Hood

[airbolt]

What was the impact on morale of the sinking of HMS Hood In Britain in WW2? I gather that the ship had a great regard from the pre-war public and its subsequent fate was a huge shock.

I have read something about this subject but have found many of the Books rather technical and dry.

If anyone has any recommendations i would greatly appreciate it.

[Clanad]

Had the sinking of the Hood not been followed quickly by the destruction of Germany's Bismarck, the devastation to the Bristish moral would have been far greater.  The sinking of the Bismarck seemed to vindicate the loss of the Hood due to the greater impact on Germany. Following is a paragraph from The International Journal of Naval History that addresses the situation...

 However, the record of British battleships in the Second World War did not give the British press, people or government constant excitement and rejoicing. Battleship losses were the cause of much emotion and debate. Most shattering was the loss of HMS Hood in May 1941. As has been noted, Hood was the magical medallion of the British fleet, and its loss was felt deeply. �The destruction of the battle-cruiser Hood is a heavy calamity�, remarked a mournful editorial in The Times. �With her 42,000 tons displacement she was the largest and most powerful warship afloat� the loss of this mighty unit makes an acknowledged gap in a fighting line that, especially since the defection of our French ally, has had to be stretched round the globe to the utmost limit of its elasticity.�[85] Luckily, revenge was extracted very soon afterwards for the Hood�s victor, Bismarck, was itself sunk following a dramatic chase across the Atlantic. This element allowed newspaper editors to comfort their readers with the thought of a swift retribution. �When the Hood blew up, the Navy set its teeth and went all out for vengeance. Now the account is paid.� Contd.

[Clanad]

Contd.

The News Chronicle editorial went on to explain that Hitler�s strategic loss was far greater than Britain�s. Having fewer capital ships to risk, the loss of the Bismarck was a huge blow to German designs on Britain�s naval supremacy.[86] The Times spoke of �How the Hood was avenged�, and added that it was a �Thrilling story of relentless pursuit� so ends another of those moments of thunderous drama that sometimes break in upon the grim, arduous, silent watch from which the Navy in war-time knows no respite.�[87]

[Peter Pedant]

Shattering - on a par with the Loss of Singapore

both had the effect of inducing the question; well what do we do now?

 

PP

[sddsddean]

I also think a major part for the loss of morale, was that only 3 sailors survived out of a complement of about 1500. Such was  the massive explosion of Hoods magazine.

[Gilli]

You might be interested to read "Forgotten Voices of the Second World War" by Max Arthur. This is a series of 1st hand recollections gathered by the Imperial War Museum and selected and edited by Arthur in chronological order. It conveys the reality of war far better than many "dry" history books and if memory serves me right, I am sure there are a couple of entries regarding HMS Hood and the Bismark.

[airbolt]

Thanks everyone.

[Bully Wee]

Although the loss of the Hood was a major blow the reaction to its sinking at the time was considerably less sensationally reported than would have been the case in more recent times, due partly to wartime censorship and partly to the fact that the nation was perhaps much more stoic about such tragedies then than would be the case in more recent times. Frequently, during the war, such incidents were referred to in a very vague way (for obvious reasons of morale) and there are countless examples of naval disasters - caused by either enemy action or misadventure - actually being suppressed completely at the time.

A perfect example of this was the loss of HMS Dasher (a merchant ship converted to Aircraft Carrier) which suddenly blew up and quickly sank in the Firth of Clyde in March 1943.  To this day it is not known whether the loss was caused by an aircraft striking the ship on landing, a stray torpedo fired from the submarine practice range a few miles away or (less likely) a U boat which had sneaked past the boom defences. What is known is that the ship was dogged by bad luck and at the time of the disaster had a serious problem with a leakage of aviation fuel, probably the best bet for the cause of the disaster. The majority of the crew escaped the actual sinking but some 350 were incinerated when strong breezes fanned the flames of the fuel burning on the sea surface.

The survivors were sworn to secrecy and indeed observers of the incident from the distant shore were unaware that a sinking had occurred.