In the late 1950s Bill Dundas, one of the survivors, lived in the same place as my family. He and his wife were friends of my parents and my sister and I played with his children. I remember him as a quiet but pleasant man who was always willing to help fix mechanical things. But he never ever spoke of his Hood experience, and our parents warned us it was not a subject to be spoken about. They moved away, and tragically Bill died in a road accident in 1964, which seemed to me a terrible injustice after what he had already lived through
So sorry for the young men dead... Did ever Bill think of the 1300 french sailors the Hood killed in Mers-el-Kebir? These guys didn't want to fight the English. They were unable to defend themselves, then, at the moment. The English assassinated them. I like Britain (not England, who cheats in rugby!) but not the way it won that war. I'm so sorry for the young men who died... But I hate the "Nasty Hood".
@@RAYGAZOIL I don't think there was anybody even then who was happy about what happened there. Imagine how France would be now if french ships were turned over to the nazis. The Nazis could have won the battle of the Atlantic. Then what for a nazi Europe who knows, but probably not pretty. America nuking french and German ports in 1947 perhaps. Peace ? Who knows for sure . I don't. But I understand the French sailors paid a terrible price. Nobody is happy about that.
@@user-oo8xp2rf1k Quoi qu'il en soit... Aucun navire français n'a tiré sur aucun navire britannique ou américain, que je sache. sauf en riposte, quand les autres se conduisaient comme des voyous, ce qui s'est produit...
@@RAYGAZOIL Google Translated by editing my comment: @RAYGAZOIL Je ne parviens pas à coller vos commentaires dans Google Translate, mais si je vous ai ennuyé, je suis désolé, ce n'était pas mon intention. Ce sont des commentaires TH-cam, alors j'ai écrit franchement. Mais cela n’avait pas pour but d’insulter votre honneur, votre personnalité, votre nation ou votre intelligence. Original in English. I'm not able to paste your comments into Google translate, but If I have annoyed you I'm apologise it wasn't my intention. This is TH-cam comments so I wrote frankly. But it was not intended to be insulting to your honour, self, nation, or intelligence.
I had the honour and great fortune to be in correspondence with Ted Briggs as well as Von Mullheim - Rechberg who was the highest ranking officer to survive the Bismarck.
My late father joined the Irish Navy in the late 50's and recalled a a visiting German ship into the Irish Naval base in Haulbowline in Cork harbour. Some seamen were invited to the mess for drinks but none of my father's shipmates were willing to talk to these "former Nazis". My Dad of course, being the affable chap he was, approached them and got talking and drinking with them. As it turned out two of them were survivors from the Bismarck. My father said he will never forget their eyes filling up with tears as they recalled the horror of the battle and seeing their comrades and friends die and being maimed in awful circumstances. It's a self serving truism of course but war truly is hell.
Thank you for assembling all those different interpretations of Hood and her demise. I've never seen so many different ones at once! One of them is particularly toy-like but I'm glad it's included for thoroughness. This is an important part of Britain's maritime history and should be remembered. Thanks again!
I had the pleasure of working for many years with a chap called Ernie Freestone, who as a (then) young marine commando should have been on the Hood, but re-directed before it sailed on that fateful journey! He said it changed the way he lived his life from then on! Cheers
Thank you so much for sharing this history so that future generations can learn from this important past. These are events that should never be forgotten. I appreciate so much your efforts in making this available for others to see.
Many years ago I met a guy who I only know as Albert and who was on the Hood. Whilst in port, he met a guy from another ship who asked him if he would do a swap as his brother was on the Hood and he wanted to be with him. Everything was arranged next day and the swap took place. But I can only imagine how Albert must have felt after the loss of the Hood. He would often proudly show everyone his Hood cap tally, talk of his amazing meet with someone who saved his life but also of the loss of the two brothers lives.
My father served for 15 years in the RN, six during WW2, he never ever talked about his experience. Most of my father's friends served during WW2 and I understand they only talked occasionally when they were together about the war. I learned years later that one of the group, an ex-major, was one of the first men into Bergen-Belsen which caused him nightmares until he died. These men came home and got on with their lives. I should imagine most are turning in their graves seeing what has become of the UK.
You ought to see it here in the US. Good Men. Great men. Died sacrificed their lives. To have an entire generation piss it all away. They died for about 70 prosperous years. Only to have a bunch in entitled, buzzword happy, what amounts to braying and infected Donkey's vaginal cavities shit all over everything they held dear and willing gave their lives for. It's disgusting.
Absolutely right, Sir. I stayed with a veteran of the relief of Belson, too. He was a cook i/c of the field kitchen which prepared the special food necessary to revive the survivors of that horror. He spoke to me a little of what he saw in 1945. Even I am chilled by it to this day (26.9.2024).
I remember watching a video where Ted said he had given up swimming to the surface, then he was boosted up with no effort at all. They suspect a boiler imploded releasing air and propelling him to the surface. Crazy that only 3 survived out of 1415 men. RIP to all those brave men
The 3 that did survive were in a raft. Undoubtedly there were perhaps hundreds that survived the sinking initially but died of hypothermia in the 2-3 hours it took for the Destroyers to get to their location.
There was not initially hundreds of survivors, they were all killed in either the colossal explosion or went down with the ship, the three survivors were not in a raft either, they were on individual carley floats and made their way to each other, they scanned the seas and there was no one else about.
Only three survivors. I can't begin to imagine the survivor's guilt they must have felt, poor fellows. They were doing their duty to protect their homeland and way of life.
Briggs has said in other interviews there was others but they all died before rescue in the cold water. He seemed to change his story in later years to save face for the RN most likely
"Es ist kurz nach neun am 12. November 1944, einem strahlend schönen Sonntagmorgen, als die Sirenen heulen und Russow durch das Fernglas blickt. Die Engländer kommen, von der deutschen Luftwaffe keine Spur, und die Nebelgeneratoren sind nicht in Betrieb. Die Besatzung stürmt an die Geschütze, ballert los, ohrenbetäubender Lärm bricht aus. Bald schlagen die ersten Bomben ein, zunächst neben dem Schiff. "Da haben sich Wände aus Wasser aufgetürmt und sind auf uns runtergekracht", erzählt Russow. "Ein Matrose ist durch die Druckwelle Dutzende Meter vom anderen Deck zu uns rübergeflogen und neben uns eingeschlagen." Die Briten treffen, reihenweise sterben die Soldaten, Russow wird selbst zum Nachladen an die Flak beordert. Dann merkt er plötzlich: die "Tirpitz" neigt sich zur Seite. Die "Tallboys" haben die Seitenwand aufgerissen. "In dem Moment ist mir klar gewesen: es ist aus mit dem Schiff." Jetzt geht es um sein Leben. Als die "Tirpitz" immer mehr Schlagseite kriegt, seilt sich Russow nach eigener Schilderung ab auf einen der Dutzende Meter hohen Schornsteine, der nun fast waagerecht zur Wasseroberfläche liegt. "Ich musste vom Schiff weg, ich hatte Angst, dass es explodiert." Er springt ins eiskalte Meer, klammert sich an eine Boje, an der die Anti-U-Boot-Netze befestigt sind. Und sieht Schreckliches: "Die Menschen im Wasser haben geschrien nach Vater und Mutter, einigen waren die Füße oder Arme abgeschossen." Die britischen Flugzeuge sind zu diesem Zeitpunkt schon wieder abgezogen." Quelle: Hecking, Spiegel Geschichte, 2014. THEY also just protected their holded land and did nothing then just be there and never were in war. !!!!
I agree totally. I keep watching these over and over and I just can’t stop myself from commenting on everything. At least I’m driving these viewers crazy instead of my poor wife!
I was given a talk by Bill Dundass at school in the 1970(5?), His account of being 'sucked down' and tangled in the rigging has stayed with me ever since.
Another well done video, and thank you for sharing with us. These videos, especially hearing the sailors, soldiers and airmen who lived through it are so critical. They are the very real human voices of the great tragedy which is war.
My Uncle Andrew was on the Hood, I'm Named in honour of my Uncle. The Germans made an an amazing shot and hit deck stored ammo! I salute all Navy sailors who died at sea. God bless them all.
Yes, God bless them all... I agree... But... What about the 1300 french sailors killed in Mers-el-Kebir? Few weeks after the Britain rescue of Dunkerque, protected by the french army?
@@RAYGAZOIL the sinking of the Tirpitz was also cruel. one of the less survivors, the captain, spoke from bodys teared apart, guys screaming for their life, a sailor, that got pushed to the wall trough the pressure wave and got smahed. ..... no one of them was in war, killing someone. they just prtected their ship.
Really not sure if I should tell this true story, but for some reason it stuck with me, and I'm going to anyway. No names were named. My late father served in the navy during the war, right up the sharp end. When I was a kid, maybe 11 - 12, about 1970, there was still a model of the Hood laying about the place that my older brother had built with a kit some years before, he'd left home by then. One day when I was messing about with it, my dad started telling me the story of how the Hood was sunk. Related the whole story, and at the end finally told me: "Only three men survived the sinking of the Hood, and I served with one of them later on in the war." Then he looked at me, shook his head slightly and declared: "He was one of the biggest b*stards I ever met in my life."
Maybe the guy was blowing smoke up your dad’s butt. I’m guessing that he wasn’t ever on the Hood, just an ineffectual little man trying to be somebody.
What is remarkable here is how every account mentions the lack of sound in Hood's final moment, that nobody seems to have registered that there had been this catastrophic explosion until the ship began falling over to port with the steering gone. It all sounds utterly surreal .
I wonder if it was because they were in the “eye of the storm” so to speak and as I’m guessing that a sound wave propagates from the centre they heard no sound?
There are quite a few examples of this. For example, one man aboard HMS Illustrious inside her hangar when she was bombed by Stukas survived - with his boiler suit ripped off - because he was at a convergence point of shockwaves that cancelled each other out. Highschool physics ... it happens!
The reason is because what tore Hood apart was a fire...a very very rapid fire but a fire nonetheless. The sound of explosives creates the supersonic bang. Hood was rent apart by a rapid burn of her propellant (cordite)and consequent rapidly expanding gas bubble rather than by a classic explosion.@@MattVF
I would not want to be in a tank, a submarine or a navy warship. In a ship, fire is always a great danger and getting trapped below with no lights and no way out but drowning. Frightful, dreadful to even think about.
HMS Hood was a fast battleship in all but name. Her armour and guns were, in places, better than the Queen Elizabeth class. As with all combat, that one shot finds the weak spot, like David and Goliath. Unfortunately for Hood, Bismark found it. RIP all sailors, Royal or merchant Navy, who gave their lives defending Britain against Nazi evil.
All the German naval maneuvers before the war revolved around fighting the HMS Hood because it was the most formidable warship afloat. When the HMS Hood was sunk many members of the Bismarck's crew couldn't believe it. It all happened so quick and the fact that they survived the encounter was amazing to them.
No sorry the Hood was a out of date 1st world war non-updated Battle Cruiser.. Sadly for her brave men whom died on her. She was not up dated with the extra deck armor and better gun firing systems she so badly needed! Why, Because the Royal Navy was told to use her before the war for a show off ship around the Empire. If she been upgraded before the 2nd world war as she needed, she would have stood a better chance to beat the Bismark. The Prince Of Wale even though she was a modern new fast Battleship with Quad Main Guns and radar control, was so rushed out that the ship still had the workers on board finishing her systems off! Her gun crews had no real training and the ship had electricity problems too. The weak deck armor on the Hood was her problem since it was not upgraded. If the Hood had not been there and had instead a stronger Battleship like the King George or better still the Rodney then the Bismark would have been sunk not the old Hood. Even my late Father who had served in the Royal Navy in the Far East in the war said that the Hood was called the pride of the fleet even though she was not the best ship being so old and not upgraded for the 2nd world war levels? But we had allot of need for any ships to protect a huge Empire. I really am so sad that those brave men died on the Hood, All because of the lack of updating the armor.
@@colincampbell3679 She was quite large for a battlecruiser, and pretty well armoured for a BC as well. Its only serious flaw was the distribution of the armour and its slim shape, compared to any battleship. And yes, maybe battlecruisers were outdated at that time, that only Renown survived WW2 is sure a clear sign of the changed environment. But the Hood also wasn't a bad ship.
@colincampbell3679 The deck armour wasn't the problem - plunging fire wasn't possible at the distances being fought. Drachinifel has an excellent video on what likely happened. It was a very, very unlucky shot. Furthermore, none of what you've said contradicts the reputation tha HMS Hood had at the time. We know that the Hood desperately needed a refit, but the Germans didn't.
British actor John Pertwee, best known for Doctor Who, was a crewman on the Hood and was on shore leave when the Hood quickly left port to battle the Bismarck. Presumably he would likely have been killed if on board. There were civilian tradesmen working aboard when it left and who died.
My late father joined the Irish Navy in the late 50's and recalled a a visiting German ship into the Irish Naval base in Haulbowline in Cork harbour around that time. Some of the visiting seamen were invited to the mess for drinks but none of my father's shipmates were willing to talk to these "former Nazis". My Dad of course, being the affable chap he was, approached them and got talking and drinking with them. As it turned out two of them were survivors from the Bismarck. My father said he will never forget their eyes filling up with tears as they recalled the horror of the battle and seeing their comrades and friends die and being maimed in awful circumstances. It's a self serving truism of course but war truly is hell.
My Uncle, my Mother's brother and whom I never met was a wireman on the ship and was a casualty. It deeply affected my Grandmother who remained a bitter woman after losing her son. Her husband died three years later. The Hood was not to be mentioned, but a photo of my Uncle was always displayed in our living room. More recently, I met someone who's Father had been on the Price of Wales and witnessed the explosion. He didn't want to talk about the war. 1400 plus men on the Hood, a similar number on the Bismark, all because an idiot thought he could rule the world.
Yes... "An idiot thought he could run the world"... Hundreds of french sailors and aviators could have run to serve with Britain against this idiot, in 1940. But the Hood shot against Mers-el-Kebir, and killed 1300 french sailors who could'nt defend. And who did'nt understand what was happening to them. That was the worst decision/choice of Churchill. Watch what happened in Dakar, few weeks later... Even if de Gaulle told he prefered to know french boats and french sailors sailed and killed than serving the nazis, the Hood was, that day, a masterpiece of "British treason". So sorry for the dead young men from this boat, but I hate the Hood. She damned herself, this day, in July 1940. And thanks to the Navy, who sank that slut Bismarck...
No, it was because Germany threw out the wrothchild bankers.... Its time to realize what the war was really about... International financiers controlling our governments. They could not tolerate the loss of that money. Any other excuse is baloney in light of what's going on today, and evidence revealed since the war. Its always been about the control of the worlds monetary supply .
My father, who was just starting his training in th RAF at th time said "it was the first and only time during the war that I thought we might be in trouble".
@@28pbtkh23 It did appear to many that the foundations of the Empire were beginning to crumble... but much of the bad news of that period was censored or its release delayed by the government to prevent further damage to civilian morale.
A most interesting reflection. I had a habit in childhood and adolescence of asking former service personnel whether at any time they thought their side might lose the war (both Axis and Allied). There were many replies and each was very personal. My father (who left school on 1940 and would later land on Normandy) was very explicit. He said it was the loss of to he Prince of Wales and the Repulse and the fall of Hong Kong. His brother died in Hong Kong, so that perhaps played on his mind. The question "Was there a time when you thought we were on trouble?" is an interesting one.
Heroic effort by Hood. The really tragic thing is the unnecessary fact that the forward firing lasers, as well as the rangefinders on both forward turrets were out of order .. Instead they had to use an ancient, manual turntable to aim the artillery. Against the modern German ships it will be like a T-Ford against a Porsche. And thus the shooting results were probably terribly bad. As far as is known, Hood did not hit anything with the approximately 12 slaves it fired. Aimed all the time at Prinz Eugene but missed both it and Bismarck.
According to von Müllenheim's account the hesitancy of Bismarck to reply was due to Lütjen's reluctance to engage. His orders were to raid for merchant ships after all, not to engage in a capital ship battle. KzS Lindemann over ruled this with the famous order "I am not going to let my ship be shot away under my arse! Permission to fire!"
Lütjens should have been posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions against the Germans. He even forbade blowing off the Bismarck's jammed rudder in fear that it would damage the screws, which considering what happened should have been a risk worth taking.
Interesting, I don't think the crew liked Lutjens, however Suffolk's log says Bismarck replied to fire within 30 seconds of gunflashes from BC1. It's Lindemann's responsibility to give the order to fire to his gunners
@@JevansUK Not with Lütjens the fleet commander and his staff on board. Lindemann was effectively an "executive officer" with Lütjens as overall commander.
@@JevansUK Decisions with regard to the rules of engagement are NOT with the individual ship commander but with the fleet commander. Lindemann would have had complete freedom over the day to day running of his ship, but NOT with the primary combat orders of the ship while the fleet commander was onboard.
Sadly Only Three Survivors. .But The English Actor Jon Pertwee (Dr Who).. Was Transfered From The Hood Shortly Before Her Ill-Fated meeting With The Bismarck To Do Officer training...One very Lucky Person. Deep Respect To The1418 Who Lost Their Lives On That Sad Day.
I seem remember, years ago, there was a tv programme that detailed a few people who had premonitions of this disaster. One was, I think, crew of the Hood. He was on leave but when recalled, missed his train and the Hood's final sailing.
Years ago I was remodeling a kitchen for a nice couple in California. They have a model of Prinz Eugen on the fireplace mantel so I asked. The homeowner informed me that he had served on Prinz Eugen until he was sent to the Russian front. Lucky ship, Lucky crew
There were only 3 survivors. I think they were doubly lucky. Not only surviving the sinking, but being picked up before hypothermia claimed them. Remember this was not far from the pack ice, in the Denmark Strait.
@@azoniarnl3362 wasnt it like 2 or 3 days? I mean, she was almost in range of air support from france when she was hit. And she could only go 19 knots after the battle against the hood.
I was allowed to take time off for the RNR as my employer lost a brother in the Hood. I am so saddened that Dorsetshire had to leave those German matelots, all covered in oil in the freezing cold water, because 'someone thought they had spotted a periscope'.
Likewise the pity that must be felt for the RN crews of HMS Glorious Acasta and Ardent, who received utterly NO humanitarian aid whatsoever from the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau that had sunk them, inspite of NO other RN ships being in the area. Of the nearly 1600 RN sailors on the three ships only 44 were rescued purely by chance by Norwegian trawlers that were passing through the area hours later.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 I read that the reason for that was that the german ships had suffered serious damage and were not aware of the abscence of the RN. I hope this is true, otherwise i would be disappointed.
@@paulhoffmann4521 I can understand the situation faced by Adm Wilhelm Marschall commanding Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on 8th June 1940 as much as I understand the situation confronting Capt BCS Martin of HMS Dorsetshire and Cmdr H.T Armstrong in HMS Maori on the morning of 27th May 1941. I use the HMS Glorious episode to highlight the partisan nonsense spoken by so many in these threads regarding what is often portrayed by ignorant YT commenters as a "war crime" commited by the RN in the abandonment of the Bismarck crew.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 - thanks for telling us that. I won't feel so bad the next time a German whinges about the abandonment of most of Bismarck's crew. I can still feel sorry about the crew though: it's a horrible way to go.
@@28pbtkh23 Absolutely, I too have EVERY sympathy with the terrible fate of the young German sailors that morning. I also have slightly more empathy with the tragic sailors than the average YT commenter as my own father served onboard HMS Dorsetshire and took part in the rescues of the 86 Bismarck survivors who were picked up by her (with a further 25 rescued by HMS Maori). In his turn dad then experienced the same situation himself in being left clinging to wreckage in the middle of the ocean one year later, when HMS Dorsetshire was dive bombed and sunk by the IJN in the Indian ocean on 5th April 1942. Luckily he was in the much warmer tropics, and along with 1100 other RN sailors was spotted by British aircraft and rescued by RN ships 33 hours after being sunk.
One wonders how many men escaped the ship, with legitimate hope of survival, yet whose hopes were not realised. The cold, stormy sea itself probably exacted as great a toll as the detonations. How utterly tragic😢
The three survivors say they saw no others. And HMS Electra spent a good amount of time looking for others. Yes, the possibility always remains that someone may have been overlooked. But the mere fact that the three separate planks these survivors were on stayed roughly together suggests otherwise.
@@ArmouredCarriers Thanks….above all for your fabulous work but also for this reply. Given that one survivor had time to disrobe and saw another man escape, I imagined that a good few had somehow gotten off and into the water. Maybe not.
@@ArmouredCarriersI thank the majority in engineering and in the hull of the ship were vaporized in the explosion. And she sunk so fast the ship pulled the rest down with it. Only 3 were lucky enough to come back up.
@@hisdadjames4876the ship sucked them down. Even Ted Briggs said he was sucked down and was only saved when a imploding compartment sent a air bubble to the surface taking him with it. I imagine a lot of the crew below in the hull of the ship were vaporized in the explosion. It's like a pipe bomb the pressure builds in the hull and blows out bulkheads before it tore the through the hull and cut her in half. I thank even the guys in the forwarded part of the ship were killed by this blast pushing forward through bulkheads.
It’s a miracle that anybody survived. Especially Bob Tilburn. Incidentally I’m sure that DK Brown (author and ex director of construction) said that in the case of the Jutland battlecruisers that the shockwave through the hull would have killed most in the hull. It’s interesting to note that in the case of Queen Mary the survivors were from the aft turrets, in Indefatigable from way up the main mast and the mostly Spotting top in Invincible. I say mostly as 1 survivor was actually in the midships turret which was hit and exploded (P from memory) and was blown out. Sometimes it comes down pure luck and chance.
My Uncle was on HMS Hood, my Aunty showed me the telegram she received, which said missing in action. she never really recovered the loss as they had not long been married, before he was posted to the Hood
From "Battleship Bismarck: A survivor's story" Written by Bismarck's senior ranking survivor Baron Burkhard von Mullenheim-Rechberg. "Over the telephone I heard an ever louder and more excited babble of voices-it seemed as though something sensational was about to happen, if it hadn't already. Convinced that the Suffolk and Norfolk would leave us in peace for at least a few minutes, I entrusted the temporary surveillance of the horizon astern through the starboard director to one of my petty officers and went to the port director. While I was still turning it toward the Hood, I heard a shout, "She's blowing up!" "She"-that could only be the Hood!!! The sight I then saw is something I shall never forget. At first the Hood was nowhere to be seen; in her place was a colossal pillar of black smoke reaching into the sky. Gradually, at the foot of the pillar, I made out the bow of the battle cruiser projecting upwards at an angle, a sure sign that she had broken in two. Then I saw something I could hardly believe: a flash of orange coming from her forward guns! Although her fighting days had ended, the Hood was firing a last salvo. I felt great respect for those men over there."
My grandad was in the royal engineers, during the war and was stationed in rekjavik. And was there when they took the three survivors off. His mate was on hms rodney. He was a captain of a gun turret. They refuelled, then took off after bismark. He always carried a photo of hms rodney, in his wallet.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 as built QE has less (40lb +40lb added after Jutland) but he's right that Hood doesn't have armour plate. There is no 3" deck on Hood there's in place a 3 plate lamination of 40,50 and 30lb high tensile steel plating which is nominally 3" but really it's a total combined thickness of approx 2.94". QE had 4" armour plate added over the mags and 2.5" added over the machinery.
@@JevansUK HMS Hood had a complex deck armour scheme but 7” is the figure quoted in specifications. This total thickness comprised several successive deck thicknesses. It was not just one armoured deck. The upper deck 2”, the main deck 3” and the lower deck of 2” were the three armoured decks that ran from the bow right through to the stern. (These thicknesses were not constant along their whole length, so this is just illustrative) HMS Hood had 33% of her displacement devoted to armour. HMS King George V was considered to be one of the best armoured battleships ever built and she had 35% weight of armour. Hood had essentially the same armour scheme as the very successful Queen Elizabeth class battleships that played a huge part in WW1 and then again in WW2.
There is an error in the off voice about the time of the first salvo of HMS Hood, the twilight is the end of the day, so the time cannot be 5.52 am, so the time of the day must be changed to dawn instead
Listening to these survivors; when human beings are caught up in titanic violent events, the mind cannot comprehend......that silence described by PO Briggs.' At Jutland, a gunnery rating from one of the turrets of a battlecruiser lost there. He said ' everything became deathly silent, and then the guns fell from their trunnions, and water came up the trunk. the bottom must have been out of her'. Probably survived because the heavy armor protected him from the cataclysm.
It has since been hypothesised that it was a shell that fell short of the Hood, but had enough momentum to go through the ships thinner armour below the waterline, the shell then reached the magazine, this tore the Hood apart. A shell from above doesn’t come into question, they were too close for that.
Evocative. I assume the artwork displayed was produced soon after the event to record the explosion and loss, probably from crew of PoW. It seems to be marked as navy documentation.
Yes, some eyewitnesses were required to draw their memories of the event immediately after the event. All had to do it again as part of their submission to the court of inquiry.
In the modern simulation of the battle the Bismarck is incorrectly shown bearing its B&W coastal identification stripes (often confused as a disruptive pattern), these and the false bow wave etc were painted out on it and PE when anchored in Norway -- so don't include these when building your model of the B showing her during her cruise in the Atlantic. The Hood would not have bent upward mid hull when the 4 and then 15 in magazines were exploding. In the 1950s movies the ships are shown firing in the wrong directions, and the Hood blows up along its entire hull which is nonsense.
Despite all the spilled ink on this matter. A battleship and a heavy cruiser faced off at long range against a battleship and a battlecruiser. The fight was in the RNs favour, and they lost. Badly. And it was a national humiliation. It's a shame Bismarck wasn't popped apart with the first salvo, but evil wins as often as good.
The RN didn't "lose" the engagement. The aim of the RN was to stop Bismarck from running rampage in the North Atlantic convoy lanes. After HMS Prince of Wales disengaged from the action, Admiral Lütjens ordered an immediate abandonment of "Rhineübung" and a return to France. RN "job done" but at a grievous cost.
I couldn't agree more. The British were defeated at the Denmark Strait because their objective was to sink Bismarck. In this, they failed. However, they did damage Bismarck, which aided in the eventual destruction of the ship.
@@manilajohn0182 If you think the British lost, then tell me how did Bismarck "win" exactly? What was Bismarck's goal? What had SKL ordered Bismarck to do exactly? Sink enemy warships? The British won because as a result of Denmark Strait Lütjens cancelled "Rhineübung". RN's job done.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 The primary British objective in the battle of the Denmark Strait was to sink Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. They had no clear knowledge of German mission objectives. They failed and lost Hood in the process. The German objective was to survive and sink British warships if at all possible. They were successful, sinking Hood in the process. As far as the battle of the Denmark Strait itself is concerned, the Germans scored a tactical victory. German operational objectives are outside the scope of the battle. Where they are concerned, the British scored a tactical victory with strategic implications. They eventually sunk an extremely valuable surface unit of the small Kriegsmarine and relieved the pressure on the Royal Navy across the globe.
@@manilajohn0182 Don't talk nonsense "They had no clear knowledge of German mission objectives". It was PERFECTLY clear what she was up to, as in Operation Berlin 3 months earlier. As it was HMS Prince of Wales saw to it that the mission was a COMPLETE non starter, inspite of the grievous loss of HMS Hood, and not knowing at the time that Lütjens had cancelled the operation. You're mistaking how the Denmark Strait engagement was perceived at the time by the British for the actuality of the situation.
There are a lot of legends about "Unsinkable Sam" the cat ... supposedly rescued from Bismarck. Truth can be very strange indeed. But it can be hard to separate from fiction so many years after the event.
Good story, giving some relief from the harsh reality of naval warfare. But highly improbable. Whereas on Hood served two cats, GInger and Fishcake. I fear, they perished with her. The most bizarre story goes with the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron in 1905. On route, the Russians ships took lots of animals on board, as I remember having read, in Madagascar. Hopefull, they released them in Cam Ran Bay ere they sailed to Tsushima.
On the road I grew up in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire lived a family called Attewell and one of his Sons maintained his Father should have been on the Hood and possibly perished but was detained on shore by MPs following an incident of some kind. Can anyone verify this? his name was Bill Attewell.
In the house of commons when the news came through that Bismark has been sunk the commons erupted in cheers except for one MP who realised what a huge waste of life had taken place with both Hood and Bismark and the loss of two admirals Holland and Lutjens. All those young men and boys in both ships having their lives snuffed out some in an instant was to him nothing to celebrate about.
Sad end but conspiracies abound about why the ship blew up the one expert opinion that could be plausible is a shell penetrated the funnel amidships which blew up the magazines which could explain why the ship imploded so quickly?
A lot of engineering effort has gone into understanding how Hood was lost. While we will never know for sure, a look at the wreck a decade or so ago helped. Here's a very good deep-dive into the most plausible current theories that fit the available evidence: th-cam.com/video/CLPeC7LRqIY/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygUQZHJhY2hpbmlmZWwgaG9vZA%3D%3D
The HMS Hood was executing a turn as it was fatally hit. The turn would have exposed more of her deck area to the falling shells of Bismarck. The Hood had a huge deck area vulnerable to plunging fire.
Captain Leach was looking directly at Hood when the deflagration began, and he stated that the 'execute' signal for the turn was not yet in sight. It's far more likely that the rudder had just been put over on Hood and that she had either not yet begun to turn or had just begun to. The theory of a lucky plunging shell hit from Bismarck penetrating Hood's deck armor has been dismissed because of the poor angle of fall. It's now been replaced by the theory of a lucky hit short of the vessel.
@manilajohn0182 Thankyou for the reply. Much has been speculated about the loss of Hood. A lucky plunging shell hit seems as likely as an underwater hit, if not more likely, due to the large deck area of the ship, and its known vulnerabilities on this area. We have to remember the stresses of combat may alter perceptions at the time. Certainly a ship which is leaning outwards during a turn, or even the start of one, is exposing a bigger percentage of its deck area to its enemy. But I could subscribe to either view, until more evidence is available.
@@malcolmtaylor518 As I said, a lucky shell hit has been dismissed because of the poor angle of fall. The three theories are a lucky shell landing short, exploding 4" ammunition, and the boat deck fire from UP projectiles. They're all equally possible. If you're truly interested in the matter, then it's worth your time to look at them 'all'- objectively. Don't paint pictures. Cheers...
There was no plunging fire. At the close range Bismark was from Hood, her guns would have had a very flat elevation and therefore the shell trajectories would mirror this.
@@kevin5073Thankyou for your reply. How do you explain the hit which caused the fire in the 4" ready use ammunition lockers if plunging deck hits weren't possible?
This was quite an embarrassment to the RN. Their very best ship blows up and the 2nd can't shoot her guns and so they have to break off and run despite out numbering the enemy. Besides sadness I'm sure there was quite a few angry faces among the admirals.
Hood succumbs to a million to one hit, and PoW hadn't even had a "shakedown cruise" that all ships need to iron out their teething troubles, such was the demands & scope of the RN's commitments across the globe.
And replaced with what? Capital ships were in short supply,war was on the horizon and Hood was the largest,fastest ship the RN had. The Lion class would have been her likely replacement, 2 nominally laid down but never completed due to the fact they wouldn’t be completed in any meaningful time and because the RN desperately needed escorts and carriers. She was due to serve (after modifications) till 1951/2. Approximately 30 years.
@@MattVFI’m getting tired of hearing about the refit that never happened. The British government and Admiralty didn’t even update her fire control table. By 1941 she had been neglected so badly that she was too slow to even run down German and Italian cruisers.
Yet if britain and france Had have launched an offensive In sept39 They may have prevented hitler building up His plans to attack the west After he had subdued poland Yet the french had no offensive strategy even After declaring war and britain Too sat on their butts in Europe for eight months Only action was on the high seas
Not even remotely as simple as you put it. It was most likely an interval of five to ten seconds in which the hit happened and was one in a million in regards to what had most likely have happened. Hood had a specific defect being a Battlecruiser, not just *weak armour*, rather underwater protection that was exposed when the shot occured. It was all very convoluted hence the stupendous theories, but if you really take into account everything, survivors, Prince of Wales' crew, even Bismarck's crew, this is the only explanation.
@@danx4880If you havent watched Drachinifel’s detailed study of the various possibilities, I commend it to you. As you suggest, the hit ‘below the belt’ seems the least implausible cause, the lower hull aft exposed by a deep wake trough..amplified by the speed, the turn and the swell.
@@hisdadjames4876That made me ask if there was a way to reduce that by an altered hull form. ( There is, sort of, something to reduce the bow wave would help, like the underwater bulbous bow. You find it on container ships for economy but its shape and size may need to vary with speed for maximum effect. But the speed that matters is a specification of the container ship. I think. )
In the late 1950s Bill Dundas, one of the survivors, lived in the same place as my family. He and his wife were friends of my parents and my sister and I played with his children. I remember him as a quiet but pleasant man who was always willing to help fix mechanical things. But he never ever spoke of his Hood experience, and our parents warned us it was not a subject to be spoken about. They moved away, and tragically Bill died in a road accident in 1964, which seemed to me a terrible injustice after what he had already lived through
So sorry for the young men dead...
Did ever Bill think of the 1300 french sailors the Hood killed in Mers-el-Kebir?
These guys didn't want to fight the English.
They were unable to defend themselves, then, at the moment.
The English assassinated them.
I like Britain (not England, who cheats in rugby!) but not the way it won that war.
I'm so sorry for the young men who died...
But I hate the "Nasty Hood".
Poor the HMS Hood!
And in fact,
The Fleet commander Lieutanent General Holland and Food were unlucky!
@@RAYGAZOIL I don't think there was anybody even then who was happy about what happened there. Imagine how France would be now if french ships were turned over to the nazis. The Nazis could have won the battle of the Atlantic.
Then what for a nazi Europe who knows, but probably not pretty.
America nuking french and German ports in 1947 perhaps. Peace ? Who knows for sure . I don't.
But I understand the French sailors paid a terrible price. Nobody is happy about that.
@@user-oo8xp2rf1k Quoi qu'il en soit... Aucun navire français n'a tiré sur aucun navire britannique ou américain, que je sache. sauf en riposte, quand les autres se conduisaient comme des voyous, ce qui s'est produit...
@@RAYGAZOIL
Google Translated by editing my comment: @RAYGAZOIL Je ne parviens pas à coller vos commentaires dans Google Translate, mais si je vous ai ennuyé, je suis désolé, ce n'était pas mon intention. Ce sont des commentaires TH-cam, alors j'ai écrit franchement. Mais cela n’avait pas pour but d’insulter votre honneur, votre personnalité, votre nation ou votre intelligence.
Original in English.
I'm not able to paste your comments into Google translate, but If I have annoyed you I'm apologise it wasn't my intention. This is TH-cam comments so I wrote frankly. But it was not intended to be insulting to your honour, self, nation, or intelligence.
I had the honour and great fortune to be in correspondence with Ted Briggs as well as Von Mullheim - Rechberg who was the highest ranking officer to survive the Bismarck.
I have his book Last days of the Hood, signed by Ted Briggs. My auntie worked with him.
My late father joined the Irish Navy in the late 50's and recalled a a visiting German ship into the Irish Naval base in Haulbowline in Cork harbour. Some seamen were invited to the mess for drinks but none of my father's shipmates were willing to talk to these "former Nazis". My Dad of course, being the affable chap he was, approached them and got talking and drinking with them. As it turned out two of them were survivors from the Bismarck. My father said he will never forget their eyes filling up with tears as they recalled the horror of the battle and seeing their comrades and friends die and being maimed in awful circumstances. It's a self serving truism of course but war truly is hell.
Thank you for assembling all those different interpretations of Hood and her demise.
I've never seen so many different ones at once!
One of them is particularly toy-like but I'm glad it's included for thoroughness.
This is an important part of Britain's maritime history and should be remembered.
Thanks again!
I had the pleasure of working for many years with a chap called Ernie Freestone, who as a (then) young marine commando should have been on the Hood, but re-directed before it sailed on that fateful journey! He said it changed the way he lived his life from then on! Cheers
Thank you so much for sharing this history so that future generations can learn from this important past. These are events that should never be forgotten. I appreciate so much your efforts in making this available for others to see.
Many years ago I met a guy who I only know as Albert and who was on the Hood. Whilst in port, he met a guy from another ship who asked him if he would do a swap as his brother was on the Hood and he wanted to be with him. Everything was arranged next day and the swap took place. But I can only imagine how Albert must have felt after the loss of the Hood. He would often proudly show everyone his Hood cap tally, talk of his amazing meet with someone who saved his life but also of the loss of the two brothers lives.
For a brief period in the 1960's I was in the Royal Navy. Thank you posting these amazing pictures,
My father served for 15 years in the RN, six during WW2, he never ever talked about his experience. Most of my father's friends served during WW2 and I understand they only talked occasionally when they were together about the war. I learned years later that one of the group, an ex-major, was one of the first men into Bergen-Belsen which caused him nightmares until he died. These men came home and got on with their lives. I should imagine most are turning in their graves seeing what has become of the UK.
They would be asking why did we bother?
@@Westyrulz quite possibly.
Same situation in america
You ought to see it here in the US. Good Men. Great men. Died sacrificed their lives. To have an entire generation piss it all away. They died for about 70 prosperous years. Only to have a bunch in entitled, buzzword happy, what amounts to braying and infected Donkey's vaginal cavities shit all over everything they held dear and willing gave their lives for. It's disgusting.
Absolutely right, Sir. I stayed with a veteran of the relief of Belson, too. He was a cook i/c of the field kitchen which prepared the special food necessary to revive the survivors of that horror. He spoke to me a little of what he saw in 1945. Even I am chilled by it to this day (26.9.2024).
Drac did a good video on the loss and where the shell possibly hit.
I remember watching a video where Ted said he had given up swimming to the surface, then he was boosted up with no effort at all. They suspect a boiler imploded releasing air and propelling him to the surface. Crazy that only 3 survived out of 1415 men. RIP to all those brave men
The 3 that did survive were in a raft. Undoubtedly there were perhaps hundreds that survived the sinking initially but died of hypothermia in the 2-3 hours it took for the Destroyers to get to their location.
There was not initially hundreds of survivors, they were all killed in either the colossal explosion or went down with the ship, the three survivors were not in a raft either, they were on individual carley floats and made their way to each other, they scanned the seas and there was no one else about.
My great uncle cornelius conroy was killed on the hood.My nana never ever spoke about the hood or what happened.
Only three survivors. I can't begin to imagine the survivor's guilt they must have felt, poor fellows. They were doing their duty to protect their homeland and way of life.
Many years ago I had the privilege of meeting one of the three, I cannot sadly recall who or where.
Imagine the nightmares and PTSD they must have suffered from. I hope they are at peace now.
Briggs has said in other interviews there was others but they all died before rescue in the cold water. He seemed to change his story in later years to save face for the RN most likely
Why should they be guilty at an act of nature. Perhaps you should be ashamed for suggesting that.
"Es ist kurz nach neun am 12. November 1944, einem strahlend schönen Sonntagmorgen, als die Sirenen heulen und Russow durch das Fernglas blickt. Die Engländer kommen, von der deutschen Luftwaffe keine Spur, und die Nebelgeneratoren sind nicht in Betrieb. Die Besatzung stürmt an die Geschütze, ballert los, ohrenbetäubender Lärm bricht aus. Bald schlagen die ersten Bomben ein, zunächst neben dem Schiff. "Da haben sich Wände aus Wasser aufgetürmt und sind auf uns runtergekracht", erzählt Russow. "Ein Matrose ist durch die Druckwelle Dutzende Meter vom anderen Deck zu uns rübergeflogen und neben uns eingeschlagen." Die Briten treffen, reihenweise sterben die Soldaten, Russow wird selbst zum Nachladen an die Flak beordert.
Dann merkt er plötzlich: die "Tirpitz" neigt sich zur Seite. Die "Tallboys" haben die Seitenwand aufgerissen. "In dem Moment ist mir klar gewesen: es ist aus mit dem Schiff." Jetzt geht es um sein Leben. Als die "Tirpitz" immer mehr Schlagseite kriegt, seilt sich Russow nach eigener Schilderung ab auf einen der Dutzende Meter hohen Schornsteine, der nun fast waagerecht zur Wasseroberfläche liegt. "Ich musste vom Schiff weg, ich hatte Angst, dass es explodiert." Er springt ins eiskalte Meer, klammert sich an eine Boje, an der die Anti-U-Boot-Netze befestigt sind. Und sieht Schreckliches: "Die Menschen im Wasser haben geschrien nach Vater und Mutter, einigen waren die Füße oder Arme abgeschossen." Die britischen Flugzeuge sind zu diesem Zeitpunkt schon wieder abgezogen."
Quelle: Hecking, Spiegel Geschichte, 2014.
THEY also just protected their holded land and did nothing then just be there and never were in war. !!!!
I wish I’d listened to my school lessons as intently as I’ve been listening to this. This is great work. Also, very important work.
I agree totally. I keep watching these over and over and I just can’t stop myself from commenting on everything. At least I’m driving these viewers crazy instead of my poor wife!
An exceptionally well- done video. Kudos. I look forward to the next segment.
I was given a talk by Bill Dundass at school in the 1970(5?), His account of being 'sucked down' and tangled in the rigging has stayed with me ever since.
Another well done video, and thank you for sharing with us. These videos, especially hearing the sailors, soldiers and airmen who lived through it are so critical.
They are the very real human voices of the great tragedy which is war.
My Uncle Andrew was on the Hood, I'm Named in honour of my Uncle. The Germans made an an amazing shot and hit deck stored ammo! I salute all Navy sailors who died at sea. God bless them all.
Yes, God bless them all...
I agree...
But...
What about the 1300 french sailors killed in Mers-el-Kebir?
Few weeks after the Britain rescue of Dunkerque, protected by the french army?
@@RAYGAZOIL What about your head up your arse?
@@RAYGAZOIL the sinking of the Tirpitz was also cruel. one of the less survivors, the captain, spoke from bodys teared apart, guys screaming for their life, a sailor, that got pushed to the wall trough the pressure wave and got smahed. ..... no one of them was in war, killing someone. they just prtected their ship.
Really not sure if I should tell this true story, but for some reason it stuck with me, and I'm going to anyway. No names were named.
My late father served in the navy during the war, right up the sharp end. When I was a kid, maybe 11 - 12, about 1970, there was still a model of the Hood laying about the place that my older brother had built with a kit some years before, he'd left home by then. One day when I was messing about with it, my dad started telling me the story of how the Hood was sunk. Related the whole story, and at the end finally told me: "Only three men survived the sinking of the Hood, and I served with one of them later on in the war."
Then he looked at me, shook his head slightly and declared:
"He was one of the biggest b*stards I ever met in my life."
Maybe the guy was blowing smoke up your dad’s butt. I’m guessing that he wasn’t ever on the Hood, just an ineffectual little man trying to be somebody.
I wasn't expecting that punchline! 😂
I'm listening to them and trying to figure out which one of the three, your dad didn't have a great opinion of??
@@davidlafranchise4782
Where are you listening to them? I'd be interested.
These oral history stories are often very 'telling' because they are completely uncensored.
What is remarkable here is how every account mentions the lack of sound in Hood's final moment, that nobody seems to have registered that there had been this catastrophic explosion until the ship began falling over to port with the steering gone. It all sounds utterly surreal .
I wonder if it was because they were in the “eye of the storm” so to speak and as I’m guessing that a sound wave propagates from the centre they heard no sound?
There are quite a few examples of this. For example, one man aboard HMS Illustrious inside her hangar when she was bombed by Stukas survived - with his boiler suit ripped off - because he was at a convergence point of shockwaves that cancelled each other out.
Highschool physics ... it happens!
The reason is because what tore Hood apart was a fire...a very very rapid fire but a fire nonetheless. The sound of explosives creates the supersonic bang. Hood was rent apart by a rapid burn of her propellant (cordite)and consequent rapidly expanding gas bubble rather than by a classic explosion.@@MattVF
I would not want to be in a tank, a submarine or a navy warship. In a ship, fire is always a great danger and getting trapped below with no lights and no way out but drowning. Frightful, dreadful to even think about.
@@MattVF I might have thought that too, yet witnesses on PoW also mentioned that the anticipated concussion never came.
One of my bosses during my engineering apprenticeship with D of D, munitions was in the RN and was involved in the eventual sinking of the Bismarck.
HMS Hood was a fast battleship in all but name. Her armour and guns were, in places, better than the Queen Elizabeth class. As with all combat, that one shot finds the weak spot, like David and Goliath. Unfortunately for Hood, Bismark found it. RIP all sailors, Royal or merchant Navy, who gave their lives defending Britain against Nazi evil.
Her armor was approximately the equal of Queen Elizabeth 'as built'- not Queen Elizabeth 'after reconstruction'.
All the German naval maneuvers before the war revolved around fighting the HMS Hood because it was the most formidable warship afloat. When the HMS Hood was sunk many members of the Bismarck's crew couldn't believe it. It all happened so quick and the fact that they survived the encounter was amazing to them.
No sorry the Hood was a out of date 1st world war non-updated Battle Cruiser.. Sadly for her brave men whom died on her. She was not up dated with the extra deck armor and better gun firing systems she so badly needed! Why, Because the Royal Navy was told to use her before the war for a show off ship around the Empire.
If she been upgraded before the 2nd world war as she needed, she would have stood a better chance to beat the Bismark. The Prince Of Wale even though she was a modern new fast Battleship with Quad Main Guns and radar control, was so rushed out that the ship still had the workers on board finishing her systems off!
Her gun crews had no real training and the ship had electricity problems too. The weak deck armor on the Hood was her problem since it was not upgraded.
If the Hood had not been there and had instead a stronger Battleship like the King George or better still the Rodney then the Bismark would have been sunk not the old Hood.
Even my late Father who had served in the Royal Navy in the Far East in the war said that the Hood was called the pride of the fleet even though she was not the best ship being so old and not upgraded for the 2nd world war levels? But we had allot of need for any ships to protect a huge Empire. I really am so sad that those brave men died on the Hood,
All because of the lack of updating the armor.
@@colincampbell3679 Lot's of "ifs" there. Hindsight is a wonderful thing... devalued by those who use it without realising.
@@colincampbell3679 She was quite large for a battlecruiser, and pretty well armoured for a BC as well. Its only serious flaw was the distribution of the armour and its slim shape, compared to any battleship. And yes, maybe battlecruisers were outdated at that time, that only Renown survived WW2 is sure a clear sign of the changed environment. But the Hood also wasn't a bad ship.
And if you watch video on her sinking, the round probably hit in the trough of the bow wave. Penetrating below the armour belt.
@colincampbell3679 The deck armour wasn't the problem - plunging fire wasn't possible at the distances being fought. Drachinifel has an excellent video on what likely happened. It was a very, very unlucky shot.
Furthermore, none of what you've said contradicts the reputation tha HMS Hood had at the time. We know that the Hood desperately needed a refit, but the Germans didn't.
British actor John Pertwee, best known for Doctor Who, was a crewman on the Hood and was on shore leave when the Hood quickly left port to battle the Bismarck. Presumably he would likely have been killed if on board. There were civilian tradesmen working aboard when it left and who died.
Civilian workmen were on HMS Prince of Wales NOT HMS Hood.
My late father joined the Irish Navy in the late 50's and recalled a a visiting German ship into the Irish Naval base in Haulbowline in Cork harbour around that time. Some of the visiting seamen were invited to the mess for drinks but none of my father's shipmates were willing to talk to these "former Nazis". My Dad of course, being the affable chap he was, approached them and got talking and drinking with them. As it turned out two of them were survivors from the Bismarck. My father said he will never forget their eyes filling up with tears as they recalled the horror of the battle and seeing their comrades and friends die and being maimed in awful circumstances. It's a self serving truism of course but war truly is hell.
My Uncle, my Mother's brother and whom I never met was a wireman on the ship and was a casualty. It deeply affected my Grandmother who remained a bitter woman after losing her son. Her husband died three years later. The Hood was not to be mentioned, but a photo of my Uncle was always displayed in our living room. More recently, I met someone who's Father had been on the Price of Wales and witnessed the explosion. He didn't want to talk about the war. 1400 plus men on the Hood, a similar number on the Bismark, all because an idiot thought he could rule the world.
Yes... "An idiot thought he could run the world"...
Hundreds of french sailors and aviators could have run to serve with Britain against this idiot, in 1940.
But the Hood shot against Mers-el-Kebir, and killed 1300 french sailors who could'nt defend.
And who did'nt understand what was happening to them.
That was the worst decision/choice of Churchill.
Watch what happened in Dakar, few weeks later...
Even if de Gaulle told he prefered to know french boats and french sailors sailed and killed than serving the nazis, the Hood was, that day, a masterpiece of "British treason".
So sorry for the dead young men from this boat,
but I hate the Hood.
She damned herself, this day, in July 1940.
And thanks to the Navy, who sank that slut Bismarck...
No, it was because Germany threw out the wrothchild bankers.... Its time to realize what the war was really about... International financiers controlling our governments. They could not tolerate the loss of that money. Any other excuse is baloney in light of what's going on today, and evidence revealed since the war. Its always been about the control of the worlds monetary supply .
Худ погиб, сражаясь за свободу, Вечная память его морякам, Отличный фильм
My father, who was just starting his training in th RAF at th time said "it was the first and only time during the war that I thought we might be in trouble".
That's really interesting. I've often wondered what ordinary British folk thought once they had heard the news of the sinking of the Hood.
@@28pbtkh23 It did appear to many that the foundations of the Empire were beginning to crumble... but much of the bad news of that period was censored or its release delayed by the government to prevent further damage to civilian morale.
A most interesting reflection. I had a habit in childhood and adolescence of asking former service personnel whether at any time they thought their side might lose the war (both Axis and Allied).
There were many replies and each was very personal.
My father (who left school on 1940 and would later land on Normandy) was very explicit.
He said it was the loss of to he Prince of Wales and the Repulse and the fall of Hong Kong. His brother died in Hong Kong, so that perhaps played on his mind.
The question "Was there a time when you thought we were on trouble?" is an interesting one.
1415 brave souls went down with HMS Hood. Only 3 survived.
Heroic effort by Hood.
The really tragic thing is the unnecessary fact that the forward firing lasers, as well as the rangefinders on both forward turrets were out of order .. Instead they had to use an ancient, manual turntable to aim the artillery. Against the modern German ships it will be like a T-Ford against a Porsche.
And thus the shooting results were probably terribly bad. As far as is known, Hood did not hit anything with the approximately 12 slaves it fired. Aimed all the time at Prinz Eugene but missed both it and Bismarck.
According to von Müllenheim's account the hesitancy of Bismarck to reply was due to Lütjen's reluctance to engage. His orders were to raid for merchant ships after all, not to engage in a capital ship battle. KzS Lindemann over ruled this with the famous order "I am not going to let my ship be shot away under my arse! Permission to fire!"
Lütjens should have been posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions against the Germans. He even forbade blowing off the Bismarck's jammed rudder in fear that it would damage the screws, which considering what happened should have been a risk worth taking.
Interesting, I don't think the crew liked Lutjens, however Suffolk's log says Bismarck replied to fire within 30 seconds of gunflashes from BC1. It's Lindemann's responsibility to give the order to fire to his gunners
@@JevansUK Not with Lütjens the fleet commander and his staff on board. Lindemann was effectively an "executive officer" with Lütjens as overall commander.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Lutjens is in command of the fleet, Captain is still in command of the ship
@@JevansUK Decisions with regard to the rules of engagement are NOT with the individual ship commander but with the fleet commander. Lindemann would have had complete freedom over the day to day running of his ship, but NOT with the primary combat orders of the ship while the fleet commander was onboard.
Excellent job. Looking forward part two.
Heh, that is part 2. Part 1 is "prelude to disaster". Part three is on its way.
looking forward to the next instalment!
Sadly Only Three Survivors. .But The English Actor Jon Pertwee (Dr Who).. Was Transfered From The Hood Shortly Before Her Ill-Fated meeting With The Bismarck To Do Officer training...One very Lucky Person. Deep Respect To The1418 Who Lost Their Lives On That Sad Day.
I seem remember, years ago, there was a tv programme that detailed a few people who had premonitions of this disaster. One was, I think, crew of the Hood. He was on leave but when recalled, missed his train and the Hood's final sailing.
Years ago I was remodeling a kitchen for a nice couple in California. They have a model of Prinz Eugen on the fireplace mantel so I asked. The homeowner informed me that he had served on Prinz Eugen until he was sent to the Russian front. Lucky ship, Lucky crew
There were only 3 survivors. I think they were doubly lucky. Not only surviving the sinking, but being picked up before hypothermia claimed them. Remember this was not far from the pack ice, in the Denmark Strait.
True, many German sailors did freeze to dead that day sadly.
@@azoniarnl3362well, the day of that battle there were no german dead. But well, later, that changed, a lot.
@@Lupus_Indomitus Youre right, the Bismarck sank the day after.
@@azoniarnl3362 wasnt it like 2 or 3 days? I mean, she was almost in range of air support from france when she was hit. And she could only go 19 knots after the battle against the hood.
@@Lupus_Indomitus Youre right again😂 i'll take my leave.
Ted Briggs a survivor was taken to the wreck of the hood before he passed
I was allowed to take time off for the RNR as my employer lost a brother in the Hood. I am so saddened that Dorsetshire had to leave those German matelots, all covered in oil in the freezing cold water, because 'someone thought they had spotted a periscope'.
Likewise the pity that must be felt for the RN crews of HMS Glorious Acasta and Ardent, who received utterly NO humanitarian aid whatsoever from the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau that had sunk them, inspite of NO other RN ships being in the area. Of the nearly 1600 RN sailors on the three ships only 44 were rescued purely by chance by Norwegian trawlers that were passing through the area hours later.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 I read that the reason for that was that the german ships had suffered serious damage and were not aware of the abscence of the RN. I hope this is true, otherwise i would be disappointed.
@@paulhoffmann4521 I can understand the situation faced by Adm Wilhelm Marschall commanding Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on 8th June 1940 as much as I understand the situation confronting Capt BCS Martin of HMS Dorsetshire and Cmdr H.T Armstrong in HMS Maori on the morning of 27th May 1941.
I use the HMS Glorious episode to highlight the partisan nonsense spoken by so many in these threads regarding what is often portrayed by ignorant YT commenters as a "war crime" commited by the RN in the abandonment of the Bismarck crew.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 - thanks for telling us that. I won't feel so bad the next time a German whinges about the abandonment of most of Bismarck's crew. I can still feel sorry about the crew though: it's a horrible way to go.
@@28pbtkh23 Absolutely, I too have EVERY sympathy with the terrible fate of the young German sailors that morning. I also have slightly more empathy with the tragic sailors than the average YT commenter as my own father served onboard HMS Dorsetshire and took part in the rescues of the 86 Bismarck survivors who were picked up by her (with a further 25 rescued by HMS Maori). In his turn dad then experienced the same situation himself in being left clinging to wreckage in the middle of the ocean one year later, when HMS Dorsetshire was dive bombed and sunk by the IJN in the Indian ocean on 5th April 1942.
Luckily he was in the much warmer tropics, and along with 1100 other RN sailors was spotted by British aircraft and rescued by RN ships 33 hours after being sunk.
One wonders how many men escaped the ship, with legitimate hope of survival, yet whose hopes were not realised. The cold, stormy sea itself probably exacted as great a toll as the detonations. How utterly tragic😢
The three survivors say they saw no others. And HMS Electra spent a good amount of time looking for others. Yes, the possibility always remains that someone may have been overlooked. But the mere fact that the three separate planks these survivors were on stayed roughly together suggests otherwise.
@@ArmouredCarriers Thanks….above all for your fabulous work but also for this reply. Given that one survivor had time to disrobe and saw another man escape, I imagined that a good few had somehow gotten off and into the water. Maybe not.
@@ArmouredCarriersI thank the majority in engineering and in the hull of the ship were vaporized in the explosion. And she sunk so fast the ship pulled the rest down with it. Only 3 were lucky enough to come back up.
@@hisdadjames4876the ship sucked them down. Even Ted Briggs said he was sucked down and was only saved when a imploding compartment sent a air bubble to the surface taking him with it. I imagine a lot of the crew below in the hull of the ship were vaporized in the explosion. It's like a pipe bomb the pressure builds in the hull and blows out bulkheads before it tore the through the hull and cut her in half. I thank even the guys in the forwarded part of the ship were killed by this blast pushing forward through bulkheads.
It’s a miracle that anybody survived. Especially Bob Tilburn.
Incidentally I’m sure that DK Brown (author and ex director of construction) said that in the case of the Jutland battlecruisers that the shockwave through the hull would have killed most in the hull. It’s interesting to note that in the case of Queen Mary the survivors were from the aft turrets, in Indefatigable from way up the main mast and the mostly Spotting top in Invincible. I say mostly as 1 survivor was actually in the midships turret which was hit and exploded (P from memory) and was blown out.
Sometimes it comes down pure luck and chance.
My Uncle was on HMS Hood, my Aunty showed me the telegram she received, which said missing in action. she never really recovered the loss as they had not long been married, before he was posted to the Hood
Incredible that even a few survived at all. I'd love to hear an account from the Germans, I'm sure they were shocked to.
From "Battleship Bismarck: A survivor's story" Written by Bismarck's senior ranking survivor Baron Burkhard von Mullenheim-Rechberg.
"Over the telephone I heard an ever louder and more excited babble of voices-it seemed
as though something sensational was about to happen, if it hadn't already. Convinced that
the Suffolk and Norfolk would leave us in peace for at least a few minutes, I entrusted the
temporary surveillance of the horizon astern through the starboard director to one of my
petty officers and went to the port director.
While I was still turning it toward the Hood, I heard a shout, "She's blowing up!"
"She"-that could only be the Hood!!!
The sight I then saw is something I shall never forget. At first the Hood was nowhere to be seen;
in her place was a colossal pillar of black smoke reaching into the sky. Gradually, at the foot of
the pillar, I made out the bow of the battle cruiser projecting upwards at an angle, a sure sign that
she had broken in two.
Then I saw something I could hardly believe: a flash of orange coming from her forward guns!
Although her fighting days had ended, the Hood was firing a last salvo.
I felt great respect for those men over there."
look out for Ludovic Kennedy's book Pursuit, he deals with the battle very fairly to all concerned and examines the German perspective.
@@bellerophonchallen8861 Will do, thanks.
My grandad was in the royal engineers, during the war and was stationed in rekjavik. And was there when they took the three survivors off. His mate was on hms rodney. He was a captain of a gun turret. They refuelled, then took off after bismark. He always carried a photo of hms rodney, in his wallet.
Hood is an example of sometimes you can get the tactics right but luck just isn't on your side
'Armour plate' wasn't on her side (or deck, specifically)
@@offshoretomorrow3346 Old hat theory that doesn't bear informed scrutiny.
@@offshoretomorrow3346 Her deck, at 3 inches, was as thick as that of the Queen Elizabeth class battleships.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 as built QE has less (40lb +40lb added after Jutland) but he's right that Hood doesn't have armour plate. There is no 3" deck on Hood there's in place a 3 plate lamination of 40,50 and 30lb high tensile steel plating which is nominally 3" but really it's a total combined thickness of approx 2.94". QE had 4" armour plate added over the mags and 2.5" added over the machinery.
@@JevansUK HMS Hood had a complex deck armour scheme but 7” is the figure quoted in specifications. This total thickness comprised several successive deck thicknesses. It was not just one armoured deck. The upper deck 2”, the main deck 3” and the lower deck of 2” were the three armoured decks that ran from the bow right through to the stern. (These thicknesses were not constant along their whole length, so this is just illustrative)
HMS Hood had 33% of her displacement devoted to armour. HMS King George V was considered to be one of the best armoured battleships ever built and she had 35% weight of armour. Hood had essentially the same armour scheme as the very successful Queen Elizabeth class battleships that played a huge part in WW1 and then again in WW2.
There is an error in the off voice about the time of the first salvo of HMS Hood, the twilight is the end of the day, so the time cannot be 5.52 am, so the time of the day must be changed to dawn instead
I think they call often call the non-night of the Arctic circle "twilight" ... but I will have to check that.
Listening to these survivors; when human beings are caught up in titanic violent events, the mind cannot comprehend......that silence described by PO Briggs.' At Jutland, a gunnery rating from one of the turrets of a battlecruiser lost there. He said ' everything became deathly silent, and then the guns fell from their trunnions, and water came up the trunk. the bottom must have been out of her'. Probably survived because the heavy armor protected him from the cataclysm.
13:26 is HMS Braham exploding after a torpedo hit from U 331
THREE torpedoes.
Would have been interesting to hear some corresponding comments from the Bismarck survivors.
When I find them, I'll publish something on them.
@@ArmouredCarriers
There are the Interrogations of the surviving Officers and Men of the Bismarck.
@@ArmouredCarriers Thank you!
Ludovic Kennedy describes their reaction as a mixture of relief and incredulity. The mighty Hood had been quite a kind of menace to them.
It has since been hypothesised that it was a shell that fell short of the Hood, but had enough momentum to go through the ships thinner armour below the waterline, the shell then reached the magazine, this tore the Hood apart. A shell from above doesn’t come into question, they were too close for that.
It's one of three possible causes of the loss of Hood.
Evocative. I assume the artwork displayed was produced soon after the event to record the explosion and loss, probably from crew of PoW. It seems to be marked as navy documentation.
Yes, some eyewitnesses were required to draw their memories of the event immediately after the event. All had to do it again as part of their submission to the court of inquiry.
The renowned British Actor Richard Burton voiced Winston Churchill.
Do wonder if that wonderful melodious voice of the introduction is that of Richard Burton
Yes, it is.
Extraordinary.
How did anyone survive that tremendous explosion ? It’s unreal.
In the modern simulation of the battle the Bismarck is incorrectly shown bearing its B&W coastal identification stripes (often confused as a disruptive pattern), these and the false bow wave etc were painted out on it and PE when anchored in Norway -- so don't include these when building your model of the B showing her during her cruise in the Atlantic. The Hood would not have bent upward mid hull when the 4 and then 15 in magazines were exploding. In the 1950s movies the ships are shown firing in the wrong directions, and the Hood blows up along its entire hull which is nonsense.
Hood being hit at the base of the mainmast. Told by a survivor. 8:40 in this video
Read that same survivor's book- "Flagship Hood"- to see what he believes took place.
I liked this video´s. Never seen them before actually. Did only 3 men ever get of The Hood, must have been more surviving the explosion?
Only three were found.
There were only two crew interviews from the hood. There were three survivors. Where is the interview of the third guy??
Episode one explains. The midshipman would not talk of his experiences even to his family before he died in a car accident in the '60s.
Despite all the spilled ink on this matter. A battleship and a heavy cruiser faced off at long range against a battleship and a battlecruiser. The fight was in the RNs favour, and they lost. Badly. And it was a national humiliation. It's a shame Bismarck wasn't popped apart with the first salvo, but evil wins as often as good.
The RN didn't "lose" the engagement. The aim of the RN was to stop Bismarck from running rampage in the North Atlantic convoy lanes. After HMS Prince of Wales disengaged from the action, Admiral Lütjens ordered an immediate abandonment of "Rhineübung" and a return to France. RN "job done" but at a grievous cost.
I couldn't agree more. The British were defeated at the Denmark Strait because their objective was to sink Bismarck. In this, they failed. However, they did damage Bismarck, which aided in the eventual destruction of the ship.
@@manilajohn0182 If you think the British lost, then tell me how did Bismarck "win" exactly? What was Bismarck's goal? What had SKL ordered Bismarck to do exactly? Sink enemy warships? The British won because as a result of Denmark Strait Lütjens cancelled "Rhineübung". RN's job done.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 The primary British objective in the battle of the Denmark Strait was to sink Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. They had no clear knowledge of German mission objectives. They failed and lost Hood in the process.
The German objective was to survive and sink British warships if at all possible. They were successful, sinking Hood in the process. As far as the battle of the Denmark Strait itself is concerned, the Germans scored a tactical victory.
German operational objectives are outside the scope of the battle. Where they are concerned, the British scored a tactical victory with strategic implications. They eventually sunk an extremely valuable surface unit of the small Kriegsmarine and relieved the pressure on the Royal Navy across the globe.
@@manilajohn0182 Don't talk nonsense "They had no clear knowledge of German mission objectives". It was PERFECTLY clear what she was up to, as in Operation Berlin 3 months earlier. As it was HMS Prince of Wales saw to it that the mission was a COMPLETE non starter, inspite of the grievous loss of HMS Hood, and not knowing at the time that Lütjens had cancelled the operation. You're mistaking how the Denmark Strait engagement was perceived at the time by the British for the actuality of the situation.
Are the footages at 05:50 real of the bridge ?
No they're scenes taken from the "Sink the Bismarck" film.
TY 🙏🙏
Was there something about a shipcat that traded hands with first the Germans and later back to the British again?
There are a lot of legends about "Unsinkable Sam" the cat ... supposedly rescued from Bismarck. Truth can be very strange indeed. But it can be hard to separate from fiction so many years after the event.
Good story, giving some relief from the harsh reality of naval warfare. But highly improbable.
Whereas on Hood served two cats, GInger and Fishcake. I fear, they perished with her.
The most bizarre story goes with the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron in 1905. On route, the Russians ships took lots of animals on board, as I remember having read, in Madagascar. Hopefull, they released them in Cam Ran Bay ere they sailed to Tsushima.
@@BurkhartBertholdreleased the Cobras and crocs.5 sailors died from the big idea of "We'll get pets for the men!"
On the road I grew up in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire lived a family called Attewell and one of his Sons maintained his Father should have been on the Hood and possibly perished but was detained on shore by MPs following an incident of some kind. Can anyone verify this? his name was Bill Attewell.
full soundtrack?
In the house of commons when the news came through that Bismark has been sunk the commons erupted in cheers except for one MP who realised what a huge waste of life had taken place with both Hood and Bismark and the loss of two admirals Holland and Lutjens. All those young men and boys in both ships having their lives snuffed out some in an instant was to him nothing to celebrate about.
Thats richard Burton Narrating is it not?
He's doing the reading of Winston Churchill's quotes, memoirs.
If that big air bubble wasn't there they would have died too.I believe that was divine intervention.
Interest idea. I wonder why God would save 3 men while killing 1400 others.
@@j_taylor The Lord works in mysterious ways
Come to think of it, I wonder how the three survivors of HMS Hood are doing these days.
Beyond the bar all of them.
@@Jpdt19 are they passed away?
All gone..RIP@@painfield6022
@@painfield6022yep
Yeah they all died, the last one in 2008
Dad just missed being hit .he d been taken to serve on victorious .
somebody speaking about the soldiers on tirpitz that died ? screaming for their family, teared apart, completely destroyed by tons of tall boy bombs?
Unfortunately I do not speak German. But in a few instances I have found voices from the other side. Such as the French at Mers-el-Kebir.
I have, however, done a series of videos on the Fleet Air Arm attacks on Tirpitz.
Sad end but conspiracies abound about why the ship blew up the one expert opinion that could be plausible is a shell penetrated the funnel amidships which blew up the magazines which could explain why the ship imploded so quickly?
A lot of engineering effort has gone into understanding how Hood was lost. While we will never know for sure, a look at the wreck a decade or so ago helped. Here's a very good deep-dive into the most plausible current theories that fit the available evidence:
th-cam.com/video/CLPeC7LRqIY/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygUQZHJhY2hpbmlmZWwgaG9vZA%3D%3D
The HMS Hood was executing a turn as it was fatally hit. The turn would have exposed more of her deck area to the falling shells of Bismarck. The Hood had a huge deck area vulnerable to plunging fire.
Captain Leach was looking directly at Hood when the deflagration began, and he stated that the 'execute' signal for the turn was not yet in sight. It's far more likely that the rudder had just been put over on Hood and that she had either not yet begun to turn or had just begun to.
The theory of a lucky plunging shell hit from Bismarck penetrating Hood's deck armor has been dismissed because of the poor angle of fall. It's now been replaced by the theory of a lucky hit short of the vessel.
@manilajohn0182 Thankyou for the reply. Much has been speculated about the loss of Hood. A lucky plunging shell hit seems as likely as an underwater hit, if not more likely, due to the large deck area of the ship, and its known vulnerabilities on this area. We have to remember the stresses of combat may alter perceptions at the time. Certainly a ship which is leaning outwards during a turn, or even the start of one, is exposing a bigger percentage of its deck area to its enemy. But I could subscribe to either view, until more evidence is available.
@@malcolmtaylor518 As I said, a lucky shell hit has been dismissed because of the poor angle of fall. The three theories are a lucky shell landing short, exploding 4" ammunition, and the boat deck fire from UP projectiles. They're all equally possible. If you're truly interested in the matter, then it's worth your time to look at them 'all'- objectively. Don't paint pictures.
Cheers...
There was no plunging fire. At the close range Bismark was from Hood, her guns would have had a very flat elevation and therefore the shell trajectories would mirror this.
@@kevin5073Thankyou for your reply. How do you explain the hit which caused the fire in the 4" ready use ammunition lockers if plunging deck hits weren't possible?
The truth is Hood should never have been out there with her ww1 armor should have been a museum by ww2 she would still be around to see if it was !
Would this be the armour which was the same thickness as that of the Queen Elizabeth class battleships?
She's the 5rd newest capital ship in the Royal Navy. (3rd in 1939)
@@dovetonsturdee7033 Approximately equal to Queen Elizabeth 'as built'- not Queen Elizabeth 'after reconstruction'.
Anymore than any vessel completed in or before 1920? If so it would be a long list of battleships.
You mean like Bismarck's WW1 armour scheme?
Bismarck was just lucky...
This was quite an embarrassment to the RN. Their very best ship blows up and the 2nd can't shoot her guns and so they have to break off and run despite out numbering the enemy. Besides sadness I'm sure there was quite a few angry faces among the admirals.
Hood succumbs to a million to one hit, and PoW hadn't even had a "shakedown cruise" that all ships need to iron out their teething troubles, such was the demands & scope of the RN's commitments across the globe.
HMS Hood should've been retired before WW2.
And replaced with what? Capital ships were in short supply,war was on the horizon and Hood was the largest,fastest ship the RN had.
The Lion class would have been her likely replacement, 2 nominally laid down but never completed due to the fact they wouldn’t be completed in any meaningful time and because the RN desperately needed escorts and carriers.
She was due to serve (after modifications) till 1951/2. Approximately 30 years.
By 1941 Hood was only fit for convoy escort duty or shore bombardment. She was even too slow to run down German or Italian cruisers.
@@MattVFI’m getting tired of hearing about the refit that never happened. The British government and Admiralty didn’t even update her fire control table. By 1941 she had been neglected so badly that she was too slow to even run down German and Italian cruisers.
@@lumberlikwidator8863 Yep. Though to properly refit the fire control your going to have to undertake a ……
@@MattVF The excuses why Hood was never modernized are getting really old and tired after all this time. It’s like, “The dog ate my battlecruiser.”
Sad, sad.
Of course one wonders if
Britain and france hadnt
Declared war in sept39
And stayed neutral like usa
Poland was too far away
To assist anyway!
It would have given time to Hitler to fully prepare his military and economy.
Yet if britain and france Had have launched an offensive
In sept39 They may have prevented hitler building up
His plans to attack the west
After he had subdued poland
Yet the french had no offensive strategy even
After declaring war and britain
Too sat on their butts in Europe for eight months
Only action was on the high seas
The Hood fired first and missed. The Bismark fired next and the Hood exploded. End of story.
Did you watch/listen to the video? Obviously that wasn’t all there was to it. 😂
Not even remotely as simple as you put it. It was most likely an interval of five to ten seconds in which the hit happened and was one in a million in regards to what had most likely have happened. Hood had a specific defect being a Battlecruiser, not just *weak armour*, rather underwater protection that was exposed when the shot occured. It was all very convoluted hence the stupendous theories, but if you really take into account everything, survivors, Prince of Wales' crew, even Bismarck's crew, this is the only explanation.
@@danx4880If you havent watched Drachinifel’s detailed study of the various possibilities, I commend it to you. As you suggest, the hit ‘below the belt’ seems the least implausible cause, the lower hull aft exposed by a deep wake trough..amplified by the speed, the turn and the swell.
@@hisdadjames4876That made me ask if there was a way to reduce that by an altered hull form.
( There is, sort of, something to reduce the bow wave would help, like the underwater bulbous bow. You find it on container ships for economy but its shape and size may need to vary with speed for maximum effect.
But the speed that matters is a specification of the container ship.
I think. )
Prince of Wales hit Bismarck, not Hood. Hood scored no hits. Prinz Eugen hit Hood on the boat deck causing the fire, not Bismarck.