Prince Of Wales 1920

The loss of HMS Hood

Seventy years ago on Tuesday May 24, one of the greatest disasters to befall the Royal Navy during World War Two occurred. This was the sinking of HMS Hood by the German battleship Bismarck. This had special significance for our area because two out the only three survivors from 1,418 officers and men had connections with Teesside. Ted Briggs, who was born and lived in Redcar and Bob Tilburn who moved to Teesside after the war.

A photograph showing just a portion of the 1,418 crew who manned HMS Hood giving a graphic indication of the huge loss of life. This photograph was kindly submitted by retired Evening Gazette picture editor Dave Jamieson. It shows the crew of HMS Hood a few years before the war while the ship was based at Malta, Dave's grand father Michael Hart was serving on the ship and is somewhere in this picture, he left HMS Hood before the war began. The sheer scale of the calamity is difficult for us to comprehend when so many servicemen lose their lives in an instant. A photograph kindly submitted by David Jamieson, retired Evening Gazette picture editor, gives us some idea. Dave's grandfather served on HMS Hood before the war and while they were at Malta a large section of the crew assembled on the battlecruiser's forecastle around the main armament for a photograph. Not all of these men would have been serving on HMS Hood at the time of its destruction but it gives us a graphic illustration of the number of lives that were lost in a matter of minutes.