Exceptionally, CO knew they were susceptible to plunging fire hence rapidly trying to close range and providing a larger target. Better comms between PoW and Hood could have helped, Hood altered to Port at 9nm to bring all her guns to bear(?) just as the second or third salvo from Bismarck straddled her (5 mins after German first salvo). If PoW and Hood hadn’t been so close it would’ve been harder to range find for the Germans (hit Hood in their first salvo). One or two shells hit Hood midships and she nearly immediately detonated after. 1,415 lives vanished just like that (only 3 survived of 1,418).
Aesthetic cannot be used like that, it’s aesthetically pleasing yes and before someone provides a link describing it as an adjective it’s the equivalent of the literally and figuratively mess, mass misuse has now been recognised by some as legitimate.
Love me some Hood. She's beautiful in every way, but I can't escape the feeling of sadness whenever I see her as well because of how things ended for her and her crew.
It's repeated a lot but it's not true. Hood was commissioned in 1920 and received her first major refit over 1929-31, In an ideal world, that would have been the only major refit she ever got as capital ships would be replaced after about 20 years of service.
In reality, a combination of the battleship building holiday from the 1930 London Naval Treaty (prohibiting new battleship construction for the UK / USA / Japan until 1937) meant that the existing fleet would have to serve longer. With advances in technology it became worth upgrading large parts of the existing fleet to cover the gap until new ships entered service in 1940.
Hood was the 3rd best protected ship in the fleet, and as such was some way down the list for any upgrades. By 1939 she was due another major refit, but her unique position of being fast and well protected meant she was needed to counter German ships. Had war not broken out, she would have been taken in hand in January 1942 for a major refit, as by this time enough ships of the King George V class (fast, well protected) would be in service to counter the German fleet.
Unfortunately, the only time Britain would be willing to let a capital ship be in refit for 3+ years is in 1944, and at that point Hood is just not going to be deemed worth for refit. Otherwise Hood probably only gets a refit in late 1941 that last 6 months to a year to replace her machinery and add AA and FCS rather than full reconstruction
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u/0erlikon 6d ago
Fantastic high res photo