Death of the French Fleet
The French responded by attempting to leave the harbor and fire back. However, the guns of the Hood proved very accurate and consistent and hit the French battleship Bretagne. She eventually succumbed to additional shelling and sunk in just 20 seconds according to sources. HMS Hood would fire some fifty-six 15-inch shells during the ordeal, covering just one half hour in whole. By the end of the action, some 1,000 French sailors were killed and the French fleet lay in ruins. The French were only able to land a few close hits at HMS Hood, injuring just two sailors. The Hood then preceded to chase the battleship Strasbourg attempting to get away. After one and a half hours and night falling, the chase was called off by Holland. HMS Hood left the Mediterranean on July 8th, repelling and surviving an attack by Italian bombers. By the time German land forces arrived at Mers-el-Kebir, the French fleet was no more. What vessels the British Navy failed to sink were, in fact, sabotaged by their French owners, leaving the Germans incensed that their prize was not meant to be.
English Reaction
In England, the unwarranted attack on the French fleet was greeted as one of the ugly necessities of war. Churchill spoke before the House and explained the need and reasoning to eliminate the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir - a very hard decision to make he later professed. He was greeted to cheers and support of the British public for doing what had to be done for the betterment of the future. In America, President Franklin Roosevelt stood by his ally. Though not officially at war with any party at the time, America soon delivered much needed supplies to the British mainland and - more importantly - delivered several mothballed US Navy destroyers for British use via Lend-Lease. British actions at Mers-el-Kebir proved the British were capable of doing the ugly business of war and they had gained the respect of the Americans for it. This relationship between the two nations would remain relatively unchanged for the next seventy-plus years. Churchill knew, perhaps better than most, the importance of having their American ally for the duration of the war and he played his cards accordingly.
French Reaction
France did not take the shelling of her fleet so lightly. Resentment and outcry grew across France for the murder of their sailors. In true Nazi fashion, Germany used this hate to channel further dislike of the British people and showcased them as barbaric with only the interest of conquering France themselves. Many in France would never forgive the Royal Navy - or the British government for that matter - for their action at Mers-el-Kebir. Others understood it as a necessity of war. Even Royal Navy sailors recounted their dislike for the order to assail the French fleet in such a defenseless position, and many regretted the action, but understood it what war was - illogical from the start, with orders handed down from men of authority.
Back in Action
HMS Hood was back at Scapa Flow to help defend the British mainland from a German sea invasion. The Battle of Britain was waging above the skies of lower England and the North Sea. Hood was sent to join HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney at Rosyth in Scotland and later went back on patrol to protect convoys. Any major overhauls alluded the Hood once again for she was sent out to locate the whereabouts and, if possible, engage the Admiral Scheer pocket battleship. When this came up empty, she was similarly sent away to find the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, again coming up empty. 1940 closed without action and the Hood entered Rosyth for a much-needed refit.
Final Voyage: Hood VS Bismarck
Hood was once again sent out to sea with Flag Captain Ralph Kerr CBE in command, this time to locate and engage the German battleship KMS Bismarck. The Bismarck proved quite the elusive beast and was building a rather mythical existence for itself. It was deemed that if she were to break out into Atlantic waters, the convoys of the Atlantic would soon fall prey to the mighty vessel. As such, HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales were teamed up to peruse. The ships HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk, tracking the Bismarck, found her with the KMS Prinz Eugen near the Denmark Straight.
However, the vessels were soon lost after midnight. In the resulting action, the British and German fleets had passed one another without notice. It was not until 2:47AM on May 24th, that the Germans were located once more. Vice-Admiral Holland was now back in the helm of the Hood and took to chasing the German fleet. He had already dispatched his destroyers during the search for the Germans and had thusly made himself more vulnerable. Holland tried to maintain an angled course to keep all of his guns in play. Taking a head on course - and thusly reducing the closing range - would have only given him use of his forward turrets while the Germans could have loosed a full broadside on his battered ship. Hood led the charge with Prince of Wales in tow.
Darkness has made things worse. It was soon found that the two Royal Navy ships were in fact approaching the Germans with their bow. At 5:45AM, the two sides had made clear identification of the other. Now the Bismarck had been sent out with orders to engage enemy shipping and convoys and avoid engagements with warships if possible. However, the current situation (enemy cruisers nearby as well as the nearing ice edge) that presented itself to Admiral Lutjens of the Bismarck made it clear that this was a battle he would have to have. The crew of the Bismarck, therefore, sprung into action.
The guns of HMS Hood opened up at 5:52AM and, by mistake, were aimed at the similarly-profiled Prinz Eugen. The initial salvo landed just near the enemy vessel. Holland knew he only maintained a limited window of opportunity, not wanting to expose his weak decks to plunging enemy fire for long periods of time. Hood closed in as fast as possible.
The German gunnery crews, equal experts at their craft, soon ranged the Hood and the Prinz Eugen landed an 8-inch projectile into her. The resulting explosion soon ignited some of the onboard 4-inch ammunition, causing a fire within the Hood. Beyond actually sinking, an onboard uncontrollable fire was the second worse fate to befall any sea-going crew. The billowing smoke, boiling oil and the prospect of igniting more ammunition could completely send a given vessel to the bottom of the ocean within seconds. Bismarck then ordered Prinz Eugen to concentrate on the Prince of Wales. Holland positioned the Hood for a full broadside attack to make use of his aft turrets.
The Hood is Lost
A salvo from the engaged Bismarck struck the Hood while in the turn. The Hood exploded in a violent fireball that was followed by an equally powerful explosion further aft. Presumably, she was splitting in two for her stern section, then her bow section, lifted from the waters and came back down. Her bow section began to sink while her gunnery crews let off one last salvo from their forward turret. In only three minutes, HMS Hood had taken on water and sunk to her fate - her entire action, from first fire to sinking - lasted just over 10 minutes. Of the 1,418 Royal Navy sailors aboard the Hood that morning, only three survived to tell the tale, rescued by HMS Electra hours later. The three surviving sailors were William John Dundas, Robert Ernest Tilburn and Ted Briggs. Briggs survived them all, living up until 2008.
Effect on the British
The news of the loss of HMS Hood has a profound impact on the government and the people of the British Empire. Their pride of the seas was gone at the hands of the hated Germans and the Bismarck lived to fight another day. Further efforts to find and sink the vessel eventually led to fruition after May 27th, 1941, in what is viewed as the sequel to the Battle of Denmark Straight. 2,200 German sailors died while a further 110 were captured. The Allies suffered 49 dead and a destroyer lost in the battle. The souls of HMS Hood were at last avenged.
Final Cause
Following the Hood's loss, a Board of Enquiry was established to officially set the record on what caused the loss of the British vessel. It was deemed that a 15-inch shell lobbed from the Bismarck exploded the Hood's 15- or 4-inch magazines and cause a cumulative explosion that eventually shocked and took the ship down. Vice-Admiral Holland was cleared of any wrong doing in the loss of the Hood. As can be expected, modern theories as to the exact cause of the explosion and subsequent loss abound.
The Hood is Found and Her Memory Lives On
The wreck of HMS Hood was located in July of 2001 in 10,000ft of water. The following year, the British government labeled it a war grave and the site came under the care of the Protection of Military Remains Act established in 1986. The act was passed by the British Parliament to cover both lost aircraft and vessels of the British Empire, though those not necessarily lost in combat or wartime. The Hood is survived in history, memory and as two fixed emplacements still stationed on Ascension Island. The fixed emplacements were her former 5.5-inch guns removed during her 1935 refit. They served to protect the remote island from German approach and even fired in anger at a surfaced U-Boat. While not scoring a hit, the submarine dove out of harm's way and the emplacements survived up to today.
Many memorials were erected throughout Britain to commemorate the valor and loss of the crew of the Mighty Hood.
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