Loss of HMS Hood

In 1941, the battlecruiser HMS Hood – at 860 feet long, with a beam of 105 feet, a displacement of 48,360 tons (fully loaded), and a maximum speed of 32 knots – was Britain’s largest and fastest warship. And yet on 24 May, HMS Hood, the epitome of British naval power, with an armament which included eight 15-inch guns, was blown up a mere eight minutes after engaging the German battleship KMS Bismarck and her consort, the heavy cruiser KMS Prinz Eugen. As HMS Hood sank into the icy depths of