The Loss of HMS Hood: Three Minutes to Save the Ship
192 pages
RAdm R G Melly
With his medical career cut short by a back injury, Andrew Norman turned his attention to writing. Over the years, he has produced many biographies of famous individuals and also a variety of history books. This publication (full name: The Loss of HMS Hood – Three Minutes to Save the Ship) is his second exploration of the subject, following the publication, in January 2009, of HMS Hood – Pride of the Royal Navy. In this second book, the author elaborates on earlier theories as to why this ship was so shockingly lost in action against the German battleship, KMS Bismarck, in 1941.
The author states that his purpose in writing this book was to honour HMS Hood and to pay tribute to all those who served aboard, whilst also discussing the various theories put forward for her loss. The first few short chapters embrace the recollections of individuals who had served on the ship during her earlier commissions, including a fascinating description of the world cruise undertaken by a squadron of ships, led by HMS Hood, in 1923-24 – an evocative demonstration of the Royal Navy’s former reach and power. This is followed by a description of the ship’s busy war, leading up to her final fateful voyage, in company with HMS Prince of Wales, in May 1941. The account of the action against KMS Bismarck and KMS Prinz Eugen draws on a number of eye-witness reports, including those of the three survivors, two of whom were well-positioned on the compass platform and able to report on the final actions of the command team.
The author then turns to a consideration of what could have led to the ship’s such rapid loss. Swiftly discounting the design faults that had led to the loss of three battle cruisers at Jutland in 1916, the possibility of plunging fire from KMSBismarck penetrating the deck armour is also discounted, primarily as the relatively short range at which the engagement took place would have meant that the main armaments of the protagonists would have been at a low trajectory. Instead, the author draws on the testimony of the third survivor, who was positioned on the boat deck where a fierce fire had been ignited, probably as a result of an eight-inch shell hit from KMS Prince Eugen. Hot gases from this fire, travelling through the venting system, it is contended, might have resulted in an adjacent four-inch magazine exploding, which in turn led to the two aft main magazines detonating.
Whilst the author’s theory regarding the cause of the devastating explosions that led to the loss of HMS Hood is plausible, if perhaps not entirely convincing, in truth the exact sequence of events will never be known. Nevertheless, drawing on an extensive bibliography, the book provides an eminently readable insight into the men who served in this iconic ship, her final dramatic action, and the possible reasons for her loss.
