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This page has been edited from the original with the written consent of Keith Brixworth

 H.M.S. HOOD

(Fitted as Flagship)
J.Brown & Co., Clydebank
Begun: 1st Sept. 1916
Launched: 22nd August 1918
Completed: 5th March 1920
Standart displacement: 42,100 tons (46,200 tons full load)
Lenght: p.p. 810 ft., o.a. 860 ft. 7 in.
Beam: w.l. outside bulbes 105 ft. 2.5in.
Draught: mean 28.5 ft. , max. 31.5 ft.
Crew: 1,421

THE GROUP COMMANDER ADMIRAL
LANCELOT HOLLAND ALSO LOST HIS
LIFE ABOARD HMS HOOD

Machinery (by Builders):

Brown - Curtis (geared) turbines. 4 screws. Boilers: 24 Yarrow (small tube). Designed S.H.P. 144,000 = 31 kts.
Fuel: Oil only. 1200 tons normal, 4,000 tons maximum.

 

Guns:

8-15 inch. 42 cal.
12-5.5 inch. 50 cal.
2-4.7 AA.
4-4 inch (anti-aircraft.)
4-3 pdr.
1-12 pdr. Field.
5 M.G. and Multiple AA.
10 Lewis.

Torpedo tubes (21 inch)

2 submerged (P. & S.)
4 above water in pairs.

Aircraft:

1-Fairey III F.

 


Armour(K. C.):
Vertical:

3" Side (submerged)
12", 7", 5" Side (amidships)
6" - 5" Side (forward)
6" Side (aft)
5", 4" Bulkh`ds (f. & a.)
12" - 11" Barbetters
15" Face turrets
12" - 11" Sides turrets
12" & 9" C.T.
6" C.T. Base
6" Director tower
4" - 3" Torp. control tower
5.5" P. & S. R. F. towers
1" Funnel uptakes
1" (H. T.) Shields to 5.5" guns

Armour (H. T.):
Decks:

2" Forecastle
1" U.D. amidships
1.5" - 3" Main deck
3" M. D. over magazines
1.5" - 1" L. D. forward
3" - 1" L.D. aft

Crowns:

3" Director tower
5" C. T.
3" Torpedo control tower
5" Turrets

Special protection (H. T.):

1.5" and 0.75" Torp. pro. b`lk`d over magazines, boiler and engine rooms, bulges and buoyancy spaces.



Gunnery Notes.

Barbette heights over l.w.l. : A, 32ft. ; B, 43 ft. ; X, 31.75ft. ; Y, 21.75ft. All turrets bear 150deg. on each beam. Designed to mount 16 - 5,5 inch, but the after guns were removed before completion. Elevation of 15 inch guns, 30deg. . 8 - 36 inch controlled, and 4 - 24 inch signalling S. L. Stern attachment for PVs. of new design. guns, mountings, barbettes and ammunition = 5300 tons.

Armour Notes.

Vertical side armour is backed by strong 2" - 1" H.T. plating, not included in thicknesses given. Area of 12" armour at w.l., 562 ft. long by 9.5 ft. deep. Gun houses, new type with flat crowns, small square sighting ports cut low in face for laying over open sights. On roofs, armoured cases slightly wider than R.F. to allow R.F. to be traversed for fine adjustments. Barbettes, 6" - 5" as they descend through decks. C.T. is an enormous, elaborate, most expensive and ponderous structure: in upper stages, it consists of two shells, 12" outer, 9" inner, with narrow passage between. The slope inboard of hull side detracts from effects of plunging fire by virtual increase of armour thickness. A perpendicular, dropped from top sides, just meets outer edges of bulges, which are of the improved "D`Eyncourt-Hopkinson" type. Total weight of armour and protection, 13,800 tons.

Engineering Notes.

During world cruise, economical speed worked out at 288 miles in 24 hours on 180 tons of oil.

Trials

(unofficial figures.)
At 42,200 tons, 151,000 S.H.P. = 32.07 kts. (run in bad weather, wind force 6 Beaufort scale) on Arran mile. At 44,600 tons, 31.89 kts. mean attained. On 2/5 power, 25 fts. easily secured. Total weight of machinery (with water in boilers to working level) = 5,350 tons.

Original Design.

The original 1915 Design embodied same lenght and beam, but draughts were 25.5 feet normal = 36,300 tons, and 29 feet deep. Speed: 32 kts. Belt 8", barbettes 9", much thinner deck armour, and only 2 - 21 inch submerged T.T. Four ships ordered to this design April, 1916. In the desigh produced after Jutland (not approved till 1917), 5,000 tons extra protection was worked in. By use of small-tube boilers, 24,000 S.H.P. gained on same machinery weights as for Renown class.

Notes.

Begun under Emergency War Programme. Originally, there were four ships in this class, Anson , Hood,  HoweRodney They were begun in the autumn of 1916, to meet the German Battle Cruisers,   Graf Spee , Mackensen, Ersatz, Freya and Ersatz "A", which were laid in 1916.
Contractors were: Anson (Armstrong), Howe (Cammbell Laird), Rodney (Fairfield), Hood (Brown). The enemy having ceased work on all his large ships, in 1917, Anson, Howe and Rodney were stopped in March, 1917, and dismantled to clear slips after the Armistice, but not before £ 860,000 had been expended on them. These ships were redesigned to meet the lessons of Jutland. In Hood, the outstanding feature is the huge areas covered by heavy armour, strong framing, &c. - in fact, the general scheme of protections is most comprehensive. Cost about £ 6,025,000 = £ 145 per top. Annual upkeep, £ 427,270. Due for replacement, 1941. General refit, 1929-30.

On board of H.M.S. HOOD

In recent years in the press there has been much discussion as to whether the Silver Cockerel Trophyactually existed. Below is a photo of which I am proud. It shows the winning Signals Whaler crew of the1935 Home Fleet Regatta. At the feet of the gathering is the Silver Cockerel Trophy. My Grandfather,Leading Signalman Frederic Howell (aged 36) is on the right of the front row.

The only other known person in the photo is Commander Rory O'Connor RN, who is seated with the telescope.
Please Email at keith@brixworth.force9.net if you know the names of any others in the photo.




On May the 24th 1941, the two titans located each other..

At 05.52 AM, Hood opened fire on Bismarck. Two minutes later, DKM Bismarck responded to Hood' s gunfire and the Battle of Denmark Strait began.
At 06.00, a gigantic explosion with a thunderous flame ripped the Hood into two and Hood dissappeared. In less than ten minutes of battle, Hood was lost.. Only 3 men survived, and more than 1400 died aboard the battlecruiser.
Hood was a very powerful, fast and beatiful ship. She had 8 X 38 cm. main guns and a top speed of 31 knots, but her armor was not as thick as a battleship armor. When Bismarck's heavy 38 cm. shells hit and penetrated her citadel armor and detonated inside an ammunition store, this battlecruiser' s end came quickly.
Within 1-2 minutes, the massive 42.000 ton battlecruiser sunk due to a thunderous explosion. But, the British people never forgot their brave battlecruiser.

[TOP]

The links in this edited version have replaced following original links:
  1. original webpage
  2. guns
  3. arms
  4. Renown class.
  5. Anson
  6. Howe
  7. Rodney
  8. Graf Spee
This page has been edited from the original with the written consent of Keith Brixworth
home  >> Dinky Toys  >> 050a-G Battle cruiser "Hood" (1934 - 1942)