Seeing as how there is such a wide range of people on here, I was just wondering whether anyone has or had any family contact with ex – crew members of HMS Hood or indeed HMS Electra?

My grandfather was on both ships and was on board Electra when they picked up the three survivors when the Hood went down.

There's plenty of stuff written about the Hood and a paperback about Electra but you never get to hear the personal stories.

Just wondering anyway…. I would not be surprised if the answer is no.

Not with either of those ships, but my grandfather should have been on the Lancastria in 1940 with the rest of his unit – luckily he was ordered to stay behind to collect stragglers and left France a couple of days later.

I have an account by someone on the Rodney if that is any good. I could mail you a PDF of his navy chapter.

TPTcruiser… that'd be great if you could.

Yes, a (great?) uncle apparently. I thought he was on the Ark Royal but my brother mentioned at Xmas that it was the Hood. Also have two brothers who died in the Boer War(s). Am doing the whole ancestory thing at the mo and digging up all kinds of stuff. One bloke (c mid 1700's) had 14 children from 3 wives!

BTW, we can't seem to find his name – do you know where we can (easily?) get a list of crew? Cheers

Just found this. Will probably do the trick if it's still active.

Wifes Grandfather was a spotter on the Suffolk during the battle.
He was on duty as the starboard after look out as it all kicked off.
No longer with us though. 🙁

Here's a good passage:

It was my first week at sea and as we steamed back to Scotland, I felt strongly that the war which seemed at one time to be so artificial, had come to me with a vengeance. First with the sequence of blitzes and then the naval action – I wondered what was coming next. The action was very self-revealing. I suppose that most of us suffered a mixture of apprehension and excitement whilst the situation was developing. When the action actually started everything became so hectic and noisy there seemed to be no time to register any emotion. It is strange after all this time that much of this has softened to the degree that the really strong memory which remains is that of the compressive effect of the big guns. The smaller six inch and four point seven inch guns gave a very sharp crack but the big sixteen inch guns produced a thunderous noise which was much lower in pitch but somehow had the effect of making one feel that the ears were being pressed a couple of inches towards each other before bouncing back again.

YGM

spacemonkey

The Hood website seems to work on the basis of people informing them whether relatives were crew. They also require some sort of proof. You don't need to submit it to them but just tell them what it is and they will add if it all stacks up.

My Grandfather was a PO II on the Hood. He was Admiral Walter Cowan's coxswain; they were apparently good friends…. in a sort of patrician to plebeian sort of way. He was my father's godfather. I have bundles of letters from him (Cowan), the HMS Hood crossing the line certificate from the world cruise in 1929 along with mentions in despatches from when he was on Electra where he had risen to the giddy heights of CPO. He was offered a commission in 1940/41 but refused it. He was a career navy man and as he had been there since he was a boy (taking a small part in the battle of Jutland in WW1) he felt his place was below decks rather than as an officer where he would be remote from the guys he felt were part of his "family".

Sadly, he didn't survive the war so I never met him. He dies when Electra went down in the Battle of Java Sea in 1942 (I think), about this time of year (28th Feb).

War sucks doesn't it?

This is a good read – lost Voices of the Royal Navy and I'm pretty sure there are a number of accounts from eye witnesses on the sinking of the Hood, and one from a survivor IIRC.

dhs

Thanks for the comments Slowjo – always interesting to hear first person anecdotes, even though they're sometimes very touching.

You're right – war sucks. Also, I suppose if I'm honest, I can sometimes detach myself (if you know what I mean) from what's going on abroad right now, but when I hear about my own family's exploits (lots of military background) or those of others I "know", it hits home a helluva lot more.

Grandfather survived the Hood sinking … don't know much about it though. He died when I was a kid and my dad died a couple of years ago, so I've no one to ask. I do have some pics of him in uniform when he was serving on the Hood.

Grandfather survived the Hood sinking … don't know much about it though. He died when I was a kid and my dad died a couple of years ago, so I've no one to ask. I do have some pics of him in uniform when he was serving on the Hood.

Bloody hell – he was one of the three that got picked up?

not many people saw the hood go down…and it happened quickly…cant be many eye witnessess? only 3 people got off it didnt they? which would make still s8tannorms grandfarther a rarety? (spelt right???)

s8tannorm – there's an outside chance that our grandfather's knew each other. Most of the Electra crew were transferred from the Hood and they sort of regarded each other as "sister ships".

My Grandfather was on the Manchester at the time. They'd been involved with the Bismarck chase around the north of Scotland from the North Sea into the North Atlantic but Manchester was no match for Bismarck and everyone knew it. It was about 2-3 days later that Bismarck sank the Hood.

Slowjo his name was Henry Wright if that helps any. I know he also served on the Iron Duke for quite a spell.

Hmmm, he must have been pulled off Hood before it happened.

"In the case of H.M.S. Hood, of the 1,418 men aboard that day, ONLY THREE were pulled from the water alive: Midshipman William Dundas, Able Seaman Bob Tilburn and Ordinary Signalman Ted Briggs. There were absolutely no other survivors ever picked up."

From http://www.hmshood.com/admin/faq.htm#faq8

No idea fellas, sorry.

This H Wright?

Grandfather survived the Hood sinking

Was he on the Bismarck?

LOL @ ScottChegg

Slowjo … could well be. I'll have to do some digging around. If it is it'll explain why he survived 😉

My Grandfather was on the HMS Hood 4 weeks before the battle. I believe he was reassigned to another ship.

Lucky i'd say.

Just found this, Obviosly wasnt on the Hood when it sank.

http://www.hmshood.org.uk/crew/database/crewDatabaseSurnameInd.php?Surnom=M

I had 2 uncles who were R.N. but neither on the Hood. I did hear a story from my Gran about a woman in our village who, unbeknown to someone else, had 2 sons on the Hood. This woman was a bit deaf & when it came over the radio that the Hood had gone down she said 'what was that about the Hood?' & someone said 'they've sunk the Hood'. You can just imagine it.
A great read is 'The Mighty Hood' by Ernle Bradford. The end of chapter 22 is very poignant,
The Hood's grave is 63deg 20' N, 31deg 50' W. If ever a ship died in action, the Hood did. Her last salvo was in the air at the moment when she recived the final blow. Every man was at his post; the breeches had just slammed behind shells & charges for a further salvo; she was steaming still at 28 knots; & then the sea & the darkness covered her. One minute she was alive, the next minute dead.
She lies deep in the waters of the North, washed by the cold currents of the Denmark Strait, 500 miles north-east of Cape Farewell
Always brings a tear to my eye that bit.

Think it took 3 mins to sink. My grandad was Jack Morris on that crew list.