How many survived the sinking of hms hood

Exactly how many men actually died in the sinking? Why is my relative who died in the sinking of H. Hood not in your Roll of Honour and memorials? Hood's crew? Miscellaneous Can I join the H. Hood Association? May I use photos and information from your site on my own web site?

Can your web site recommend books about H. What does Hood's badge and motto "Ventis Secundis" mean? Contrary to some claims, she was also not named after Sir Arthur Hood of Avalon. It has also been claimed that she was named specifically for Sir Horace Hood who died at Jutland.

This is not entirely true. Its undeniable that the loss of Sir Horace likely influenced the naming of the ship. Its also true that his widow not only launched the ship, but also donated an ornate bell in memory of Sir Horace. Despite this, records show that the ship was officially named after First Viscount Samuel Hood. Click here to read more about this. Hood was found and explored in late July by a Channel 4 expedition led by David L.

Click here for information on the wreck and the original expedition that found her. She was visited again in in a mission funded by US philanthropist Paul G. The mission to retrieve the ship's bell was unsuccessful. She was visited one more time in August Mr Allen's team led by David L.

Mearns successfully retrieved the main bell she carried more than one, but the one retrieved was the most important and placed a White Ensign near the wreck. Click here for information on the expedition. Preliminary plans to modernise Hood were drawn up in the late s. Things never progressed beyond this point for a variety of pressing reasons. How can I obtain high quality photos of H.

We do not sell photos or plans of Hood. We suggest you contact one of the following sources for high quality Hood photos and plans:.

There are many official documents relating to Hood still in existence. All are original documents and are available for inspection by anyone who wants to view them. We used these very documents in the construction of this site.

If you want to view these documents at The National Archives, please refer in the first instance to their web site at www. This will tell you everything you need to know about obtaining a readers ticket, arranging a visit and ordering documents so that they are available when you arrive.

Additionally, the original plans as well as Hood 's "cover" detailed technical documentation is available at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. For years, many people including us assumed that Hood's underside the part that was underwater was red. As a result of this, many images, paintings, miniatures and models also depicted Hood with a red bottom. As it turns out, this is incorrect and these items are all now wrong.

Hood never had a red bottom. Most of the docking reports contain no mention of a colour, but those that do , , late s clearly state Antifouling Grey. Black can't be entirely ruled out, but we've yet to see any evidence of it. Learn more by clicking here. I know a H. Many men served in Hood- some of them were transferred as late as the very evening she sailed to meet Bismarck.

It is possible that some of these men considered themselves "survivors", but this is technically not true. As we see it, for one to be a true "survivor" a man first must have been onboard the ship when it sank and second must have been rescued alive after the sinking.

In the case of H. There were absolutely no other survivors ever picked up. Anyone other than those three who claimed or claims to have been rescued from the water is either confused or not telling the truth.

Hood's sinking or any remaining veterans of Hood? You can't. Sadly, all three of the survivors have passed away. Furthermore, their families have no wish to disturbed. The complement of "The Mighty Hood", as she was affectionately known, was 1, When Briggs fought his way to the surface, he could see only two other survivors — there were no other bodies on the surface.

What followed was several hours of cat-and-mouse. Finally, at 5. Briggs, then an year-old officers' messenger, later recalled what happened: "We had taken them by surprise and we fired about half a dozen salvos before she replied.

But when she did, her gunnery was excellent. The third salvo hit us at the base of the main mast, which caused a fire. Then we were hit just above the compass platform, which caused some bodies to fall down. I saw one officer with no face or hands. Still supremely confident that she could get the range she wanted, Hood moved closer — and that was when the final salvo, a single 1,lb armour-plated shell, struck deep into the bowels of the Hood, and it hit the magazine where a hundred tons of cordite were stored.

The Hood rose like a stricken animal and sank within two minutes. Briggs was to recall: "A blinding flash swept around the outside of the compass platform. I found myself being lifted off my feet and dumped head-first on the deck. This photo was taken on November 11, , while the Hood was en route to Portsmouth.

Taken while the Hood was at Gibraltar, her forward guns and the tampions - or tompion a wooden or metal plug over the muzzle - are adorned with the ship's badge in the muzzle of the guns. One of the most famous photographs of the Bismarck taken as she opened fire on the Hood in May All but three of the 1,man crew were lost in one of Britain's greatest naval tragedies.

Another of the three men to be pulled from the water alive was Midshipman William Dundas. He recalls that a body crashed on the deck near him following the explosion and he was asked to identify the corpse. Upon inspection he admitted the job was impossible 'as the corpse had no face and no hands and that all he could say was that the body was that of a lieutenant'. The third and last man to survive was Ordinary Signalman Ted Briggs who recalled jumping into the water in the immediate aftermath of the gut-wrenching explosion.

The Hood's crew man one of its formidable guns. The flagship vessel became locked in a battle it was not designed to be in as HMS Hood was fired on by newer and more powerful German ship, Bismarck.

The Hood engaged in a firing exercise, circa HMS Hood was sunk when one of Bismarck's deadly inch shells penetrated the Hood's weakly armoured deck and blew up a stash of ammunition. That fateful day May 24, HMS Prince of Wales the smoke column of the left under fire from the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen with the smoke on the right marking where the Hood had sunk. The pressure on my ears was increasing each second, and panic returned in its worse intensity.

I struggled madly to try to heave myself up to the surface. I got nowhere. Although it seemed like an eternity, I was under water for barely a minute. I knew that I just had to breathe. I opened my lips and gulped in a mouthful of water. My tongue was forced to the back of my throat. I was not going to reach the surface. I was going to die. As I weakened, my resolve left me.

I had heard it was nice to drown. I stopped trying to swim upwards. The water was a peaceful cradle.