# Why was HMS Hood special? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626 "2023-06-16T14:00:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cjackson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a3d4f5/32.png) [@cjackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjackson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/1 "2023-06-16T14:00:40Z")
It seems that from the time of her commissioning up until the fateful battle with Bismarck, she was a special ship. Why was that? Also, if she had survived the war do you think they would have preserved her as a museum ship? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/2 "2023-06-16T14:03:59Z")
> [@cjackson](#): > > Why was that? The Hood was the largest warship in the world for the first 20 years of its life. In what other ways do you feel that it was special? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/3 "2023-06-16T14:47:02Z")
IIRC the _Hood_ was mostly important because it was the largest warship of its day, it was _fast_ (32 knots), and it had big guns (15" guns same as the British battleships). So on paper it looked extremely formidable, and when it blew up and sunk so quickly, it was a huge shock to everyone. A modern day example might be how we had heard for decades about how tough and relentless the Russians were, and how shocked the world was when they got their asses handed to them by the Ukrainians last year. As far as museum ships go… had it survived, its consideration for museum ship status would most likely have depended on what it did for the remainder of the war. The British weren’t so eager to have museum ships after the war, unlike the US, so the chances were low to begin with, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/4 "2023-06-16T14:49:12Z")
> [@cjackson](#): > > Also, if she had survived the war do you think they would have preserved her as a museum ship? If she sank the _Bismarck_ instead of the other way around, most certainly. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/5 "2023-06-16T16:14:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > IIRC the _Hood_ was mostly important because it was the largest warship of its day, it was _fast_ (32 knots), and it had big guns (15" guns same as the British battleships). > > So on paper it looked extremely formidable, and when it blew up and sunk so quickly, it was a huge shock to everyone. [It shouldn’t have been.](https://nationalinterest.org/feature/battlecruisers-the-glass-jawed-warship-failed-13828) ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/6 "2023-06-16T16:34:24Z")
_Hood_ was the biggest ship in the world for several years, fast with a powerful punch, known as “The Mighty Hood.” She was in many ways an embodiment of the Royal Navy, often serving as a flagship and flying the flag. Her loss was a tremendous psychological blow. Her armor was upgraded while she was under construction, after British battlecruisers performed so poorly at Jutland, so many considered her a fast battleship. She was overdue for a major overhaul and modernization, but the outbreak of war made it impossible and the ship was not in very good condition by the battle of the Denmark Strait. The tactics of Admiral Holland were also somewhat suspect, but that’s another discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/7 "2023-06-16T17:10:58Z")
Previous thread on topic: > [@Why was the Hood so Mighty? and what happened to the Graf Zeppelin?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-hood-so-mighty-and-what-happened-to-the-graf-zeppelin/407367): > > I’m reading Bercuson and Herwig’s book, [The Destruction of the Bismarck](http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Destruction-Of-The-Bismarck-David-Bercuson/9781585673971-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+'destruction+of+bismarck') and I had a couple of questions about that naval period I thought I’d ask of the Dope. First, the Hood. There seems to be general agreement that as a batle cruiser, H.M.S. Hood wasn’t supposed to go toe-to-toe with a full-bore battleship. So why was it nicknamed “The Mighty Hood”? It seems to have had a considerable reputation - it’s referred to as the pride of the Royal Navy, a major symbol of the British Empire, etc. … ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/8 "2023-06-16T18:02:08Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > > [@bump](#): > > > > IIRC the _Hood_ was mostly important because it was the largest warship of its day, it was _fast_ (32 knots), and it had big guns (15" guns same as the British battleships). > > > > So on paper it looked extremely formidable, and when it blew up and sunk so quickly, it was a huge shock to everyone. > > [It shouldn’t have been.](https://nationalinterest.org/feature/battlecruisers-the-glass-jawed-warship-failed-13828) Same metallurgy as the _Titanic_, I remember reading: > **[Did steel's fragility doom Hood, Titanic?](https://www.deseret.com/1998/12/9/19417089/did-steel-s-fragility-doom-hood-titanic)** > > WASHINGTON -- The same type of steel that cracked open when the Titanic struck an iceberg also may have doomed the pride of the Royal Navy -- the battlecruiser HMS Hood -- the largest and most powerful warship of the era, U.S. researchers say. ... ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/9 "2023-06-16T18:23:27Z")
It blew up in a manner remarkably similar to the battlecruisers at Jutland 25 years before, and suffered from some of the same defects as construction was too advanced to make substantial changes by the time the lessons of Jutland were properly absorbed. The battleship building ‘holiday’ mandated by Washington meant that only _Nelson_ and _Rodney_ (an experiment not repeated) were built until 1936 when the first two _KGV_s were laid down. Their design was very different from _Hood_, though still not unsinkable as events proved. The British don’t really do warship preservation, and most of those that do survive owe it to accidents of chance rather than selection. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/10 "2023-06-16T18:43:51Z")
The biggest issue, her Achilles Heel, was her deck armor, 3-5 inches, which was meager even by the standards of the time. [By contrast the Iowas had about 7.5", the Yamatos 8-9"-note they were often layered to decap incoming shells before hitting the thickest layer] ---
**Author:** ![Snipe70e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Snipe70e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snipe70e)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/11 "2023-06-17T00:01:49Z")
If the hood survived it is doubtful that she would have been made a museum ship. After WWII all the obsolete ships were decommissioned and used for scrap iron. Almost all the museum ship were pulled from the bone yard years after WWII and were slated to be scrapped. It took a group of people coming together and realizing that history should be honored and saved. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/12 "2023-06-17T11:40:37Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > The British don’t really do warship preservation, and most of those that do survive owe it to accidents of chance rather than selection. There is the HMS Belfast which is conspicuously moored in downtown London on the Thames. IIRC part of the Imperial War Museum. Not sure why that ship and not others. Dunno the story of how it got there. [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSsANa5YwVthOZ2Up1-RamVu8gJq1073rjdJg&usqp=CAU) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSsANa5YwVthOZ2Up1-RamVu8gJq1073rjdJg&usqp=CAU) ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/13 "2023-06-17T12:29:09Z")
Meager by the standards of 1940, but her armor and armament were comparable to the best battleships in service in 1920. For that reason, it’s more accurate to describe her as a fast battleship. She could also outpace most of the cruisers of 1920. A deadly combination of speed and fighting power. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/14 "2023-06-17T12:32:18Z")
But it seems she bought that speed at the expense of armor. IIRC the ship was due for an armor upgrade but events caught up before that happened. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/15 "2023-06-17T12:42:15Z")
Catch 22 if they upgraded the deck armor; her previous upgrades had already pushed her deeper into the water, making her a very wet ship. Adding another thousand tons or two would have just made that worse. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/16 "2023-06-17T12:43:48Z")
By 1940, yes, her speed was sufficient\* while her armor wasn’t up to the demands of 1940 combat. IMO, it’s not a design flaw if a ship can’t compete with ships that are 20 years newer. \*The speed of _Hood_ and _Prince of Wales_ was just barely enough to allow an intercept _Bismarck_, and only at an unfavorable angle. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/17 "2023-06-17T13:50:47Z")
HMS Belfast had a long and distinguished career with the Royal Navy. Escorting Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union, assisting in destroying the German warship Scharnhorst, and supporting the Normandy landings on D-Day. Then in action against the Japanese and in the Korean War. The government refused funding to preserve her and she was due to be scrapped, but the Belfast Trust raised the finance and she was finally towed to her home in the Thames in 1971 as an official part of The British War Museum. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/18 "2023-06-17T15:56:08Z")
They originally looked at preserving just a turret, then dared to think of a ship. The Colony-class cruiser HMS _Gambia_, then lying up for disposal in Fareham Creek, was first looked at, but _Gambia_ had drastically deteriorated even in the short time it had been there. _Belfast_ was the harbour accommodation ship for Portsmouth (a role now filled by HMS _Bristol_) so it was in better shape. After a few years the financial position of the Trust became unsustainable (a common thing with warship preservation) and the Imperial War Museum took it over. Prince Philip was very much against the project, I gather, though he came round in later years. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/19 "2023-06-17T16:47:24Z")
I suspect that really the US wasn’t _that_ excited about museum ships either; it’s just that the majority of them either continued to serve or were mothballed after the war, and sometime in the 1960s or 1970s, local groups managed to get them donated to their states/cities as museums and tourist attractions. I get the impression that the British government was a bit more draconian about cutting the RN’s size and didn’t keep as many old ships in commission or in mothballs. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626/20 "2023-06-17T17:17:20Z")
She was also known as the largest and [most heavily armed submarine](https://www.reddit.com/r/WarshipPorn/comments/grbwrz/bow_of_the_hms_hood_the_most_heavily_armed/) in the world, so that’s pretty special [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-hms-hood-special/985626.md?page=2)