HMS Hood

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HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was a Royal Navy battlecruiser and the first of the planned Admiral-class ships. She was named after Admiral Samuel Hood and, though under construction during the Battle of Jutland, she was completed with a revised design to correct flaws. Hood was launched in 1918 and commissioned in 1920, making her the largest warship in the world for about 20 years and earning the nickname “The Mighty Hood.”

Key facts
- Class and type: Admiral-class battlecruiser
- Built by: John Brown & Company, Clydebank
- Laid down: 1 September 1916; Launched: 22 August 1918; Commissioned: 15 May 1920
- Displacement: about 46,700 tons
- Armament (as built): eight 15-inch guns in four turrets, many smaller guns, torpedo tubes, and several anti-aircraft mounts
- Speed: about 32 knots (top)
- Role: flagship and symbol of British naval power; used for showing the flag, Mediterranean duties, and Atlantic patrols

Service history in brief
- Early years: Hood became the flagship of the Battlecruiser Squadron and undertook world cruises and Mediterranean cruises to demonstrate British strength.
- Interwar era: she took part in training cruises, fleet reviews, and a famous circumnavigation in 1923–24. She underwent major refits in 1929–1931 and again in the mid-1930s. She was involved in the Invergordon Mutiny in 1931–1934 era and had a notable collision with HMS Renown in 1935, which caused repairs and a court-martial.
- WWII: Hood stayed in service as a fast, strong capital ship. She patrolled around Iceland and the Faroe Islands, helped in the attack on Mers-el-Kébir in 1940, and served as a convoy escort and guard against invasion threats.

The Battle of the Denmark Strait and Hood’s sinking
- In May 1941, Hood, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland, and the newly commissioned battleship Prince of Wales were ordered to intercept the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen.
- On 24 May 1941, during the Battle of the Denmark Strait, Hood was hit by German shells and exploded, sinking within minutes. Only three of her crew of about 1,418 survived.
- The loss led to two official inquiries. Both concluded that Hood went down after a hit that caused devastating explosions in her magazines, though debates about the exact sequence of events continued for years.
- The wreck was found in 2001 at a depth of about 2,800 meters and was designated a war grave in 2002. Theories about the cause of the sinking remain a topic of discussion among historians.

Legacy and remnants
- Hood’s name and image came to symbolize British naval power and prestige.
- A ship’s bell from Hood was recovered in 2015 and later placed in the National Museum of the Royal Navy.
- Some other relics survived, including parts of the ship that were removed before sinking and kept as mementos or used in memorials.

HMS Hood remains a famous symbol of naval history, remembered for her size, speed, and the dramatic loss during the Battle of the Denmark Strait.