The second warship to be named HMS Hood was a modified Royal Sovereign-class

Royal Sovereign class battleship

The Royal Sovereign class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the British Royal Navy. The class comprised seven ships built to the same design: HMS Royal Sovereign, , HMS Ramilles, HMS Repulse, HMS Resolution, HMS Revenge, and HMS Royal Oak, and a half-sister built to a modified design: ....

 battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, and the last of the eight built. She differed from the Royal Sovereign class in that she had cylindrical gun turrets instead of barbettes, a lower freeboard

Freeboard (nautical)

In sailing and boating, freeboardmeans the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship...

 and a higher metacentric height

Metacentric height

The metacentric height is a measurement of the static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre . A larger metacentric height implies greater stability against overturning...

. She served most of her active career in the Mediterranean Sea, where her low freeboard was less of a disadvantage. The Hood was decommissioned and scuttled in 1914 to act as a blockship

Blockship

A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used.It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of HMS Hood at Portland Harbour; or it may be brought by enemy raiders and used to...

 across the southern entrance of Portland Harbour

Portland Harbour

Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. Grid reference: .-History:...

 at the outbreak of World War I.

She was named after Admiral Sir Arthur William Acland Hood

Arthur Hood, 1st Baron Hood of Avalon

Admiral Arthur William Acland Hood, 1st Baron Hood of Avalon GCB , was an officer of the Royal Navy who held command during the Crimean War and later served as First Naval Lord.- Early life :...

, First Lord of the Admiralty 1885–1889. (The other two Hoods were named after an earlier relative, Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood

Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood

Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was a British Admiral known particularly for his service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars...

.)

Design

HMS Hood was laid down at Chatham Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...

 on 12 August 1889. She was launched on 30 July 1891, the Viscountess Hood christening her. She completed her sea trials in May 1893 and was completed on 1 June 1893.

In their day, the battleships of the Royal Sovereign class were the largest warships ever built. Hood differed significantly from the other Royal Sovereigns in that she had a freeboard

Freeboard (nautical)

In sailing and boating, freeboardmeans the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship...

 of only 11 in 3 in (3.43 m) compared to 19 in 6 in (5.94 m) of the other members of the class. The Royal Sovereigns had reverted to a higher freeboard after several classes of low freeboard vessel had been constructed, the last being the Trafalgar class

Trafalgar class battleship

The two Trafalgar-class battleships of the British Royal Navy were late nineteenth century ironclad warships. Both were named after naval battles won by the British during the Napoleonic wars under the command of Admiral Nelson.-Design:...

. Low freeboard had been popular for around ten years since it gave a smaller hull area to armour and made a smaller target for gunfire to hit, although it had the disadvantage that it reduced seaworthiness.

This small freeboard meant that Hood was very wet in rough weather and her maximum speed reduced rapidly as the wave height increased, making her only suitable for service in the relatively calm Mediterranean. This was seen as a vindication of the barbette/high-freeboard design in the rest of her class, and all subsequent British battleship classes had high freeboard.

Because the stability of a ship is largely due to freeboard at high rolling angles, she was given a larger metacentric height

Metacentric height

The metacentric height is a measurement of the static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre . A larger metacentric height implies greater stability against overturning...

 (the vertical distance between the metacenter and the centre of gravity below it) of around 4.1 feet (1.2 m) instead of the 3.6 feet (1.1 m) of the rest of the Royal Sovereigns to make her roll less in rough seas. This had the effect of making her roll period shorter by around 7% compared to her sisters, which in turn made her gunnery less accurate.
In spite of the lower centre of gravity required, the increased displacement to achieve the lower freeboard allowed more weight in or near the keel, allowing the main armament guns and gun crews to be protected by armoured turrets—a heavy type of rotating gun mounting of the mid- and late 19th century very different from what would later be known as gun "turrets" on ships—rather than having the guns exposed on top of barbette

Barbette

A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...

s -- the ancestor of the modern "turret", which is essentially a barbette enclosed by a rotating gunhouse, a very different concept from the older style of turret Hood mounted—as the other members of the class. The heavy, old-fashioned type of turrets added to the amount of weight high up in the ship compared to barbettes and also drove the design toward a lower freeboard.

The upper 6-inch (152-mm) gun deck in the other Royal Sovereigns was enclosed in casemates in 1901-1902 replacing the original gun shields, but the stability of the Hood was considered insufficient for this modification.

The Royal Sovereign class battleships at first had a tendency to roll heavily in certain conditions; after HMS Resolution

HMS Resolution (1892)

HMS Resolution was a Royal Sovereign-class predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.-Technical characteristics:Resolution was laid down by Palmers on 14 June 1890, launched on 28 May 1892, and completed in November 1893.. She was long and had a maximum cruising speed of...

 rolled badly in heavy seas in 1893, the class was nicknamed the "Rolling Ressies," a name which stuck even though the fitting of bilge keels quickly solved the problem.

Overall, Hood was considered a useful comparison to her near-sisters, as the operational utility of old-style heavy turrets and the resulting required low freeboard could be compared to that of lighter barbettes allowing a higher freeboard aboard otherwise nearly identical ships in terms of machinery, protection, armament, and so forth. The Royal Navy concluded that the advantages of barbettes and higher freeboard they allowed outweighed the drawbacks of heavier, old-style turrets and the lower freeboard requirement they imposed, and future British battleships were designed with barbettes and higher freeboard, with the barbettes protected by armored rotating gunhouses (the modern gun "turret").

Operational history

HMS Hood commissioned at Chatham

Chatham Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...

 on 1 June 1893 for service with the Mediterranean Fleet

Mediterranean Fleet

Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...

. She had an inauspicious beginning, being in commission only six days when she sprang a leak in her forward compartments on 7 June 1893 as a result of faulty riveting and excessive strain on the hull when she had been on the blocks. Repairs were complete in two days, and on 9 June 1893 she returned to service. The Duke of Edinburgh

Duke of Edinburgh

The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...

 inspected her ceremonially, after which she departed from Chatham Dockyard on 12 June 1893. She was inspected officially by Vice Admiral Sir Algernon C. F. Heneage, Commander in Chief at the Nore

Nore

The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, England. It marks the point where the River Thames meets the North Sea, roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point in Kent....

, on 17 June 1893. She left Sheerness

Sheerness

Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....

 for the Mediterranean on 18 June 1893, stopping at Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

 to coal from 26 June to 29 June 1893.

Hood arrived at Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 on 3 July 1893 to take up her Mediterranean Fleet duties, relieving battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 HMS Colossus

HMS Colossus (1882)

The second HMS Colossus was a Colossus class second-class British battleship, launched in 1882 and commissioned in 1886. She had a displacement of 9,520 tons, and an armament of 4 × 12-inch breechloaders, 5 × 6-inch guns and had a respectable speed of 15.5 knots. She served in the Mediterranean...

. In 1897 and 1898, Hood served as part of the International Squadron

International Squadron

The International Squadron can refer to:*International Squadron, a fighter unit led by Claire Chennault in China*120 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force*International Squadron a 1941 film starring Ronald Reagan...

 blockading Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

 and maintaining order during the Greco-Turkish uprising there. Her Mediterranean Fleet service ended in April 1900, when she returned to the United Kingdom without relief in the Mediterranean and paid off into reserve at Chatham Dockyard on 29 April 1900.

On 12 December 1900, Hood recommissioned to relieve battleship HMS Thunderer

HMS Thunderer (1872)

HMS Thunderer was a British Royal Navy Devastation-class battleship.Thunder was an ironclad turret ship designed by Edward James Reed with revolving turrets, launched in 1872...

 as port guard ship at Pembroke Dock

Pembroke Dock

Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...

.

By the end of March 1901, Hood had transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet for a second period of service there. She participated in combined exercises of the Mediterranean Fleet, Channel Fleet

Channel Fleet

The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...

, and Cruiser Squadron off the coasts of Cephalonia and Morea

Morea

The Morea was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. It also referred to a Byzantine province in the region, known as the Despotate of Morea.-Origins of the name:...

 that began on 29 September 1902. Two days before the exercises ended, Hood damaged her rudder on the seabed while leaving Angostili Harbor on 4 October 1902. She went first to Malta for temporary repairs, then on to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 for permanent repairs at Chatham Dockyard, steering by the use of her twin screws rather than her broken rudder for the entire way. She paid off at Chatham on 5 December 1902 to begin those repairs. Upon their completion, she transferred to Devonport

Devonport, Devon

Devonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889...

 for a refit.

Her refit completed, Hood commissioned at Devonport on 25 June 1903 to relieve battleship HMS Collingwood

HMS Collingwood (1882)

HMS Collingwood was an ironclad battleship of the Royal Navy. She was the first example of the Admiral-class and was named after Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, Horatio Nelson's second-in-command in the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar....

 in the Channel Fleet. As a unit of "Fleet B1," she took part in combined exercises of the Channel Fleet, Mediterranean Fleet, and Home Fleet in annual maneuvers off the coast of Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 from 5 August 1903 to 9 August 1903. On 28 September 1904, battleship HMS Russell

HMS Russell (1901)

HMS Russell was a Duncan-class predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.-Technical Description:HMS Russell was laid down by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company at Jarrow on 11 March 1899 and launched on 19 February 1902...

 relieved Hood of her Channel Fleet duties. Hood commissioned into reserve at Devonport on 3 January 1905, where she remained in reserve until February 1907.

In April 1909, Hood was refitted and partially stripped at Devonport, after which she began service as a receiving ship at Queenstown, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. In September 1910, she recommissioned to continue this service and to serve as flagship of the Senior Naval Officer, Coast of Ireland. On 2 April 1911 she was in Cork Harbour

Cork Harbour

Cork Harbour is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational area" . Other contenders include Halifax Harbour in Canada, and Poole Harbour...

 for the 1911 Census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

.

In late 1911, she was towed to Portsmouth and placed on the disposal list. From 1911 to 1914, she was employed as a target for underwater protection experiments, and in 1913 and 1914 was used in highly secret tests of anti-torpedo bulges, proving their utility for use on Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 capital ship

Capital ship

The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...

s. Subsequently she was photographed in dry dock at Portsmouth by the crew of Naval Airship No. 18 in June 1914, before being placed on the Sale List in August 1914.

Fate

After World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 began in August 1914, concerns arose over gaps in the defences of Portland harbour

Portland Harbour

Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. Grid reference: .-History:...

. On 4 November 1914, Hood was scuttled in Portland harbour

Portland Harbour

Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. Grid reference: .-History:...

 to block the Southern Ship Channel, a potential access route for U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

s or for torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

es fired from outside of the harbour. The intention had been for her to gradually settle on the seabed with her seacocks open but she took so long to sink that the tide turned and she started to be pulled out of position, and consequently explosives were quickly used to blow a hole in her hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

. She broke her back and came to rest with her keel awash; the wreck lies upside down, a common position for sunken battleships because of the weight of the turrets, at 50°34.10′N 2°25.22′W.

Her wreck became known as "Old Hole in the Wall" and was popular with scuba

Scuba set

A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. It is much used for sport diving and some sorts of work diving....

divers until diving there was banned at the beginning of January 2004 for safety reasons.

Despite her 1914 scuttling, the Royal Navy included Hood on its sale list in both 1916 and 1917.

External links

• Maritimequest HMS Hood Photo Gallery
• http://css.engineering.uiowa.edu/fluidslab/pdfs/57-020/stability.pdf
• http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/swos/dca/stg4-01.html