[4] The Mk IV torpedoes had a warhead of 515 pounds (234 kg) of TNT. There were no tangible traces of any crewmen, living or dead, save the three survivors, Ted Briggs, William Dundas and Bob Tilburn. [19] To these were added five unrotated projectile launchers in 1940, each launcher carrying 20 7-inch (180 mm) rockets. 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. As completed, she had an overall length of 860 feet 7 inches (262.3 m), a maximum beam of 104 feet 2 inches (31.8 m), and a draught of 32 feet (9.8 m) at deep load. Hood's armour scheme was originally based on that of the battlecruiser Tiger with an 8-inch (203 mm) waterline belt. Hood was straddled during the engagement by Dunkerque; shell splinters wounded two men. Ammunition would then be re-supplied from below deck. [35] During her 1929–31 refit, the platform was removed from 'X' turret and a trainable, folding catapult was installed on her quarterdeck, along with a crane to recover a seaplane. [12], During the 1929–31 refit, a high-angle control system (HACS) Mark I director was added on the rear searchlight platform and two positions for 2-pounder "pom-pom" antiaircraft directors were added at the rear of the spotting top, although only one director was initially fitted. When the threat of an invasion diminished, the ship resumed her previous roles in convoy escort and patrolling against German commerce raiders. Temporary repairs were made at Gibraltar before the ship sailed to Portsmouth for permanent repairs between February and May 1935. 1) At 1938 values. [106] Recently a third piece has come to light in Glasgow, where Hood was built. [37][38], 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. Late in her career, Hood was outclassed by the armour and protective arrangement of World War II-era fast battleships, but few available "big gun" vessels could match Bismarck's speed, and in 1941, the Admiralty included Hood among the ships sent to engage the German battleship Bismarck. To save construction time, this was accomplished by thickening the existing armour, rather than redesigning the entire ship. [23] The 5.5-inch control positions and their rangefinders on the spotting top were removed during the 1932 refit. Hood was relieved as flagship of Force H by Renown on 10 August, after returning to Scapa Flow. To that end we have a page for each man about whom we have information. +. She would have received new, lighter turbines and boilers, a secondary armament of eight twin 5.25-inch gun turrets, and six octuple 2-pounder pom-poms. The Army’s 18th Airborne Corps wants soldiers to pitch ideas for improving the service's sexual assault and harassment prevention program that … The loss of the ship itself is nothing compared to the cost of all the lives lost. This lack of buoyancy could have been a contributing factor as to why people could not escape the suction while submerged. [43] Most seriously, the deck protection was flawed—spread 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. [46], With her conspicuous twin funnels and lean profile, Hood was widely regarded one of the finest-looking warships ever built. [26], For protection against torpedoes, she was given a 7.5-foot (2.3 m)[32] deep torpedo bulge that ran the length of the ship between the fore and aft barbettes. photos and some of … The original attempt, sponsored by Paul Allen and using his yacht Octopus, was abandoned after ten days in September 2012 due to unfavourable weather conditions. The gun's rate of fire was around 96–98 rounds per minute. HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was the lead ship of her class of four battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during World War I. This gave the gun a maximum range around 5,000 yd (4,600 m), although its effective range was only 800 yd (730 m). King George V and smaller vessels of RDF279"[27] indicates that, following the 1941 refit at Rosyth, Hood's Type 279 radar was indeed functional. SERVICE HISTORIES of 1,000 ROYAL and DOMINION NAVY WARSHIPS, including British Ships manned by Allied Navies She was scheduled to undergo a major rebuild in 1941 to correct these issues, but the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 forced the ship back into service without the upgrades. The Royal Navy conducted two inquiries into the reasons for the ship's quick demise. Force H took part in the destruction of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir in July 1940. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the bridge. To learn more about the men who died, please visit our Roll of Honour. [48], Shortly after commissioning on 15 May 1920, Hood became the flagship of the Battlecruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. Victoria Cross at Sea 1939-45 - WW2 Campaign Summary World War 2 at Sea . Still more men may have been injured or killed later in the battle when a 15" shells from Bismarck may have passed through the Spotting Top and lower bridge structure (these hits are unconfirmed). [37], 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. Kits are being pulled as I run out of hulls, but I might not get the item pulled fast enough. It was more thorough than the first board and concurred with the first board's conclusion. Other historians have concentrated on the cause of the magazine explosion. [70] 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 machine guns fired a 1.326-ounce (37.6 g) bullet at a muzzle velocity of 2,520 ft/s (770 m/s). 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. Other surviving relics are items that were removed from the ship prior to her sinking: Two of Hood's 5.5-inch guns were removed during a refit in 1935, and shipped to Ascension Island, where they were installed as a shore battery in 1941, sited on a hill above the port and main settlement, Georgetown,[Note 2] where they remain. At full speed, or in heavy seas, water would flow over the ship's quarterdeck and often entered the messdecks and living quarters through ventilation shafts. It is held by a private collector and stamped HMS HOOD v HMS RENOWN 23 1 35. [13] The gun fired an 82-pound (37 kg) shell to a maximum range of 17,770 yards (16,250 m). It was a terrible end for those who survived the conflgration and were trapped in the dark, inverting, rapidly sinking ship. One casualty, George David Spinner,[79] is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval memorial,[80] the Hood Chapel at the Church of St John the Baptist, in Boldre, Hampshire, and also on the gravestone of his brother, who died while serving in the Royal Air Force in 1942, in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent.[81]. [18], Two quadruple mountings for the Vickers 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) Mk III machine gun were added in 1933 with two more mountings added in 1937. 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 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 stripped a turbine reaching 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph).[63]. Writing in 1979, the naval historian, The ship was blown up by her own guns. The fire was so intense that it likely caused the instant deaths of the majority of the crew in the affected areas of the hull and at upper/aft action stations. [49], 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. Dunkerque's sister ship, Strasbourg, managed to escape from the harbour. [56] Hood was refitted at Malta in November and December 1937, and had her submerged torpedo tubes removed. Ensign Gay and what he saw at Midway - Felix C Yesterday, 13:59:51. Due to her publicly perceived invincibility, the loss affected British morale. [17] 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. [72], Prince of Wales was forced to disengage by a combination of damage from German hits and mechanical failures in her guns and turrets after Hood was sunk. 23-Feb-2015 [17] These mounts could depress to −10° and elevate to a maximum of +70°. Unfortunately, the ready use lockers were numerous and very lightly protected. As a result, a second Board was convened under Rear Admiral Sir Harold Walker and reported in September 1941. Sole Survivior by George Gay - Chris Neel Today, 9:20:38. [95] 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. "[74] The first formal board of enquiry into the loss, presided over by Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Blake, reported on 2 June, less than a fortnight after the loss. The stern section rises from the seabed at an angle. 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. Hood visited the Mediterranean in 1921 and 1922 to show the flag and to train with the Mediterranean fleet, before sailing on a cruise to Brazil and the West Indies in company with the battlecruiser squadron. [93] Mearns had spent the previous six years privately researching the fate of Hood with the goal of finding the battlecruiser, and had acquired the support of the Royal Navy, the HMS Hood Association and other veterans groups, and the last living survivor, Ted Briggs. The forecastle deck ranged from 1.75 to 2.0 inches (44 to 51 mm) in thickness, while the upper deck was 2 inches (51 mm) thick over the magazines and 0.75 inches (19 mm) elsewhere. Hood–Why Such a Heavy Loss of Life? By this time, advances in naval gunnery had reduced Hood's usefulness. Before being installed on the battlecruiser, the bell was inscribed around its base with the words: "This bell was preserved from HMS Hood battleship 1891–1914 by the late Rear Admiral, The Honourable Sir Horace Hood KCB, DSO, MVO killed at Jutland on 31st May 1916. At the second board, eyewitnesses reported unusual types of discharge from the 15-inch guns of, This page was last edited on 2 March 2021, at 17:42. The Admiralty dissented from the verdict, reinstated Sawbridge, and criticised Bailey for ambiguous signals during the manoeuvre. Classic Warships presents its series of Naval Monographs. Some may have been trapped as the ship continued to tear apart. About 28 torpedoes were carried. [100], In 2012, the British Government gave permission for Mearns to return to the site of Hood's final resting place to retrieve one of her two ship's bells which were lying in a small open debris field some way from the wreck herself. [109], 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.