archives (TNA), various Admiralty 104 series documents, Navy Lists, the H.M.S. 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". HMS Hood broke in two and sank in a mere matter of minutes. [16], The ship's main battery was controlled by two fire-control directors. 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. [90] In 2015, the same team attempted a second recovery operation and Hood's bell was finally retrieved on 7 August 2015. Transferred to the Home Fleet shortly afterwards, Hood was dispatched to Scapa Flow, and operated in the area as a convoy escort and later as a defence against a potential German invasion fleet. AB Served from 1946 - 1955 Served in HMS Duke Of York. These problems also reduced her steam output so that she was unable to attain her designed speed. Before being installed on the battlecruiser, the bell was inscribed around its base with the words: "This bell was preserved from HMS Hood battleship 18911914 by the late Rear Admiral, The Honourable Sir Horace Hood KCB, DSO, MVO killed at Jutland on 31st May 1916. What is presented below is therefore necessarily incomplete in respect of Royal Navy ratings and Royal Marines. -H.M.S. In March Janus was involved in the battle of Cape Matapan, whilst a unit of the 14th DD Flotilla, under Captain Mack aboard . Information about men who served in Hood, NAAFI Men On paper, Hood retained the same armament and level of protection, while being significantly faster. Over 40.000 pages on the officers, the boats, technology and the Allied efforts to counter the U-boat threat. This included the standard-use 1,920lb Common Pointed Capped (CPC) shell and the equal . Beam: 104 ft. 2 in. 24-03-2018. -H.M.S. [4] About 28 torpedoes were carried. Its impact is still felt today . 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. Afterwards, she patrolled the North Atlantic before putting into Scapa Flow on 6 May. The spectacular end of HMS Hood demonstrated what many in the Royal Navy already knew . He is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the . . The complement of "The Mighty Hood", as. The loss of HMS Hood, with 1,400 crew was the Royal Navy's darkest hour. [13] In 1931, a pair of octuple mountings for the 40-millimetre (1.6in) QF 2-pounder Mk VIII gun "pom-pom" were added on the shelter deck, abreast of the funnels, and a third mount was added in 1937. H.M.S. Categories . As a result, a second Board was convened under Rear Admiral Sir Harold Walker and reported in September 1941. In overall charge of HMS Jervis Bay was the Royal . CREWMAN Served from 1942 - 1941 Served in HMS Rodney. [35], Influences from Hood showed on subsequent Lexington designs, with the reduction of the main armour belt, the change to "sloped armour", and the addition of four above-water torpedo tubes to the four underwater tubes of the original design. Over 1,400 of these died while building or serving in her. But, even in the case of those for whom records are available, relatives often hold far more information about individuals than can be gleaned from the necessarily impersonal nature of their official records. As a result, for the Midshipmen and junior officers who served in Hood in the later years of the 1930s little information in addition to the date on which they joined the ship is available without charge. A catapult would have been fitted across the deck and the remaining torpedo tubes removed. The Admiral-class, HMS Hood, 1941 is a rank V British battlecruiser with a battle rating of 7.0 (AB/RB/SB). On the other hand, the 12-inch belt could have been penetrated if Hood had progressed sufficiently far into her final turn.[84]. By this time, advances in naval gunnery had reduced Hood's usefulness. In the afternoon two more Swordfish conducted an A/S patrol around the carrier force. HMS Hood v Bismarck The fame Bismarck received for sinking HMS Hood and then being hunted in turn have turned her into a legend. In 1941, 'The Mighty Hood' and the battleship Prince of Wales were ordered to intercept the . 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 . Here you will find our attempt at creating such a listing. The design was revised after the Battle of Jutland to incorporate heavier armour and all four ships were laid down. Hood, H.M.S. Captain Harold Reinold relieved Captain im Thurn on 30 April 1925 and was relieved in turn by Captain Wilfred French on 21 May 1927. Issue 22 4 knots. [42], With her conspicuous twin funnels and lean profile, Hood was widely regarded as one of the finest-looking warships ever built. [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. HMS Hood was the pride of the Royal Navy. Hood continued this pattern of a winter training visit to the Mediterranean for the rest of the decade. Hood was involved in many showing-the-flag exercises between her commissioning in 1920 and the outbreak of war in 1939, including training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and a circumnavigation of the globe with the Special Service Squadron in 1923 and 1924. 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. It is estimated that as many as 18,000 men, perhaps more, served aboard the "Mighty Hood" during the operational portion of her 21 year career. Such a shell could only have come from. Retained after World War I, it moved between postings in . Writing in 1979, the naval historian, The ship was blown up by her own guns. Also listed are the three survivors (coloured blue) - all of whom have now crossed the bar. David Hunt. Hood. Tower and Bailey were acquitted, but Renown's Captain Sawbridge was relieved of command. [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. 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. The Admiralty dissented from the verdict, reinstated Sawbridge, and criticised Bailey for ambiguous signals during the manoeuvre. She formally transferred to the Mediterranean fleet on 20 October, shortly after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Service records list all ships in which a individuals served but it is not possible to search for "Hood" or any other individual ship. In 1934, the "pom-pom" directors were moved to the former locations of the 5.5-inch control positions on the spotting top and the 9-foot (2.7m) rangefinders for the 5.5-inch control positions were reinstalled on the signal platform. The fact that the bow section separated just forward of 'A' turret is suggestive that a secondary explosion might have occurred in this area. Hood was nothing without the many men it took to design, built and operate her. [62], The British squadron spotted the Germans at 05:37 (ship's clocks were set four hours ahead of local timethe engagement commenced shortly after dawn),[63] but the Germans were already aware of their presence, Prinz Eugen's hydrophones having previously detected the sounds of high-speed propellers to their southeast. to P.O. HMS Legion sailed aside her to begin evacuating her 1,487 crew as her list got worse progressively, reaching 27 degrees about 13 hours after the hit. The ship was laid down on 1st September 1916 and was launched on 22nd August 1918 as the 3rd RN ship to carry this, introduced in 1859 and previously used in 1891 for a battleship sunk as a blockship in 1918. She had cost 6,025,000 to build. He joined HMS Copra on the 7th of November 1943 and was lent three times to HMS Dundonald. 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. As before, with the exception of the attempted retrieval of the ship's bell, a strict look-but-don't-touch policy was adhered to. Hood and several light cruisers gave chase, but gave up after two hours; Hood had dodged a salvo of torpedoes from a French sloop and had damaged a turbine reaching 28 knots (52km/h; 32mph). 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. [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. Deborah. [3], The Admirals were significantly larger than their predecessors of the Renown class. On May 24, 1941, the fifth salvo of the German battleship Bismarck sank the British battlecruiser HMS Hood. On 25 September 1939, the Home Fleet sortied into the central North Sea to cover the return of the damaged submarine Spearfish. 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. These memorials are dedicated to those who died whilst building and serving aboard Hood. Captain Ralph Kerr assumed command during the refit, and Hood was ordered to sea in an attempt to intercept the German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst upon the refit's completion in mid-March. She would have received new, lighter turbines and boilers, a secondary armament of eight twin 5.25-inch (133mm) gun turrets, and six octuple 2-pounder "pom-poms". [8], The Admirals were powered by four Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by 24 Yarrow boilers. [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. When war with Germany was declared, Hood was operating in the area around Iceland, and she spent the next several months hunting for German commerce raiders and blockade runners between Iceland and the Norwegian Sea. Monthly listings of officers who served in Hood, Admirals & Captains HMS Hood was a massively armed battlecruiser and was considered to be one of the most powerful battlecruisers afloat in World War Two. [91] Other researchers have claimed that the final salvo fired by Hood was not a salvo at all, but flame from the forward magazine explosion, which gave the illusion of Hood firing for the last time. August 4, 2020. . HMS Hood Walk-Around HMS Hood was something of a majestic design in terms of warships. Draft: 32 ft. [95], In 2002, the site was officially designated a war grave by the British government. [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. Click here to access the list of dates men joined the ship. At 2002, a message from cruiser HMS Suffolk reported the enemy as one battleship and one cruiser, course 240 degrees, in a position that translated to some 560 kilometers distant and almost directly north of the battlecruiser force. When Briggs fought his way to the surface, he could see only two other . Two years later, the "pom-pom" directors were moved to the rear corners of the bridge to get them out of the funnel gases. In addition to the two inscriptions, the bell still wears vivid royal blue paint work on its crown as well as its interior. It is estimated that as many as 15,000 men may have served in her from 19201941. Crew Lost During the Sinking of Hood, 24th May 1941, Crew & Dockyard Workers Lost Prior to the Sinking (Sept 1916 - May 1941). It was more thorough than the first board but concurred with the first board's conclusion. HMS Hood vs Bismarck : 860ft long and weighing over 43,000 tons, HMS Hood was a global star. Organisation of the search was complicated by the presence on board of a documentary team and their film equipment, along with a television journalist who made live news reports via satellite during the search. Hood Crew Information- The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from bow to stern,[10] and 120 shells were carried for each gun. HMS Hood was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy - and was lost while chasing the most infamous battleship of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine - the Bismarck. Hood sank stern first with 1418 men aboard. Positions authorised to be filled aboard Hood, Crew Biographies 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 upper belt was 5 inches thick amidships and extended forward to 'A' barbette, with a short 4-inch extension aft. C.P.O. Two quadruple mountings for the Vickers 0.5-inch (12.7mm) Mk III machine gun were added in 1933 with two more mountings added in 1937. John Woodcock. The U-boat War in World War Two (Kriegsmarine, 1939-1945) and World War One (Kaiserliche Marine, 1914-1918) and the Allied efforts to counter the threat. [15], The Admirals were fitted with six fixed 21-inch (533mm) torpedo tubes, three on each broadside. [12], The ship's original anti-aircraft armament consisted of four QF 4-inch Mk V guns on single mounts. The RN conducted two inquiries into the reasons for the ship's quick demise. On May 24, 1941, HMS Hood engaged the German Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and the battleship Bismarck. [27], Live-firing trials with the new 15-inch APC (armour-piercing, capped) shell against a mock-up of Hood showed that this shell could penetrate the ship's vitals via the 7-inch middle belt and the 2-inch slope of the main deck as a result 3-inch plating on the main deck over the slopes was added alongside the magazine spaces at a very late stage of construction and the four aftermost 5.5-inch guns and their ammunition hoists were removed in partial compensation.. A proposal was made to increase the armour over the forward magazines to 5inches and 6inches over the rear magazines in July 1919 in response to these trials. Bismarck was temporarily able to evade detection, but was later spotted and sunk on 27 May.[69]. HMS Prince of Wales was a King George V -class battleship of the Royal Navy that was built at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, England. For officers, the situation is easier as The Navy Lists do list all Commissioned and Warrant officers serving in Hood at any given time. . [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. During the 1932 West Indies cruise, the catapult proved to be difficult to operate in anything but a calm sea, as it was frequently awash in bad weather. [74], Memorials to those who died are spread widely around the UK, and some of the crew are commemorated in different locations. Updated 10-Apr-2022. 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. 444 Flight of the Royal Air Force (RAF). [28] As completed, Hood remained susceptible to plunging shells and bombs. [30] During her 19291931 refit, the platform was removed from 'X' turret and a rotating, folding catapult was installed on her quarterdeck, along with a crane to recover a seaplane. It is estimated that as many as 15,000 men may have served in her from 1920-1941. 2616 The Protection of Military Remains Act of 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2006", "HMS Hood's bell unveiled at Navy museum Portsmouth", "Conserved HMS Hood bell rings out on 75th anniversary of largest ever Royal Navy loss", "Photos of the Wreck of H.M.S. [65] A shell from this salvo appears to have hit the spotting top, as the boat deck was showered with body parts and debris. [4] The ship's secondary armament consisted of twelve BL 5.5-inch (140mm) Mk I guns, each with 200 rounds. An excellent place to post guestbook greetings & share photos/information concerning the ship and crew. We are particularly grateful to Barry Roberts who has dedicated many hours undertaking this task and has identified several thousand "Hood men" thereby. Only three men from her 1,418-man crew survived. That said, it is the work of more than 20 years, and is unlikely to be surpassed elsewhere else. [7] The ship's complement varied widely over her career; in 1919, she was authorised 1,433 men as a squadron flagship; in 1934, she had 81 officers and 1,244 ratings aboard. We therefore welcome and encourage anyone with information on the men who served in Hood to contact us to submit new or supplementary information or photos. As such, it remains a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act of 1986. 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. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. [12], The Ascension Island guns saw action only once, on 9 December 1941, when they fired on the German submarineU-124,[105] as it approached Georgetown on the surface to shell the cable station or sink any ships at anchor. Other historians have concentrated on the cause of the magazine explosion. Joseph Steward. Memorials to all those who died while building or serving in Hood, Crew List At the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 HMS Queen Mary , HMS Indefatigable, and the unfortunately named HMS Invincible. She was used for harbour service from 1872 and was sold in 1888. Harold Thorpe. The terms were rejected and the Royal Navy opened fire on the French ships berthed there. Before 27th November 1923 (Empire Cruise), After 28th September 1924 (Empire Cruise). [55] The ship's near-constant active service, resulting from her status as the Royal Navy's most battle-worthy fast capital ship, meant that her material condition gradually deteriorated, and by the mid-1930s, she was in need of a lengthy overhaul. 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 lower deck was 3inches thick over the propeller shafts, 2inches thick over the magazines and 1inch elsewhere. As mentioned above, for officers, the main source, which is a complete listing of all officers who served in Hood, is the Navy Lists. Furthermore, the current position of the plates at the edge of the break reflects only their last position, not the direction they had first moved. [103] A third piece was found in Glasgow, where Hood was built. H.M.S. She sported two funnels amidships about her superstructure with the bridge stationed ahead. [24] Hood's protection accounted for 33% of her displacement, a high proportion by British standards, but less than was usual in contemporary German designs (for example, 36% for the battlecruiser SMSHindenburg). [106], As a result of a collision off the coast of Spain on 23 January 1935, one of Hood's propellers struck the bow of Renown. [52] Hood was refitted at Malta in November and December 1937, and had her submerged torpedo tubes removed. The principal theories include the following causes: At the second board, expert witnesses suggested that what was observed was the venting, through the engine-room ventilators, of a violentbut not instantaneousexplosion or deflagration in the 4-inch shell magazines.