H.M.S. HOOD.

[Postman Prat]

Hi

The Med Fleet Light Grey appears very close to todays shade of Grey

I've never heard the expression "great white fleet" before but I would suggest that it would be more likely used about the ships of the pre-war China station, which were painted white with Buff funnels, rather than Med fleet. I must stress that I don't know but just a suggestion!

[Mickey]

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[hq1hitchin]

I didn't realise until I was working with an ex matelot in Network Rail that an even bigger battlecruiser than HMS Hood was planned. HMS Incomparable - it never happened, though.

http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oG7n_P ... comparable

[Mickey]

Deleted

[Bill Bedford]

Some interesting information here:
http://www.hmshood.com/hoodtoday/models ... htm#ap507a
concerning the shade of grey HMS Hood was painted at various times. The Mediterranean Fleet Light Grey looks best to me - hence the expression "great white fleet".

'The Great White Fleet' was American, from Wikipedia:-
"The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with various escorts. Roosevelt sought to demonstrate growing American military power and blue-water navy capability."

[Mickey]

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[manna]

G'Day Gents

After the remains of HMS Hood were found in the North Atlantic, in the 90's (?) TV cameras were sent down to have a look, from these pictures, it is believed, that when 'X' and 'Y' magazines exploded some of the blast traveled through the ship via a longitudinal corridor, that ran the whole length of the ship to 'A' and 'B' magazines, and set them off as well ! The reasoning behind this theory, is the main conning tower (just behind 'A' & 'B' but in front of the main bridge ) was found to be 1.5 MILES from the rest of the remains of the Hood, the main conning tower also sits above the main forward magazines and weighs app 1,150 tons, and someone with a lot more mathematical skill than me, worked out how many tons of explosives it would take to throw the conning tower that far, it work out to be near what HMS Hood would have been carrying at the time of her sinking, if all 'Four' magazines had exploded almost simultaneously, we can now understand why there were only three survivors.

manna

[sah1r]

When I was a teenager I was making a model of HMS Hood and a friend of my father came round and saw the model. He said hay that was my ship. He then told me that he was attached to the Hood during the second World war and by luck was on leave at the time the Hood left on her her last trip. She left port in such a hurry that he turned up to the empt berth and news had just came in of her sinking. He was lucky. and has only recently died in his 90's.

[Coboman]

I understood it as more of a "disappointing draw" with neither side gaining any objectives - but yes the "big strategic picture" was very much in Britain's favour.

Back to the Hood, Jon Pertwee (Dr Who No. 3) was a sailor on the Hood. Just before the outbreak of WW2 he'd just started a career in radio entertainment. Despite this tiny amount of entertainment radio experience, his CO thought it was enough to make him a radio operator, so at the next opportunity he was dropped off at Scarpa for radio operator training. This was about a week before she engaged the Bismarck. For the rest of his life he considered himself very lucky - and of course he never saw many of his friends again.


Richard

The the father of the headmaster at the school my dad taught at was a chef on the Hood, but he was taken ill with severe tonsilitus just before it set sail for the last time and was left behind. He suffered from survivors guilt right until he died in his 60s. I beileve only 3 people survived who were on the ship?

[harvester]

Churchill described Jellicoe "the only man who could loose the war in an afternoon"!!!, so he had a lot resting on his shoulders and may been understandably cautious. Not forgetting that if the Fast Battle Squadron had displayed a little of the "Nelson initiative" the outcome may have been very different, as it was the German High Seas Fleet never left Jade again

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Found this on the wall at Kingswinford recently, may be of interest:

We were looking for grave markers for the better half's family at the time!