There have been three HMS Hoods
There have been three HMS Hoods
There have been three HMS Hoods, named after members of the Hood family. The
first HMS Hood, 80 was an Edgar class warship commissioned in 1859.She was named
after Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood of Whitley. Constructed of wood and
sail-powered,
she later had a steam engine fitted. She was decommissioned in 1888.The second
Hood was a modified Royal Sovereign class battleship built at Chatham, England
and commissioned in 1893. The third and most recent Hood was a battle cruiser.
Based on a 1915
design, four ships of this class were ordered in mid-1916 under the Emergency
War Programme.
Following the Battle of Jutland 5000 tons of extra armour and bracing was added.
The four ships were Anson, Hood, Howe, and Rodney. Construction on Anson, Howe,
and Rodney was stopped in March, 1917. Hood was launched on August 22, 1918 and
commissioned
following first of class trials on May 15, 1920 under Captain Wilfred Tomkinson.
She had cost £6 million.
In the inter-war years she was the largest warship in the World at a time when
the British public felt a close affinity with the Royal Navy. Her name and
general characteristics were familiar to most of the public, and she was
popularly known as the
Mighty Hood. Because of her fame, she spent a great deal of time on cruises and
"flying the flag" visits to other countries. In particular she took part in a
World-wide cruise between November 1923 and September 1924 in company with HMS
Repulse and
several smaller ships. This was known as the Cruise of the Special Service
Squadron and it was estimated that 750,000 people visited Hood during its
cruise.
She was given a major refit in 1930 and was due to be modernised in 1941 to
bring her up to a standard similar to other modernised WW1 era capital ships.
The outbreak of war made it impossible to remove her from frontline service, and
so she never
received the scheduled update.
Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville was sent off to Gibraltar to take command of
Force H, it consisted of: The Battle Cruiser HMS Hood, (the flagship ) the
Battleships, HMS Valiant, HMS Resolution, Cruisers HMS Arethusa and HMS
Enterprise, Air Craft Carrier
HMS Ark Royal, 4 Destroyers of the 8th. Destroyer Flotilla, Faulknor, Foxhound,
Foresight, and Escort, 5 Destroyers of the 13th. Destroyer Flotilla, Keppel,
Active, Wrestler, Vidette, and Vortigern. When Flag Officer Force H arrived off
Mers-el-Kebir he
was to submit to the French Admiral in command 4 alternatives: Sail his ships to
British ports and fight on with us.
Sail his ships to a British port where the crews would be repatriated where they
wished.
Sail with reduced crews to a French port in the West Indies such as Martinique,
where the ships would be demilitarised or entrusted to the United States until
the war was over, and the crews repatriated.
To sink their ships.
If the French Admiral refused to accept any of these proposals Sir James
Somerville could accept demilitarisation of the French ships at their present
berths, providing it could be achieved within 6 hours, and this action would
prevent their use over the next 12 months.
If none of these alternatives were acceptable to the French, Somerville was
ordered to destroy the ships, especially Dunkerque and Strasbourg . The ships at
Oran should also be destroyed if it did not entail any considerable loss of
civilian lives.
At Oran.
It was reported from Oran that ships were on the move in the harbour, and as a
precaution to deter ships trying to break out, 2 mines were laid inside the
harbour entrance/exit.
On board Dunkerque.
The French Admiral was coldly formal, he said
The use of force by the British would only bring the whole French Navy against
the British, and he would only obey the orders of his Government and Admiral 'Darlan"
The British Admiralty orders Somerville to get on with it!
Meantime, the British Admiralty ordered Somerville to settle the matter in hand
quickly, and he signalled Admiral Gensoul both by wireless and visually
To accept one of the 4 alternatives by 1715, ( 5.17 PM ) or at 1730 ( 5.30 PM )
your ships will be sunk."
Captain Holland and Davies made a hasty departure from Dunkerque at 1725 ( 5.25
PM ) just before the deadline expired.
Action by Force H at Mers-el-Kebir.
At 1754 ( 5.54 PM ) Force H opened fire on the French ships at a range of 17,500
yards. Desperate action for desperate times! The third salvoes fell amongst the
ships, and the Battleship Bretagne blew up, a column of orange flame leapt into
the sky followed by a huge column of smoke rising heavenwards for several
hundred feet. A smaller explosion was a destroyer also being blown up.
The French shore batteries and the two Battle cruisers responded a minute after
the first British salvo. After the British has fired 35 x 15 inch gun salvoes,
return fire from the French reduced, but the Forts were increasingly accurate,
and Force H made smoke to protect themselves.
End of Action.
At 1804 ( 6.04 PM ) cease fire was ordered. When the pall of smoke had cleared,
Dunkerque who had slipped from the mole was stopped in the harbour, Provence
appeared to be hit, of the Bretagne, not a sign anywhere. Clear of the harbour
with 2 Destroyers the dunk was steering eastwards close under the land. 6
Swordfish aircraft escorted by Skua's were flown off Ark Royal to go after the
fleeing French Battleship, which was duly attacked, one bomb hit was believed to
have been achieved. This attack was to be followed up by 6 torpedo carrying
aircraft, but darkness was approaching, and the chance of success was
diminishing after the sun had set.
At Oran.
Meanwhile at Oran, Wrestler was forced to withdraw from her watching brief, as
the shore batteries were getting very close with their fall of shot, some 100
shells all falling close by the Destroyer.
Chase Abandoned by Force H.
Although Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville with his force had set off in pursuit
of the French Battleship Strasbourg with her 2 Destroyers, his old V and W WW1
Destroyers were struggling to keep up with the Fleet , the French had a good
start and were fleet of foot, and some 25 miles ahead of his force. To catch the
enemy seemed out of the question, and, at 2020 ( 8.20 PM ) he abandoned the
chase.
His torpedo aircraft attacked Strasbourg at 2055 ( 8.55 PM ) one explosion was
seen under her stern, but the sun had long set, and further attacks were
discounted.
Research guide J2: Ships plans at the National Maritime Museum
Plan #NPB3875- Class Lines 1917. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPB3890- Inboard Profile 1920,1927,1931. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPB????- Bridge & Shelter Deck, 1940. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPB3891- Upper & Forecastle Decks 1920-31. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPB3892- Main & Lower Decks 1920-31. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPB3893- Platform Deck & Hold 1920-31. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPB3894- Sections (Fore) 1920-31. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPB3895- Sections (Aft) 1920-31. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPB3897- Bridges 1940. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPB3898- Rig 1920-31. Scale: 1:192.
Plan #NPN4474- Bridges AF Plan ADF74. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPN4476- Bridges AF Profile ADF74. Scale: 1:96
Plan #ADF214- Boat Stowage AF 1923. Scale: 1:96
Plan #NPB3803- Body Plan 1916 ADR593. Scale: 1/24
Plan #NPN4464- Midship Section ADF74. Scale: 1/48
Plan #NPN4475- Midship Section (construction bulge). Scale: 1/96
Plan #NPN4471- Docking Plan 1920. Scale 1/48
Plan #NPN4467- Watertight Compartments. Scale 1/192
Plan #ADF214- Navigating Platform 1920-31. Scale 1/24
Plan #NPA4258- Shelter Deck 1940. Scale: 1/192
Plan #NPB3854- Class Profile 1917. Scale: 1/96
Plan #NPB3870- Class Forecastle Deck 1917. Scale: 1/48
Plan #ADR595- Expansion of outer bottom plating . Scale: 1/96
Plan #ADR595- Holes in Bottom. Scale: 1/96
HMS HOODS RESTING PLACE.
The Mirror (London, England); 7/24/2001 By-line: TOM NEWTON DUNN THE final
resting place of HMS Hood 60 years after she was sunk.
The pride of Britain's wartime fleet. The Hood sunk in seconds after the
explosion in May, 1941 killing 1,415 of her crew. Just three sailors survived.
Mini subs from a deep sea diving expedition found parts of her hull more than
3,000ft down in the Denmark Strait, between Greenland and Iceland.