HMS Hood was a battlecruiser constructed for the Royal Navy at the end of WW1. Hood was laid down on the 31st of May 1916 the same day as the Battle of Jutland. Hoods construction would be abruptly cancelled as the high command of the British fleet redesigned the armour. This was because at the battle of Jutland the British battlecruisers had suffered from magazine detonations when getting struck by the German shells. This was due to the inherent design of battlecruisers. Battlecruisers were different from battleships. By sacrificing armour they could gain speed, the theory being that they had the firepower to sink anything that could catch them and run away from anything it couldn’t kill. This meant that despite having battleship calibre firepower they were never supposed to stand up in the line of battle.

Hood would go through several changes and improvements, having additional armour plates fitted to her deck as well as increasing the main belt. This had two effects on Hood. Firstly, the additional armour transformed her from a battlecruiser to what was at the time a well-armoured battleship. Secondly, this made her sit even lower in the water. Her quarter deck which was already very low became even lower. The aft-deck would be constantly awash with water in anything other than perfectly calm seas. This meant that the crew of the Hood had some of the highest cases of tuberculosis among the Royal Navy and her being nicknamed “The largest submarine in the Royal Navy.” Despite all the additional armour plates she was still fast, being rated for a top speed of 31 knots and in her speed trials, she would achieve a speed of 32.06kts. Hood would be commissioned into the Royal Navy on the 15th of May 1920 when commissioned Hood was the largest and fastest warship in the world. Weighing an astonishing 48,000 tons, was 262 meters in length and still capable of a top speed of 32kts. She would remain the largest warship in the world until the Bismarck class of battleships would enter service in 1941.

During the interwar period, Hood was constantly touring the world being a status symbol of the might of Great Britain. She was constantly on the move and because of this very few upgrades were done to the ship in the interwar period. She got her old obsolete secondary guns removed and replaced with new improved AA systems. But her old engines were still untouched from the day of her launch, the rangefinders, magazines and crucially her armour was all still from 1920. Plans to upgrade Hood’s armour had been in the process since 1930 especially on the quarterdeck which was only 15mm thick. However, with her being the pride of the Royal Navy there never seemed to be a good time to pull her from service. Finally, Hood was to be completely re-modernized in 1941 but had to wait for the Duke of York which was on her slipway to be launched. Unfortunately, this would never come to pass as the Battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen would make a break for the Atlantic and Hood was dispatched alongside the Battleship Prince of Wales to hunt her down.

Hood VS Bismarck

Category
HOOD / BISMARCK

Armaments
4x twin 15” guns / 4x twin 15” guns

Armour Belt
12” / 13”

Speed
32kts / 30kts

Rounds per Minute (per gun)
2 / 3

Deck Armour
3” / 4.7”

Hood despite being built in 1920 was still a very competitive design, having a lot of the same characteristics as Bismarck built-in 1941. And after seeing how these two warships compare it becomes understandable why the British were so proud of Hood. Despite being 21 years old at this point with only minor refits when she could get them Hood is still a very current design.

On the 24th of May 1941 Hood and Prince of Wales intercept the Germans in the Denmark Strait. Hood and Prince of Wales were under the command of vice-admiral Lancelot Holland. His battle plan is already not going as planned, he wanted to beat the Germans to the mouth of the Denmark Strait positioned to cross in front of the Germans or called “Crossing the T”. This would give him a significant advantage over the enemy by crossing the T, he can bring all of his guns to bear while the Germans could only bring half their guns to bear. Unbeknownst to Holland, during the night they lose contact with the enemy and in the morning find themselves out of position. Holland finds that the Germans are crossing his T, they had unintentionally gained the upper hand in the battle. Holland’s new plan is to close range on his enemy to within 10km. Holland knows that the Hood’s deck armour is vulnerable to long-range plunging fire falling on his deck. At 05:52 (4 hours ahead of local time) Hood fires at the lead ship in the formation. However, unknown to Holland is that in his haste he has fired at the wrong target. Prinz Eugen and Bismarck have similar silhouettes and because of Bismarck’s radar being knocked out from a previous engagement, the Germans have sent the heavy cruiser first. Captain John Leach aboard Prince of Wales using newer optics notices the difference, defies Holland’s order to target the lead ship and fires at Bismarck. Pillars of water erupt around the German ships, however, there is no return fire. Admiral Gunther Lutjens is afraid that he will have to return to port if damaged and refuses to return fire. The British fire again, the salvo’s creep closer to the Germans. Finally, a frustrated Captain Lindemann aboard Bismarck screams “I WILL NOT HAVE MY SHIP SHOT OUT FROM UNDER MY A**” and orders the Bismarck to return fire. 05:55 The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen fire, both targeting the Hood. A shell from Prinz Eugen slams into Hood’s ready use locker causing a fire to ignite amidship. Prince of Wales manages to land a hit on Bismarck, causing a leak in her fuel tank. Holland orders a hard turn to port to bring Hood’s full Broadside to bear, he believes he’s within 10km of the enemy however, Holland has miscalculated. Just before 06:00, the Bismarck fires her 5th salvo. Hood about to unmask her rear turrets suffers a hit to her aft deck, the shell smashes into the base of the mainmast and disappears. Seconds later a massive geyser of flame spews from Hood’s midship, flames reach as high as the mainmast burning like a giant roman candle. A massive explosion tears the Mighty Hood in two and she sinks by the midsection. Before the great battlecruiser slips into a watery grave Hood fires a final defiant salvo before slipping into the darkness. Out of a crew compliment of 1,418, only three will survive.