Pirates & Shipwrecks · British battlecruiser, 1941
HMS Hood
Denmark Strait
What happened
HMS Hood was a British warship so big and famous that people called it the Mighty Hood. On 24 May 1941 it fought the German battleship Bismarck and Prinz Eugen in the Denmark Strait, and Hood sank within minutes.
Why it matters
Hood was the pride of Britain's navy and its loss shocked the country. The navy then gathered many ships to hunt down Bismarck.
What came next
Bismarck was sunk three days later. David Mearns's team found Hood's wreck in 2001, and one of its bells was recovered in 2015.
Did you know?
Hood remained the largest warship in the world for 20 years after it was commissioned.
Timeline
- 22 August 1918Hood is launched.
- 15 May 1920Hood joins the Royal Navy.
- 24 May 1941Hood sinks in the Battle of the Denmark Strait.
- 2001The wreck is found.
- 7 August 2015One of the ship's bells is recovered.