Sea Weapons

Battlecruiser (1920)

Hood

Hood
Hood

Known as the 'Mighty Hood', the HMS Hood was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy and one of the most famous ships of the 20th Century. It was laid up in 1916 as part of a class of four ships, just a few months after the Battle of Jutland where the vulnerability of battlecruisers became all but apparent. As such, it went through a considerable redesign in order to incorporate additional armor which was angled for extra protection against flat-trajectory shells. This, however, increased vulnerability of th deck to plunging fire and resulted in the ship being considerably wet due to the increased draught. Armament was the now standard Royal Navy configuration of eight BL 15-in Mk. I guns, arranged in four double turrets. Secondary armament was composed of a dozen BL 5.5-in Mk. I guns, located on the upper deck in order to be able to operate in heavy weather. The original anti-aircraft guns were eventually replaced by QF 4-in Mk. XVI dual-purpose guns in addition to numerous other machine gun mounts. All secondary armament was controlled by directors and other fire control equipment included HACS for use against aircraft and (eventually) Type 284 gunnery radar. Due to its elegant lines and impressive size (it was the longest British capital ship ever built), the Hood was frequently used for showing the flag exercises and was widely regarded as the pride of the Royal Navy. Its destruction during the battle against the Bismark in 1941 therefore came as a shocking blow but one which vindicated the inferiority of the battlecruiser concept a quarter century after their fiasco at Jutland.

The HMS Hood was commissioned in 1920 and was one of the most visible ships of the Royal Navy during the interwar years. During World War II, it was used for Atlantic patrols and also as the flagship of Force H during the attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, where it engaged and damaged the French battleship Dunkerque. Along with the HMS Prince of Wales, it was sent to intercept the Bismark in the Denmark Strait in May 1941 but suffered a magazine explosion (and possibly a torpedo explosion as well) early in the battle, which blew up its aft section and caused it to sink immediately with only 3 survivors. Its wreckage was found in 2001.

Preceded by:

Renown (1916)

Succeeded by:

None

Datafile

ClassHood
TypeBattlecruiser
Year1920
Crew1477
Dimensions
Length262.1 m
Beam31.7 m
Draught8.7 m
Displacement
Empty42,670 t
Loaded45,200 t
Maximum48,360 t
Performance
Speed57 km/h
Range7,408 km @ 19 km/h
Machinery
Shafts4
Turbines4 x Geared steam
144,000 hp
Brown-Curtis
Boilers24 x Yarrow
FuelOil: 4,000 t
Armament
Main8 x 381-mm/42 (4 x 2)
BL 15"/42 Mk. I
-3° / +55°

Secondary12 x 140-mm/50 (12 x 1)
BL 5.5"/50 Mk. I
-7° / +25° [<1940]

Anti-Aircraft4 x 102-mm (4 x 1)
QF 4"/45 Mk. V
4 x 47-mm (4 x 1)
QF 3-pdr Mk. I Hotchkiss
12 x 102-mm (6 x 2)
QF 4"/45 Mk. XVI [1940]
24 x 40-mm (3 x 8)
QF 2-pdr Mk. VIII [1940]
Torpedo tubes6 x 533-mm (2 x 3)
Broadside7,032 kg
Armor
Belt127 - 305 mm
Bulkhead127 - 229 mm
Deck38 - 76 mm
Barbettes127 - 305 mm
Gun turret279 - 381 mm
Production
Built1
Total1

Registry

Ship Code Builder Laid Launch Comm Decomm Fate
Hood 51 John Brown01/09/191622/08/191815/05/192024/05/1941 Loss by surface ship
Anson Armstrong09/11/1916---Cancelled
Howe Cammell Laird16/10/1916---Cancelled
Rodney Fairfield09/10/1916---Cancelled

Gallery