Another book: HMS Hood

The Battlecruiser HMS Hood, an Illustrated Biography

Bruce Taylor

It’s a coffee table book, I guess, but it’s filled with information and images if the late great British Battlecruiser HMS Hood.

I've always been fascinated by large fighting ships- their grandeur, power and grace- and the roles that they played in major conflicts in the 20th century. Later, I became obsessed with the idea that a ship with hundreds of persons on board - a virtual floating city- could be destroyed and sunk - with all those people in a matter minutes. Where were they when they perished? Why couldn't they get out? This book answered many questions for me.

HMS Hood started life as a ship among ships- more modern, more glorious, more everything than any other ship in any other navy. She had 15 inch guns, was capable of well over 30 knots and carried her officers and crew in more comfort that any fighting ship before her. She was the biggest ship ever built for the Royal Navy.

HMS Hood on its World Tour, Melbourne, Australia, 1924 

HMS Hood leaving Hawaii on its world tour, 1924

HMS Hood was designed by the same people that designed the original WW1 battlecruisers that played a major role at the battle of Jutland-- and paid a heavy price. Designed to arrive fast, fight at close range, escape and repeat, they were at great disadvantage fighting it out at long range against battleships. The British were aware of this disadvantage in WW1, and were no less aware of it in 1941. Her range-finding equipment was inferior to the equipment used by the most modern fighting ships, and she used a more volatile gun propellant than the Germans or Americans did in WW2. All these facts would play a role in her fate.

Left: The Torpedoman's mess-deck. Right: The Officer's Wardroom

The Torpedomen crew ate, lived and slept in their mess (there were several). They ate at those tables, then slept above them in hammocks- in very close quarters. This is from 1931. Officers ate and drank in the Officer's Wardroom. They had separate quarters for sleeping. This is from 1932.

The lifetime of HMS Hood closely reflects the decline of the Royal Navy. In the 1920s, Britannia ruled the waves, and the Hood was the star of a Royal Navy world tour that circumnavigated the globe. It was the apex of her glory- she was the biggest, fastest, most powerful ship in the world. But there was much change over her 20+ years- she changed over time, as did the world- and she couldn't keep up.

Engine room throttle action in the Hood, 1931

By the 1930s, the Hood (like the Royal Navy) was still highly revered and magnificent outwardly, but old, rusty and rotten inside. Constant leaking promoted rusting of bulkheads and machinery, and hampered the efficiency and integrity of her fresh water systems. Training was neglected. She was also a major player in the sad story of the Invergordon mutiny- caused by a shameful rift between the officer and crew classes in the RN.

Years of neglect wore on her. By the late 1930s, she was weighted down by the weight of many layers of paint (tons), tons of new equipment; she rode low in the water and she still leaked constantly. Training was improved, but the ship was aging. There were newer ships in the RN, and many more modern ships in several navies of the world. She was still the pride of the Royal Navy, but her sad fate awaited her.

The Hood's stoker crews, May 1941.
Most of these men went down with the ship;
many died at the same moment, just after 6AM on May 24, 1941.

WW2 came quickly, and planned improvements would have to wait. Like the Royal Navy, she had been rushed into service, somewhat unprepared, but fought gallantly. In the end, her demise punctuated the decline of the Royal Navy. In 1941, she was sunk by the Battleship Bismarck, a brand new German battleship, the Hood being well over 20 years in service at that time.

The last view of the once Mighty Hood, May 24, 1941.

The ship and her crew of almost 1500 were gone within 3 minutes.

All these images are from the book, and can be found all over the web. The book also contains some wonderful cut-away views and schematics. But more that that, the full story of the Mighty Hood from start to finish is contained within this book.

I enjoyed this book enormously, and would recommend it to any history or navy enthusiast.