Daily Event for May 24, 2005


May 24, 1942 the pride of the British Navy, HMS Hood was sunk by the pride of the German Navy, Bismarck. Hood, named after 1st Viscount Hood of Whitley (Lord Samuel Hood) was built by John Brown & Company, Clydebank. She was laid down on Sept. 1, 1916, launched Aug. 22 1918 and commissioned Mar. 29, 1920. Her first captain was Wilfred Tomlinson. Until Aug. 1939 Hood operated in the way a warship in peacetime would, exercises, training and ambassador tours. On Aug. 31, 1939 with World War 2 about to begin, Hood departed Scapa Flow to patrol the passage between Iceland and the Faeroes Islands. From then on Hood was at war.

Assuming patrol and escort duties until July 3, 1940 when Hood and Force H attacked the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria. The British attempted to convince the French to surrender their ships so that the Germans would not be able to commandeer them into the Kriegsmarine. The French would not hear of this so Force H attacked. In the fusillade that took place, 1,300 Frenchmen were killed. The battleship Bretagne was sunk and the battleships Dunkerque and Provence were put out of commission.

As early as April 19, 1941 Hood was alerted to the possibility that the Bismarck was on the move. She had reportedly departed Kiel and the British feared she would attempt to break out into the Atlantic. Hood was sent to the Norwegian Sea and ended up at Hvalfjord, Iceland awaiting the Bismarck. When it was discovered that Bismarck had in fact not attempted a breakout Hood was placed on convoy duty.

On May 16, 1941 Hood was again on Bismarck watch. Hood, Prince of Wales and several destroyers cruised the waters south of Iceland waiting for word of the Bismarck's location. On May 23 the Bismarck was sighted by HMS Suffolk, soon Hood and Prince of Wales plotted a course to intercept her.

The Battle of the Denmark Strait began at 05:52 when Hood opened fire. Hood's shots fell all around the Prinz Eugen, which was leading the Bismarck. At about 05:55 the Bismarck opened fire. Bismarck's 3rd salvo found the Hood. The fifth salvo from the Bismarck hit the Hood again. At least one of the shells hit the magazine and the Hood exploded and broke in two. The Hood was gone by 06:03. Of a crew of 1,421 only 3 survived, Ted Briggs, Bob Tilburn and William Dundas. The sinking of the Hood was so stunning that a uncoded signal was sent out saying only "Hood sunk"

In July of 2001 the wreck of Hood was located and filmed. In November 2001 she was declared a war grave and is now a protected site. Of the three men who survived only Ted Briggs is still living. William Dundas was killed in a car crash in Nov. 1965 and Bob Tilburn died of natural causes in 1995.

(Thanks to Jay Kelley for some historical info on Hood)


Note: Ted Briggs passed away in 2008.
© 2005 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com


HMS Hood