Schmid Thomas - The battlecruiser HMS Hood : an illustrated biography 1916-1941

Text 2004 by Bruce Taylor
Colour illustrations 2004 by Thomas Schmid

First published in Great Britain in 2004 by Chatham Publishing,
Park House, 1 Russell Gardens, London NW11 9NN

and

in North America by Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road,Mechanicsburg,
PA 17055-6921, USA

Reprinted 2006

Chatham Publishing is an imprint of Lionel Leventhal Ltd

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Taylor, Bruce
HMS Hood : an illustrated biography 1916-1941
Great Britain. Royal Navy 2. Hood (Ship)
I. Title
623.8 253 0941

ISBN 186176216X

A Library of Congress Catalog Card No. is available on request

ISBN 1 86176 216 X
PRINT ISBN: 978 1 84832 000 0
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 78346 980 2
PRC ISBN: 978 1 78346 747 1

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and
retrieval system, without either prior permission in writing from the
publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. The right of Bruce
Taylor to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by
him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Printed in China by Printworks International Ltd

In memory of His Majestys Battlecruiser

Hood

19161941

A glorious ship, a great ship and a happy ship

Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

TENNYSON, Ulysses, ll. 5170

Authors Note

In preparing the pages that follow I have been confronted with the problem of presenting frequent citations from disparate sources in a consistent yet intelligible manner. Every effort has been made to preserve the character and intent of the originals but spelling errors have been corrected and punctuation inserted or adapted for clarity. The reminiscences of Boy Fred Coombs (19358) deposited in the Imperial War Museum (91/7/1) proved particularly challenging in this respect, much confusing detail and grammar having to be stripped away without sacrificing the qualities that make it such a unique memoir.

In order to help orientate the reader dates are provided after names to indicate an individuals period of service in the ship. Similarly, a mans rank or rating is usually indicated where appropriate. The variety of forms resulting from the use of this system seemed to me balanced by the value of the information imparted in what is a thematic rather than a chronological study, and in what was a highly stratified community. Readers will decide how effective this has been.

It may be helpful to remind readers of the traditional currency of the United Kingdom before decimalization in 1971: there were twelve pence to a shilling (known as a bob) and twenty shillings to a pound (also known as a sovereign or a quid). Among the many coins engendered by this system was that known as half a crown, worth two shillings and sixpence.

The epigraphs at the head of each chapter are of course from William Blakes The Tiger of c.1789. Citations from documents in the Public Record Office are Crown Copyright. The copyright of much of the remainder rests either with their authors or their descendants. Credits are given after each photograph where it has been possible to establish either the source or the copyright with certainty. Extensive efforts have been made to locate copyright holders in the remaining cases and these are invited to contact the author with proof of copyright. Citations from books and articles are acknowledged by means of a reference in the footnotes.

Abbreviations