capnsensible
Well-known member
Eighty years ago today, HMS Hood was sunk with the loss of1415 men. Respect.
Eighty years ago today, HMS Hood was sunk with the loss of1415 men. Respect.
That there was something wrong with the Hood was well known, - plans had been made in the late 30s to address the vulnerabilities in the distribution of her armour plating, but sadly these were never implemented.Brings to mind the infamous if laconic “There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today!” ( Jutland, nearly 106 years ago )
There was still something wrong with them in the Denmark Strait ( 81 years ago, today ) when the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen did their thing.
I'm hoping HMS Queen Elizabeth is not quite as vulnerable to today's 'plunging' armament.
As a follow-on , there's also a video by the curator of the USS New Jersey. He agrees with Drachinifel, and also states that if an Iowa class had been hit in that position, the result would have been the same.Have a look on Youtube Drachinifel Channel, he's recently done a couple of videos on the Hood which are very interesting. One of which is a theory on her loss in which it wasn't plunging fire that sunk her but a shell coming in under the armour belt at a point where the bow wave had reduced the waterline to below the belt. If you look at some photos of Hood at speed you can see exactly what he means. View attachment 116062
I sincerely hope you (or your sister - if you have one) still have it and will keep passing it down the female line in your family.My late mother, who was in the WRNS, was given a broach by one of the Hood’s crew a few months before he was lost. He lived in the same small town.
The same day 56 years ago, I was born.Same day 39 years ago HMS Antelope was destroyed by an Argentinean bomb.
Also, Bob Dylan was born that day, so win some, lose some.Eighty years ago today, HMS Hood was sunk with the loss of1415 men. Respect.
I sincerely hope you (or your sister - if you have one) still have it and will keep passing it down the female line in your family.
What a great story, btw
my Grandfather was one of the Foreman in John Browns yard and worked on her during her construction....
Slowboat35, there is considerable debate as wether the Hood was the last Battlecruiser or the first of the fast Battleships, her armour layout was quite different from previous Battlecruisers in that it was heavier along the main belt and that it was also inclined giving it a greater resistance to A.P. shells compared to a vertical belt , this meant that Hood was actually better protected than ships that followed her and several of her predecessors such as the Q.E. class battleships. Of course there's the oft repeated statement about her "thin" deck armour , yes it was thin in its separate layers but overall was relatively good and what is strange is that she was sunk whilst she was in her "zone of immunity" that is plunging fire could not penetrate her deck armour as the trajectory was relatively flat and her side armour could not be penetrated as it was too thick, this is what's leading other better minds than myself to the shell coming in under the belt.
The Hood had several large reconstructions planned which would have increased her deck armour considerably but she could never be spared as she was, along with Repulse and Renown , the only ships capable of catching and engaging Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. As for Nelson and Rodney, although armed with 16" guns they were slow due to the limitations of the Washington treaty, also the 16' guns have several known faults in that they used a light high velocity shell was caused excessive wear to the barrels and resulting in decreased accuracy.
As you can probably tell I'm a bit of a geek with the Hood although I do have a reason in that my Grandfather was one of the Foreman in John Browns yard and worked on her during her construction( my father was a result of a second marriage whilst my grandfather was a good bit older). I've been very lucky in that I have handled her builders plans whilst researching a model I built of her, I still have some photos of her taken directly from the builders plates.