
On the fateful morning of May 24, 1941, a cataclysmic explosion broke the back of HMS Hood, the pride of the Royal Navy, during a dire confrontation with the German battleship Bismarck in the frigid waters of the Denmark Strait.

The destruction of this emblem of British naval power resulted in the deaths of 1,415 sailors, with only three crew members miraculously surviving. Despite the efforts of several investigations, the precise cause of this maritime disaster has remained a subject of debate and speculation.

The final voyage of HMS Hood was set in motion when the battleship Bismarck, accompanied by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, embarked on an Atlantic mission to sever the vital supply lines between Britain and America.

Detected by an RAF reconnaissance flight in a Norwegian fjord, Bismarck managed to elude an RAF attack before being spotted again by the cruiser Norfolk on May 23. The stage was set for an encounter that would have profound implications for both navies.

As the two British ships, Hood and the newly commissioned battleship Prince of Wales, closed in on the enemy, Hood’s vulnerability became apparent.

The British battle cruiser, with its outdated design, attempted to close the distance to Bismarck to present its more robustly armored sides to the foe, as the engagements of naval warfare dictated a preference for close-range combat where the plunging fire from long distances would be mitigated. The Germans, however, proved their mettle with superior range-finding equipment.

The exchanges of fire between the vessels were fierce and intense. A shell from Prinz Eugen struck Hood, setting the deck ablaze, while Hood and Prince of Wales delivered their own volleys against the German ships.

It was during this ferocious exchange that a salvo from Bismarck hit Hood, triggering the fateful explosion that sent the ship to the depths within minutes.

The Royal Navy’s Admiralty set up a board of enquiry which concluded that the ship sank because Bismarck’s 15-inch guns hit the magazines containing the ship’s ammunition. However, this explanation was not universally accepted. Several problems with the magazine explosion theory emerged: no magazine was located where the explosion was observed, the explosion was silent rather than a thunderous ‘whump,’ and there was a notable delay between the hit and the explosion.

Various theories sought to explain the rapid sinking of Hood. Some speculated about the possibility of a shell penetrating under the armor belt and detonating the weapons in the magazines, others wondered if the shell could have come from above and passed through the ship into the magazines, while some considered whether the shell hit the torpedo tubes, causing them to explode and break the vessel in two.

Further investigation into the loss of HMS Hood by the British Admiralty, led by Vice Admiral Sir Geoffrey Blake, concluded that the sinking was due to a hit from Bismarck’s shell in or adjacent to Hood’s 4-inch or 15-inch magazines.

Sir Stanley Goodall, the Director of Naval Construction, found this conclusion unsatisfactory, pointing out that the explosion was observed near the mainmast, which was further forward than the aft magazines.

Eyewitness accounts also cast doubt on the official explanation. Survivors from Hood and observers from Prince of Wales recalled seeing a blinding flash but not hearing a significant explosion. The lack of a sizable detonation noise was inconsistent with a magazine blast.

Decades after the tragedy, modern expeditions to the wreck of HMS Hood, including one in 2001, have shed some light on the matter. A more comprehensive exploration in 2013 using remote-control vehicles seemed to confirm a massive explosion in the magazine feeding Y Turret. Yet, questions linger about how a shell could have penetrated so deeply given the low trajectory at the time of impact.

The sinking of HMS Hood was a stark reminder of the realities of naval warfare and the rapid pace of technological advancement. It prompted a fervent response from the British Empire, with Winston Churchill’s famous command to “sink the Bismarck,” leading to the eventual destruction of the German battleship. While the Hood’s demise remains a poignant episode in naval history, its exact cause continues to elude historians, serving as a perpetual reminder of the unpredictable nature of war at sea.
Relevant articles:
– Hood v Bismarck, pbs.org
– Bismarck | Ironclad, Battleship, WW2, britannica.com
– To this day, the cause of the sinking of the HMS Hood during the hunt for the Bismarck is still disputed., Warfare History Network