This weeks marks the anniversary of the death of more than 1,400 sailors aboard a Plymouth warship during one of the most infamous Naval battles of World War II.

HMS Hood  was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy - and was lost while chasing the most infamous battleship of Nazi Germany's  Kriegsmarine - the Bismarck.

Nicknamed 'The Mighty Hood', the Admiral-class battlecruiser had been sent out in pursuit of the Bismarck with  newly commissioned battleship Prince of Wales and esveral other groups of British capital ships to intercept the German ships, before they could break into the Atlantic and attack Allied convoys.

Under the command of  Captain Ralph Kerr and  flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland, HMS Hood  was among the group that intercepted the Nazi navy on May 23 - and attacked as dawn broke.


However, the German's were prepared and knew the attack was coming, after the Prinz Eugen - the lead ship in the Nazi n formation - had detected the sound of propellers on its hyydrophones.

'The Mighty Hood' opened fire on Prinz Eugen, which - along with the Bismarck - returned fire.

A shell, believed to have been fired by the former, hit The Hood on her boat deck, between her funnels, and started a huge fire in the ready-to-use  ammunition stores.

Archive image of HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was the last battle cruiser built for the Royal Navy.

She was then hit again by one or more shells from Bismarck's fifth salvo - and a devastating   explosion  destroyed the aft part of the ship broke her back.

The Hood sank, stern first and vertically  - with her bow pointing skywards - less than three minutes.

Only three of the 1,418 men aboard her survived: Ordinary Signalman Ted Briggs, Able Seaman Robert Tilburn, and Midshipman William John Dundas. They were plucked from the icy waters   two hours later by the destroyer Electra, which spotted substantial debris but no bodies.




The last living survivor of HMS Hood, Albert Edward Pryke "Ted" Briggs MBE, died in 2008. Her wrck was was found and explored in late July 2001 by a Channel 4 expedition led by David L. Mearns

A Roll of Honour for 1,415 brave men who died can be on the HMS Hood Association website, here

HMS Hood's bell was recovered from her wreck in  2015 and is now  on display at the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth.

HMS Hood at Scapa Flow

A Royal Navy spokesperson said: "No ship embodied the Royal Navy more between the two world wars than the battle-cruiser.

"No shock was greater to the Royal Navy in WW2 than her loss in a brief, brutal encounter with Hitler’s flagship Bismarck on May 24 1941.

"The ship blew up, her magazines detonated by a German shell, and she sank in minutes, taking all but three of her 1,418 crew down with her. She remains the largest British warship lost and the Royal Navy’s heaviest loss of life in a single ship.

"As Hood sank, the battle-cruiser broke in two and debris, including the bell, was scattered around the sea bed.

"The bell was mounted on a high wooden stand, which was kept on the warship’s quarterdeck in harbour and typically outside the captain’s quarters when at sea.

"It was sounded by a Royal Marine to mark daily routine and watches on board, but would also be struck in the event of fire or other calamity aboard."

 Rear Admiral Philip Wilcocks, president of the HMS Hood Association, said: "There is no headstone among the flowers for those who perish at sea.



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