The Special Service Brigade was a formation of the British Army during the Second World War . It was formed in 1940, after the call for volunteers for Special Service who eventually became the British Commandos .
137-663: British victory Selected troops from the Special Service Brigade Luxembourg The Netherlands Belgium France Britain 1941–1943 1944–1945 Germany Strategic campaigns The St Nazaire Raid or Operation Chariot was a British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France during the Second World War. The operation
274-464: A Type 279 early-warning radar for aircraft and surface vessels and a Type 284 gunnery radar were installed, although the Type 279 radar lacked its receiving aerial and was inoperable according to Roberts. An Admiralty document indicates however that, following the 1941 refit at Rosyth, Hood ' s Type 279 radar was indeed functional. The early-warning radar was of a modified type, known as Type 279M,
411-566: A convoy of three lanes, with the destroyers in the middle. On arrival at St Nazaire the portside MLs were to head for the Old Mole to disembark their commandos, while the starboard lane would make for the old entrance to the basin to disembark theirs. Not having the range to reach St Nazaire unaided, the MTB and MGB were taken under tow by Campbeltown and Atherstone . The convoy next encountered two French fishing trawlers . Both crews were taken off and
548-567: A fast battleship , since Hood appeared to have improvements over the fast Queen Elizabeth -class battleships. On paper, Hood retained the same armament and level of protection, while being significantly faster. Around 1918, American commanders, including Vice Admiral William Sims , commander of US naval forces in Europe, and Admiral Henry T. Mayo , commander of the Atlantic Fleet , became extremely impressed by Hood , which they described as
685-802: A lieutenant-colonel . They were divided into troops of 75 men and further divided into 15-man sections . The Commandos were all volunteers, seconded from other British Army regiments , but they retained their own regimental cap badges and remained on their regimental roll for pay. The Special Service Brigade consisted of five Special Service battalions, numbered one to five. These Special Service battalions were eventually renamed commandos. The No. 1 Special Service Battalion became No. 1 and No. 2 Commandos . The No. 2 Special Service Battalion became No. 9 Commando . The No. 3 Special Service Battalion became No. 4 Commando . The No. 4 Special Service Battalion became No. 3 Commando . The No. 5 Special Service Battalion became No. 5 and No. 6 Commandos . In 1943
822-487: A metacentric height of 4.2 feet (1.3 m) at deep load, which minimised her roll and made her a steady gun platform. The additional armour added during construction increased her draught by about 4 feet (1.2 m) at deep load, which reduced her freeboard and made her very wet. At full speed, or in heavy seas, water would flow over the ship's quarterdeck and often entered the messdecks and living quarters through ventilation shafts. This characteristic earned her
959-636: A "fast battleship", and they advocated that the US Navy develop a fast battleship of its own. However, the US continued with their established design direction, the slower, but well-protected, South Dakota -class battleship and the fast and lightly armoured Lexington -class battlecruiser, both of which were later cancelled in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Influences from Hood showed on subsequent Lexington designs, with
1096-469: A 250 kg (550 lb) bomb from a Junkers Ju 88 bomber that damaged her port torpedo bulge and her condensers. By early 1940, Hood ' s machinery was in dire shape and limited her best speed to 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph); she was refitted between 4 April and 12 June. Hood and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal were ordered to Gibraltar to join Force H on 18 June where Hood became
1233-405: A 30-foot (9.1 m) rangefinder. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the bridge . They were supplemented by two additional control positions in the fore-top, which were provided with 9-foot (2.7 m) rangefinders, fitted in 1924–1925. The antiaircraft guns were controlled by a simple high-angle 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) rangefinder mounted on
1370-409: A French sloop and had damaged a turbine reaching 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). Hood was relieved as flagship of Force H by Renown on 10 August, after returning to Scapa Flow. On 13 September she was sent to Rosyth along with the battleships Nelson and Rodney and other ships, to be in a better position to intercept a German invasion fleet. When the threat of an invasion diminished,
1507-466: A Mediterranean cruise, Hood was rammed in the port side quarterdeck by the battlecruiser Renown on 23 January 1935. The damage to Hood was limited to her left outer propeller and an 18-inch (460 mm) dent, although some hull plates were knocked loose from the impact. Temporary repairs were made at Gibraltar before the ship sailed to Portsmouth for permanent repairs between February and May 1935. The captains of both ships were court-martialled , as
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#17328479771641644-552: A brief overhaul of her propulsion system, she sailed as the flagship of Force H , and participated in the destruction of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir . Transferred to the Home Fleet shortly afterwards, Hood was dispatched to Scapa Flow , and operated in the area as a convoy escort and later as a defence against a potential German invasion fleet. In May 1941, Hood and the battleship Prince of Wales were ordered to intercept
1781-447: A coded response obtained from a German trawler boarded during the Vågsøy raid in 1941. A few bursts were fired from a shore battery and both Campbeltown and MGB 314 replied: "Ship being fired upon by friendly forces". The deception gave them a little more time before every German gun in the bay opened fire. At 01:28, with the convoy 1 mile (1.6 km) from the dock gates, Beattie ordered
1918-464: A consequence, she never received the scheduled modernisation afforded to other capital ships such as Renown and several of the Queen Elizabeth -class battleships. The ship's condensers were in such bad condition by this time that much of the output from the fresh-water evaporators was required to replenish the boiler feedwater and could not be used by the crew to wash and bathe or even to heat
2055-404: A fortnight after the loss. It endorsed this opinion, stating that: (c) (The) probable cause of the loss of HMS Hood was direct penetration of the protection by one or more 15-inch shells at a range of 16,500 yards [15,100 m], resulting in the explosion of one or more of the aft magazines. The Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Acting Vice-Admiral Tom Phillips and others criticised the conduct of
2192-455: A highly stressed structure. She was launched on 22 August 1918 by the widow of Rear-Admiral Sir Horace Hood , a great-great-grandson of Admiral Samuel Hood , after whom the ship was named. Sir Horace Hood had been killed while commanding the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron and flying his flag on Invincible —one of the three battlecruisers which blew up at the Battle of Jutland. To make room in
2329-399: A maximum beam of 104 feet 2 inches (31.8 m), and a draught of 32 feet (9.8 m) at deep load . This was 66 feet (20.1 m) longer and 14 feet (4.3 m) wider than the older ships. She displaced 42,670 long tons (43,350 t ) at load and 46,680 long tons (47,430 t) at deep load, over 13,000 long tons (13,210 t) more than the older ships. The ship had
2466-510: A position 65 nautical miles (120 km; 75 mi) off St Nazaire at 21:00 and changed course toward the estuary, leaving Atherstone and Tynedale as a sea patrol. The convoy adopted a new formation with the MGB and two torpedo MLs in the lead, followed by Campbeltown . The rest of the MLs formed two columns on either side and astern of the destroyer, with the MTB bringing up the rear. The first casualty of
2603-446: A short 4-inch extension aft. The gun turrets and barbettes were protected by 11 to 15 inches (279 to 381 mm) of KC armour, except for the turret roofs, which were 5 inches thick. The decks were made of high-tensile steel . The forecastle deck ranged from 1.75 to 2 inches (44 to 51 millimetres) in thickness, while the upper deck was 2 inches (51 mm) thick over the magazines and 0.75 inches (19 mm) elsewhere. The main deck
2740-499: Is 8 km (5.0 mi) up the Loire estuary. Any naval ships large enough to cause sufficient damage would be detected well before they were within range. The planners then examined whether a commando force could accomplish the task. An unusually high spring tide was due in March 1942 which would allow a light ship to pass over the sand banks in the estuary and approach the docks, bypassing
2877-511: Is also an old entrance to the Bassin de St Nazaire midway along the Bassin de St Nazaire. Immediately upstream of this lies the Normandie dry dock , between the Bassin de St Nazaire and the Loire, with its southern end giving on to the Loire and the northern end facing into the Bassin de Penhoët. Built to house the ocean liner SS Normandie , this dock was the largest dry dock in the world when it
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#17328479771643014-820: The English Channel or the North Sea . The obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown , accompanied by 18 smaller craft, crossed the English Channel to the Atlantic coast of France and rammed into the Normandie dry dock south gate. The ship had been packed with delayed-action explosives, well hidden within a steel and concrete case, that detonated later that day, putting the dock out of service until 1948. A force of commandos landed to destroy machinery and other structures. German gunfire sank, set ablaze, or immobilized virtually all
3151-603: The Faroe Islands to protect convoys and intercept German merchant raiders and blockade runners attempting to break out into the Atlantic. On 25 September 1939, the Home Fleet sortied into the central North Sea to cover the return of the damaged submarine Spearfish . The fleet was spotted by the Germans and attacked by aircraft from the KG 26 and KG 30 bomber wings. Hood was hit by
3288-557: The First World War . Already under construction when the Battle of Jutland occurred in mid-1916, that battle revealed serious flaws in her design, and despite drastic revisions she was completed four years later. For this reason, she was the only ship of her class to be completed, as the Admiralty decided it would be better to start with a clean design on succeeding battlecruisers, leading to
3425-464: The French battleship Dunkerque , which was hit by four fifteen-inch shells and was forced to beach herself. Hood was straddled during the engagement by Dunkerque ; shell splinters wounded two men. Dunkerque ' s sister ship , Strasbourg , managed to escape from the harbour. Hood and several light cruisers gave chase, but gave up after two hours; Hood had dodged a salvo of torpedoes from
3562-536: The German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen , which were en route to the Atlantic, where they were to attack convoys. On 24 May 1941, early in the Battle of the Denmark Strait , Hood was struck by several German shells, exploded, and sank with the loss of all but 3 of her crew of 1,418. The RN conducted two inquiries into the reasons for the ship's quick demise. The first, held soon after
3699-531: The German battleship Tirpitz was declared operational in January 1942, the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Air Force (RAF) were already drawing up plans to attack her. Planners from Combined Operations Headquarters were looking at potential scenarios if Tirpitz escaped the naval blockade and reached the Atlantic. They decided the only port able to accommodate her was St Nazaire, especially if, like Bismarck , she
3836-581: The German submarine U-593 , which dived and later reported the British ships as moving westward, further complicating the German understanding of the raid. The unusual behaviour dropping bombs one by one from the bombers concerned Kapitän zur See Mecke. At 00:00 on 28 March, he issued a warning that there might be a parachute landing in progress. At 01:00 on 28 March, he followed up by ordering all guns to cease firing and searchlights to be extinguished in case
3973-633: The Mediterranean in 1921 and 1922 to show the flag and to train with the Mediterranean fleet, before sailing on a cruise to Brazil and the West Indies in company with the battlecruiser squadron. Captain John Im Thurn was in command when Hood , accompanied by the battlecruiser Repulse and Danae -class cruisers of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron , set out on a world cruise from west to east via
4110-862: The Mediterranean Sea and a circumnavigation of the globe with the Special Service Squadron in 1923 and 1924. She was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet following the outbreak of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935. When the Spanish Civil War broke out the following year, Hood was officially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet until she had to return to Britain in 1939 for an overhaul. By this time, advances in naval gunnery had reduced Hood ' s usefulness. She
4247-532: The Norwegian Campaign . In November 1940 these army units were organised into a Special Service Brigade under Brigadier J. C. Haydon with five Special Service battalions. By the autumn of 1940 more than 2,000 men had volunteered for commando training, and the Special Service Brigade now consisted of 12 units which were now called commandos. Each commando would number around 450 men, commanded by
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4384-744: The Panama Canal in November 1923. The objective of the cruise was to remind the dominions of their dependence on British sea power and encourage them to support it with money, ships, and facilities. They returned home 10 months later in September 1924, having visited South Africa , Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Newfoundland, and other colonies and dependencies, and the United States. While in Australia in April 1924,
4521-799: The QF 4-inch Mark XVI dual-purpose gun . The single guns were removed in mid-1939 and a further three twin Mark XIX mounts were added in early 1940. In 1931, a pair of octuple mountings for the 40-millimetre (1.6 in) QF 2-pounder Mk VIII gun "pom-pom" were added on the shelter deck, abreast of the funnels , and a third mount was added in 1937. Two quadruple mountings for the Vickers 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) Mk III machine gun were added in 1933 with two more mountings added in 1937. To these were added five unrotated projectile (UP) launchers in 1940, each launcher carrying 20 seven-inch (178 mm) rockets. When they detonated,
4658-529: The Royal Air Force (RAF). During the 1932 West Indies cruise, the catapult proved to be difficult to operate in anything but a calm sea, as it was frequently awash in bad weather. The catapult and crane were removed in 1932, along with the flying-off platform on 'B' turret. Although the Royal Navy always designated Hood as a battlecruiser, some modern writers such as Antony Preston have classified her as
4795-514: The St Nazaire submarine base . The harbour defence companies were responsible for local defence and for the security of the ships and submarines moored in the harbour. These companies and the harbour defence boats used to patrol the river were under the command of Harbour Commander Korvettenkapitän Kellerman. The 333rd Infantry Division was the German Army unit responsible for the defence of
4932-797: The United Kingdom and destined for service in North-western Europe . The 2nd Brigade was based in the Mediterranean for service in Italy and the Balkans . The 3rd Brigade was based in India for service in Burma and the Pacific . HMS Hood HMS Hood ( pennant number 51) was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy (RN). Hood was the first of the planned four Admiral-class battlecruisers to be built during
5069-476: The destroyer Electra , which spotted substantial debris but no bodies. Prince of Wales was forced to disengage by a combination of damage from German hits and mechanical failures in her guns and turrets after Hood was sunk. Despite these problems, she had hit Bismarck three times. One of these hits contaminated a good portion of the ship's fuel supply and subsequently caused her to steer for safety in occupied France where she could be repaired. Bismarck
5206-557: The 12 MLs, while Three would be in Campbeltown . Half the commandos would be in the motor launches, alongside the explosive destroyer. Under the command of Captain Hodgeson, Group One traveling in ML 447, 457, 307, 443, 306 and 446 had the objectives of securing the Old Mole and eliminating the anti-aircraft gun positions around the southern quays. They were then to move into the old town and blow up
5343-477: The Admiral-class ships consisted of eight BL 15-inch (381 mm) Mk I guns in hydraulically powered twin gun turrets . The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from bow to stern, and 120 shells were carried for each gun. The ship's secondary armament consisted of twelve BL 5.5-inch (140 mm) Mk I guns, each with 200 rounds. They were shipped on shielded single- pivot mounts fitted along
5480-543: The Atlantic in May 1941, Hood , flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland , together with the newly commissioned battleship Prince of Wales , was sent out in pursuit along with several other groups of British capital ships to intercept the German ships before they could break into the Atlantic and attack Allied convoys. The German ships were spotted by two British heavy cruisers ( Norfolk and Suffolk ) on 23 May, and Holland's ships intercepted Bismarck and her consort,
5617-588: The Battle of Jutland to incorporate heavier armour and all four ships were laid down . Only Hood was completed, because the ships were very expensive and required labour and material that could be put to better use building merchant ships needed to replace those lost to the German U-boat campaign . The Admirals were significantly larger than their predecessors of the Renown class. As completed, Hood had an overall length of 860 feet 7 inches (262.3 m),
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5754-542: The German flag lowered and the White Ensign raised. The intensity of the German fire seemed to increase. The guard ship opened fire and was quickly silenced when the ships in the convoy responded, shooting into her as they passed. By now all the ships in the convoy were within range to engage targets ashore and were firing at the gun emplacements and searchlights. Campbeltown was hit several times and increased her speed to 19 kn (35 km/h). The helmsman on her bridge
5891-515: The John Brown shipyard in Clydebank , Scotland, as yard number 460 on 1 September 1916. Following the loss of three British battlecruisers at the Battle of Jutland, 5,000 tons of extra armour and bracing were added to Hood ' s design. Most seriously, the deck protection was flawed—spread over three decks, it was designed to detonate an incoming shell on impact with the top deck, with much of
6028-600: The Mediterranean fleet shortly afterwards and stationed at Gibraltar at the outbreak of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in October. Captain Arthur Pridham assumed command on 1 February 1936 and Hood returned to Portsmouth for a brief refit between 26 June and 10 October 1936. She formally transferred to the Mediterranean fleet on 20 October, shortly after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War . On 23 April 1937,
6165-496: The RAF, which at the time did not possess the accuracy needed to destroy the dock without serious loss of civilian life. The Special Operations Executive (SOE) were approached to see if its agents could destroy the dock gates. They decided that the mission was beyond their capabilities because the weight of explosives required would have needed too many agents to carry them. The Royal Navy was also unable to mount an operation, as St Nazaire
6302-463: The aft control position, fitted in 1926–1927. Three torpedo-control towers were fitted, each with a 15-foot (4.6 m) rangefinder. One was on each side of the amidships control tower and the third was on the centreline abaft the aft control position. During the 1929–1931 refit, a high-angle control system (HACS) Mark I director was added on the rear searchlight platform and two positions for 2-pounder "pom-pom" antiaircraft directors were added at
6439-405: The aft part of the ship. This explosion broke the back of Hood , and the last sight of the ship, which sank in only three minutes, was her bow, nearly vertical in the water. Only three men survived: Ordinary Signalman Ted Briggs (1923–2008), Able Seaman Robert Tilburn (1921–1995), and Midshipman William John Dundas (1923–1965). The three were rescued about two hours after the sinking by
6576-505: The after part of the ship. The probability is that the 4-inch magazines exploded first. Both boards of enquiry exonerated Vice-Admiral Holland from any blame regarding the loss of Hood . Memorials to those who died are spread widely around the UK, and some of the crew are commemorated in different locations. One casualty, George David Spinner, is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval memorial,
6713-410: The area and the German headquarters, to blow up the locks and bridges at the old entrance into the basin and then to guard against a counterattack from the submarine base. Group Three was under the command of Major William 'Bill' Copland, who was also the commandos' second in command . It was to secure the immediate area around Campbeltown , destroy the dock's water-pumping and gate-opening machinery and
6850-409: The armour was angled outwards 12° from the waterline to increase its relative thickness in relation to flat-trajectory shells. This change increased the ship's vulnerability to plunging (high-trajectory) shells, as it exposed more of the vulnerable deck armour. Some 5,000 long tons (5,100 t) of armour were added to the design in late 1916, based on British experiences at the Battle of Jutland , at
6987-420: The bombers were using them to locate the port. Everyone was placed on a heightened state of alert. The harbour defence companies and ships' crews were ordered out of the air raid shelters. During all this an estuary lookout boat reported seeing some activity out at sea, so Mecke began suspecting some type of landing and ordered extra attention to be paid to the approaches to the harbour. At 00:30 hours on 28 March
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#17328479771647124-539: The bridge and form a bridgehead that enabled Captain Bob Montgomery and Lt Corran Purdon and their demolition teams to exit the area. Special Service Brigade In 1940, volunteers were called for from serving British Army soldiers within certain formations still in Britain and men of the disbanding Divisional Independent Companies originally raised from Territorial Army (TA) divisions and who had seen service in
7261-406: The coast between St Nazaire and Lorient . The division had no troops based in the town, but some were garrisoned in villages nearby and would be able to respond to any attack on the port. The Kriegsmarine (German navy) had at least three surface ships in the Loire estuary: a destroyer, an armed trawler and a Sperrbrecher ('minesweeper'), the last being the guard ship for the port. On
7398-455: The coastal approaches. The heavy guns were supplemented by the guns and searchlights of the 22nd Naval Flak Brigade under the command of Kapitän zur See Karl-Konrad Mecke . The brigade was equipped with 43 anti-aircraft guns ranging in calibre from 20 to 40 mm. These guns had a dual role as both anti-aircraft and coastal defence weapons. Many were in concrete emplacements on top of the submarine pens and other dockside installations of
7535-404: The commandos started to move away from smaller raiding operations. They had been formed into brigades of assault infantry to spearhead future Allied landing operations. Of the remaining 20 Commandos, 17 were used in the formation of the four Special Service brigades. The three remaining units No. 12, No. 14 (Arctic) and No. 62 Commandos were left to carry out smaller-scale raids. But by the end of
7672-443: The convoy crossed over the shoals at the mouth of the Loire estuary, with Campbeltown scraping the bottom twice. Each time she pulled free, and the group proceeded toward the harbour in darkness. They had come within about eight minutes' passage from the dock gates when, at 01:22, the entire convoy was illuminated by searchlights on both banks of the estuary. A naval signal light demanded their identification. MGB 314 replied in
7809-539: The cost of deeper draught and slightly decreased speed. To save construction time, this was accomplished by thickening the existing armour, rather than redesigning the entire ship. Hood ' s protection accounted for 33% of her displacement, a high proportion by British standards, but less than was usual in contemporary German designs (for example, 36% for the battlecruiser SMS Hindenburg ). The armoured belt consisted of face-hardened Krupp cemented armour (KC), arranged in three strakes . The main waterline belt
7946-415: The crew would open the ship's seacocks before abandoning the ship. Should she become disabled or sunk before getting to the dock, four motor launches had been detailed to take off the crew and put the commandos ashore. The charge would be reset to explode after the last boat had left. Other naval units involved were two Hunt-class destroyers , HMS Tynedale and Atherstone , which would accompany
8083-547: The day of the raid. The submarine base had been inspected by the U-boat Commander in Chief, Vizeadmiral Karl Dönitz , the day before the raid. He asked what they would do if the base were subjected to an attack by British Commandos. Sohler replied that "an attack on the base would be hazardous and highly improbable." The three destroyers and 16 small boats left Falmouth , Cornwall, at 14:00 on 26 March 1942. They formed into
8220-465: The deck and the remaining torpedo tubes removed. In addition, the conning tower would have been removed and her bridge rebuilt. The ship's near-constant active service, resulting from her status as the Royal Navy's most battle-worthy fast capital ship, meant that her material condition gradually deteriorated, and by the mid-1930s, she was in need of a lengthy overhaul. The outbreak of the Second World War made removing her from service near impossible, and as
8357-456: The difference between this and Type 279 being the number of aerials. While Type 279 used two aerials, a transmitter and a receiver, the Type 279M used only a single transceiver aerial. Hood reported an accuracy of 3 degrees with her 279M set. The armour scheme of the Admirals was originally based on that of the battlecruiser Tiger with an 8-inch (203 mm) waterline belt . Unlike Tiger ,
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#17328479771648494-592: The dock gates was HMS Campbeltown , commanded by Lieutenant Commander Stephen Halden Beattie . Campbeltown was a First World War destroyer and had previously been USS Buchanan in the United States Navy . She had come into RN service in 1940 as one of 50 destroyers transferred to the United Kingdom under the destroyers-for-bases deal . Converting Campbeltown for the raid took ten days. She had to be lightened to raise her draught to get over
8631-468: The dry dock caisson gates. The Captain Donald William Roy – 'The Laird' – and his 14-man kilted assault troop were tasked with knocking out two pump-house roof-top gun emplacements high above the quayside and securing a bridge to provide a route for the raiding parties to exit the dock area. Roy and Sgt Don Randall used scaling ladders and grenades to accomplish the former, and a head-on rush to secure
8768-456: The dry dock was out of the question. They suggested they could provide an old Free French destroyer, Ouragan , and a flotilla of small motor launches to transport the commandos and evacuate them afterwards. Approval for the mission, codenamed Operation Chariot, was given on 3 March 1942. Using a French ship would involve using the Free French forces and increase the number of people aware of
8905-413: The energy being absorbed as the exploding shell had to penetrate the armour of the next two decks. The development of effective time-delay shells at the end of the First World War made this scheme much less effective, as the intact shell would penetrate layers of weak armour and explode deep inside the ship. In addition, she was grossly overweight compared to her original design, making her a wet ship with
9042-588: The flagship. Force H took part in the destruction of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir in July 1940. Just eight days after the French surrender, the British Admiralty issued an ultimatum that the French fleet at Oran intern its ships in a British or neutral port to ensure they would not fall into Axis hands. The terms were rejected, and the Royal Navy opened fire on the French ships berthed there. The results of Hood ' s fire are not known exactly, but she damaged
9179-403: The force to and from the French coast and remain out at sea during the raid. A motor gun boat (the Fairmile C type MGB 314 ) was the headquarters ship for the raid, with Commander Ryder and the commanding officer of the commandos on board, Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. Newman. A motor torpedo boat (a 70 ft Vosper, MTB 74 ), commanded by Sub-Lieutenant Michael Wynn , had two objectives: If
9316-411: The heavily defended dredged channel. In one early plan, the planners designed a raid to approach the docks with only motor launches. John Hughes-Hallett and his colleagues immediately rejected this plan. Their opposition to the plan was strong. They argued, "they'll never reach the shore..." They concluded, "no destroyer, no operation." The approach was also too shallow for an infantry landing ship , but
9453-498: The heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen , in the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland on 24 May. The British squadron spotted the Germans at 05:37 (ship's clocks were set four hours ahead of local time—the engagement commenced shortly after dawn), but the Germans were already aware of their presence, Prinz Eugen ' s hydrophones having previously detected the sounds of high-speed propellers to their southeast. The British opened fire at 05:52 with Hood engaging Prinz Eugen ,
9590-427: The impact drove the ship 33 feet (10 m) onto the gates, crushing 36 ft (11 m) of the bow forward of the demolition charge cemented belowdecks. The commandos on Campbeltown now disembarked. These comprised two assault teams, five demolition teams with their protectors and a mortar group. Three demolition teams were tasked with destroying the dock pumping machinery and other installations associated with
9727-406: The inquiry, largely because no verbatim record of witnesses' testimony had been kept. Moreover, Sir Stanley V. Goodall , Director of Naval Construction came forward with an alternative theory, that the Hood had been destroyed by the explosion of her own torpedoes. As a result, a second Board was convened under Rear-Admiral Harold Walker and reported in September 1941. This investigation was, in
9864-475: The last minute another four MLs were assigned from the 7th Motor Launch flotilla (see Footnotes for flotilla details). These four boats were also armed with two torpedoes each. Instead of transporting the commandos, these boats were to engage any German shipping found in the estuary. All the MLs had a 500 imperial gallons (2,300 litres) auxiliary fuel tank fixed to the upper deck to increase their range. The S-class submarine HMS Sturgeon would leave before
10001-478: The lead ship in the German formation, and the Germans returned fire at 05:55, both ships concentrating on Hood . Prinz Eugen was probably the first ship to score when a shell hit Hood ' s boat deck, between her funnels, and started a large fire among the ready-use ammunition for the anti-aircraft guns and rockets of the UP mounts. Just before 06:00, while Hood was turning 20° to port to unmask her rear turrets, she
10138-561: The magazines detonated is likely to remain unknown, since that portion of the ship was obliterated in the explosion. The Admiral-class battlecruisers were designed in response to the German Mackensen -class battlecruisers, which were reported to be more heavily armed and armoured than the latest British battlecruisers of the Renown and the Courageous classes . The design was revised after
10275-478: The mess decks during cold weather, as the steam pipes were too leaky. These problems also reduced her steam output so that she was unable to attain her designed speed. Captain Irvine Glennie assumed command in May 1939 and Hood was assigned to the Home Fleet's Battlecruiser Squadron while still refitting. When war broke out later that year, she was employed principally to patrol in the vicinity of Iceland and
10412-399: The motor launches at the Old Mole jetty and then make their escape. The revised Combined Operations plan required one destroyer to ram the dock gates and a number of smaller craft to transport the commandos. The Royal Navy would therefore provide the largest contingent for the raid, under the overall command of the senior naval officer, Commander Robert Ryder . The ship selected to ram into
10549-426: The nearby underground fuel tanks. All three groups were subdivided into assault, demolition, and protection teams. The assault teams would clear the way for the other two. The demolition teams carrying the explosive charges only had sidearms for self-defence; the protection teams, armed with Thompson submachine guns , were to defend them while they completed their tasks. The commandos were aided in their planning for
10686-576: The nearest British port. In 1942, it had a population of 50,000. The St Nazaire port has an outer harbour known as the Avant Port, formed by two piers jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean. This leads to two lock gates before the Bassin de St Nazaire. These gates control the water level in the basin so that it is not affected by the tide. Beyond the basin is the larger inner dock called the Bassin de Penhoët, which can accommodate ships up to 10,000 tons. There
10823-399: The never-built G-3 class . Despite the appearance of newer and more modern ships, Hood remained the largest warship in the world for 20 years after her commissioning, and her prestige was reflected in her nickname, "The Mighty Hood". Hood was involved in many showing-the-flag exercises between her commissioning in 1920 and the outbreak of war in 1939 , including training exercises in
10960-643: The never-built G3 battlecruiser was classified as such, although it would have been more of a fast battleship than Hood . The scale of Hood ' s protection, though adequate for the Jutland era, was at best marginal against the new generation of 16-inch (406 mm) gunned capital ships that emerged soon after her completion in 1920, typified by the American Colorado -class and the Japanese Nagato -class battleships. The Royal Navy were fully aware that
11097-678: The nickname of "the largest submarine in the Navy". The persistent dampness, coupled with the ship's poor ventilation, was blamed for the high incidence of tuberculosis aboard. The ship's complement varied widely over her career; in 1919, she was authorised 1,433 men as a squadron flagship; in 1934, she had 81 officers and 1,244 ratings aboard. The Admirals were powered by four Brown -Curtis geared steam turbines , each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by 24 Yarrow boilers . The battlecruiser's turbines were designed to produce 144,000 shaft horsepower (107,000 kW ), which would propel
11234-445: The night of the raid there were also four harbour defence boats and ten ships from the 16th and 42nd Minesweeper flotillas berthed in the basin, while two tankers were berthed inside the Normandie dock. The 6th and 7th U-boat flotillas, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Georg-Wilhelm Schulz and Korvettenkapitän Herbert Sohler respectively, were permanently based in the port. It is not known how many submarines were present on
11371-411: The official explanation, some historians continued to believe that the torpedoes caused the ship's loss, while others proposed an accidental explosion inside one of the ship's gun turrets that reached down into the magazine. Other historians have concentrated on the cause of the magazine explosion. The discovery of the ship's wreck in 2001 confirmed the conclusion of both boards, although the exact reason
11508-700: The operation by Captain Bill Pritchard of the Royal Engineers , who had pre-war experience as an apprentice in the Great Western Railway dockyards and whose father was the dock master of Cardiff Docks . In 1940 while part of the British Expeditionary Force in France, his duties had included determining how to disable the French dockyards if they were captured. One of the dockyards he had studied
11645-483: The outer Normandie dock gates were open, she had to torpedo the inner dock gates. If the gates were closed she would instead torpedo the gates at the old entrance into the St Nazaire basin. Wynn's boat was offered for the raid at the last moment. The MTB consumed a lot of petrol and was capable of only two speeds: a slow 6 knots and a fast 33 knots. The flaw meant the MTB could only progress by leap frogging and waiting. It
11782-425: The planners believed if a destroyer could be lightened it might have a draft shallow enough to enable it to get through. The purpose of the raid was to destroy the Normandie dock, the old gates into the Bassin de St Nazaire with the water pumping machinery and other installations and any U-boats or other shipping in the area. The initial Combined Operations plan required one specially lightened destroyer to carry out
11919-409: The port for 60 minutes to divert attention toward themselves and away from the sea. They had orders to only bomb clearly identified military targets and to drop only one bomb at a time. As it turned out, poor weather with full cloud cover over the port meant that only four aircraft bombed targets in St Nazaire. Six aircraft managed to bomb other nearby targets. At around 02:00, the convoy was sighted by
12056-516: The power station, bridges and locks for the new entrance into the basin from the Avant port. The capture of the mole was a major objective, as it was to be the embarkation point for the evacuation after the mission. Group Two, under the command of Captain Burn , in ML 192, 262, 267, 268, 156 and 177 would land at the old entrance to the St Nazaire basin. Its objectives were to destroy the anti-aircraft positions in
12193-541: The raid was ML 341 , which had developed engine trouble and was abandoned. At 22:00 the submarine Sturgeon directed her navigation beacon out to sea to guide the convoy in. At about the same time Campbeltown raised the German naval ensign in an attempt to deceive any German lookouts into thinking she was a German destroyer. At 23:30 on 27 March, five RAF squadrons (comprising 35 Whitleys and 27 Wellingtons ) started their bombing runs. The bombers had to stay above 6,000 feet (1,800 m) and were supposed to remain over
12330-459: The raid when Campbeltown exploded. To recognise their bravery, 89 members of the raiding party were awarded decorations , including five Victoria Crosses . After the war, St Nazaire was one of 38 battle honours awarded to the commandos. The operation has been called "the greatest raid of all" in British military circles. St Nazaire is on the north bank of the Loire , 400 km (250 mi) from
12467-521: The raid. Consequently, it was decided the navy would have to provide a ship of their own. The RAF complained that the raid would draw heavily on their resources and the number of aircraft assigned by RAF Bomber Command dwindled during the planning of the raid. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill further complicated matters when he ordered that bombing should only take place if targets were visually identified. Combined Operations Headquarters worked closely with several intelligence organisations to plan
12604-464: The raid. It would be packed with explosives and rammed into the dock gates. Commandos on board would then disembark and use demolition charges to destroy nearby dock installations, searchlights and gun emplacements. The destroyer would then be blown up. At the same time the RAF would undertake diversionary air raids in the area. When the plan was presented to the Admiralty they refused to support it. The certain loss of one or both destroyers to eliminate
12741-539: The raid. The Naval Intelligence Division compiled information from a variety of sources. A detailed plan of the town of St Nazaire was provided by the Secret Intelligence Service , and information on the coastal artillery nearby was provided by the War Office's Military Intelligence branch. Intelligence about the dock itself came from pre-war technical journals. The Naval Operational Intelligence Centre selected
12878-415: The rear funnel. About 28 torpedoes were carried. The ship's main battery was controlled by two fire-control directors . One was mounted above the conning tower , protected by an armoured hood, and was fitted with a 30-foot (9.1 m) rangefinder . The other was fitted in the spotting top above the tripod foremast and equipped with a 15-foot (4.6 m) rangefinder. Each turret was also fitted with
13015-483: The rear magazines in July 1919 in response to these trials. To compensate for the additional weight, the 4 midships above water torpedo tubes and the armour for the rear torpedo warheads were removed, and the armour for the aft torpedo-control tower was reduced in thickness from 6 to 1.5 inches (38 mm). However, the additional armour was never fitted pending further trials. As completed, Hood remained susceptible to plunging shells and bombs. The torpedo-warhead armour
13152-407: The rear of the spotting top, although only one director was initially fitted. The 5.5-inch control positions and their rangefinders on the spotting top were removed during the 1932 refit. In 1934, the "pom-pom" directors were moved to the former locations of the 5.5-inch control positions on the spotting top and the 9-foot (2.7 m) rangefinders for the 5.5-inch control positions were reinstalled on
13289-408: The reduction of the main armour belt, the change to sloped armour , and the addition of four above-water torpedo tubes to the four underwater tubes of the original design. To add to the confusion, Royal Navy documents of the period often describe any battleship with a maximum speed over 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) as a battlecruiser, regardless of the amount of protective armour. For instance,
13426-506: The refit she was still in poor condition, but the threat from the German capital ships was such that she could not be taken into dock for a major overhaul until more of the King George V -class battleships came into service. Captain Ralph Kerr assumed command during the refit, and Hood was ordered to sea in an attempt to intercept the German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst upon
13563-658: The refit's completion in mid-March. Unsuccessful, she was ordered to patrol the Bay of Biscay against any breakout attempt by the German ships from Brest, France . Hood was ordered to the Norwegian Sea on 19 April when the Admiralty received a false report that the German battleship Bismarck had sailed from Germany. Afterwards, she patrolled the North Atlantic before putting into Scapa Flow on 6 May. When Bismarck sailed for
13700-602: The rest of the convoy and be in position to act as a navigational beacon to guide the convoy into the Loire estuary. The man selected to lead the Commando force was Lieutenant Colonel Charles Newman ; his No. 2 Commando would provide the largest commandos contingent, 173 men, for the raid. The Special Service Brigade headquarters used the raid to provide experience for their other units and 92 men were drawn from Nos 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 9 , and 12 Commandos. The commandos were divided into three groups: One and Two would travel in
13837-665: The rest of the decade. Captain Harold Reinold relieved Captain im Thurn on 30 April 1925 and was relieved in turn by Captain Wilfred French on 21 May 1927. Hood was given a major refit from 1 May 1929 to 10 March 1931, and afterwards resumed her role as flagship of the battlecruiser squadron under the command of Captain Julian Patterson . Later that year, her crew participated in the Invergordon Mutiny over pay cuts for
13974-398: The rockets shot out lengths of cable that were kept aloft by parachutes ; the cable was intended to snag aircraft and draw up the small aerial mine that would destroy the aircraft. The Admirals were fitted with six fixed 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes , three on each broadside . Two of these were submerged forward of 'A' turret's magazine and the other four were above water, abaft
14111-501: The route and timing for the raid based on intelligence about the location of minefields and German recognition signals gleaned from Enigma decryptions and knowledge of Luftwaffe patrols compiled by the Air Ministry's Air Intelligence Branch. When all the plans had been pulled together and the timing worked out, the main part of the raid was expected to last no longer than two hours. The commandos and crew from Campbeltown were to board
14248-784: The sailors. It ended peacefully and Hood returned to her home port afterwards. The battlecruiser squadron made a Caribbean cruise in early 1932, and Hood was given another brief refit between 31 March and 10 May at Portsmouth . Captain Thomas Binney assumed command on 15 August 1932 and the ship resumed her previous practice of a winter cruise in the Mediterranean the next year. Captain Thomas Tower replaced Captain Binney on 30 August 1933. Her secondary and antiaircraft fire-control directors were rearranged during another quick refit between 1 August and 5 September 1934. While en route to Gibraltar for
14385-492: The sand banks in the estuary. This was achieved by completely stripping all her internal compartments. The dockyard removed her three 4-inch (102 mm) guns, torpedoes and depth charges from the deck and replaced the forward gun with a light quick-firing 12-pounder 3-inch (76 mm) gun. Eight 20 mm Oerlikons were installed on mountings raised above deck level. The bridge and wheelhouse were given extra armour-plate protection, and two rows of armour were fixed along
14522-413: The ship at 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph), but during sea trials in 1920, Hood ' s turbines provided 151,280 shp (112,810 kW), which allowed her to reach 32.07 knots (59.39 km/h; 36.91 mph). She carried enough fuel oil to give her an estimated range of 7,500 nautical miles (13,900 km; 8,600 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). The main battery of
14659-646: The ship escorted three British merchantmen into Bilbao harbour despite the presence of the Nationalist cruiser Almirante Cervera that attempted to blockade the port. Hood was refitted at Malta in November and December 1937, and had her submerged torpedo tubes removed. Captain Pridham was relieved by Captain Harold Walker on 20 May 1938 and he, in turn, was relieved when the ship returned to Portsmouth in January 1939 for an overhaul that lasted until 12 August. Hood
14796-529: The ship resumed her previous roles in convoy escort and patrolling against German commerce raiders. Hood , Renown and Repulse were deployed to the Bay of Biscay on 5 November to prevent the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer from using French ports after she had attacked Convoy HX 84 , but the German ship continued into the South Atlantic. In January 1941, the ship began a refit that lasted until March; even after
14933-403: The ship's loss, concluded that Hood ' s aft magazine had exploded after one of Bismarck ' s shells penetrated the ship's armour. A second inquiry was held after complaints that the first board had failed to consider alternative explanations, such as an explosion of the ship's torpedoes . It was more thorough than the first board but concurred with the first board's conclusion. Despite
15070-494: The ship's protection flaws still remained, even in her revised design, so Hood was intended for the duties of a battlecruiser, and she served in the battlecruiser squadrons through most of her career. Late in her career, Hood was outclassed by the armour and protective arrangement of Second World War-era fast battleships, but few of the RN's available "big gun" vessels could match Bismarck ' s speed. Construction of Hood began at
15207-433: The ship's vitals via the 7-inch middle belt and the 2-inch slope of the main deck as a result 3-inch plating on the main deck over the slopes was added alongside the magazine spaces at a very late stage of construction and the four aftermost 5.5-inch guns and their ammunition hoists were removed in partial compensation.. A proposal was made to increase the armour over the forward magazines to 5 inches and 6 inches over
15344-430: The ships sunk for fear they might report the composition and location of the convoy. At 17:00 the convoy received a signal from Commander-in-Chief Plymouth that five German torpedo boats were in the area. Two hours later another signal informed them that another two Hunt-class destroyers, HMS Cleveland and HMS Brocklesby , had been dispatched at full speed to join the convoy's return. The convoy reached
15481-488: The shipyard for merchant construction, Hood sailed for Rosyth to complete her fitting-out on 9 January 1920. After her sea trials, she was commissioned on 15 May 1920, under Captain Wilfred Tompkinson. She had cost £ 6,025,000 to build. With her conspicuous twin funnels and lean profile, Hood was widely regarded as one of the finest-looking warships ever built. She was also the largest warship afloat when she
15618-415: The sides of the ship to protect the commandos on the open deck. Two of her four funnels were removed, and the forward two were cut at an angle to resemble those of a German destroyer. The bow was packed with 4.5 tons of high explosives, which were set in concrete. It was decided that the explosive charge would be timed to detonate after the raiders had left the harbour. To prevent the Germans towing her away,
15755-533: The signal platform. Two years later, the "pom-pom" directors were moved to the rear corners of the bridge to get them out of the funnel gases. Another "pom-pom" director was added on the rear superstructure, abaft the HACS director in 1938. Two HACS Mark III directors were added to the aft end of the signal platform the following year, and the Mark I director aft was replaced by a Mark III. During Hood ' s last refit in 1941,
15892-492: The small craft intended to transport the commandos back to England. The commandos fought their way through the town to escape overland but many surrendered when they ran out of ammunition or were surrounded by the Wehrmacht defending Saint-Nazaire. Of the 612 men who undertook the raid, 228 returned to Britain, 169 were killed and 215 became prisoners of war . German casualties included over 360 dead, some of whom were killed after
16029-512: The squadron escorted the battlecruiser HMAS Australia out to sea, where she was scuttled in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty. The battlecruiser squadron visited Lisbon in January 1925 to participate in the Vasco da Gama celebrations before continuing on to the Mediterranean for exercises. Hood continued this pattern of a winter training visit to the Mediterranean for
16166-600: The upper deck and the forward shelter deck. This high position allowed them to be worked during heavy weather, as they were less affected by waves and spray compared with the casemate mounts of earlier British capital ships . Two of these guns on the shelter deck were temporarily replaced by QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk V anti-aircraft (AA) guns between 1938 and 1939. All the 5.5-inch guns were removed during another refit in 1940. The ship's original anti-aircraft armament consisted of four QF 4-inch Mk V guns on single mounts. These were joined in early 1939 by four twin mounts for
16303-473: The words of one author, "much more thorough than was the first, taking evidence from a total of 176 eyewitnesses to the disaster", and examined both Goodall's theory and others (see below). The Board came to a conclusion almost identical to that of the first board, expressed as follows: That the sinking of Hood was due to a hit from Bismarck ' s 15-inch shell in or adjacent to Hood ' s 4-inch or 15-inch magazines, causing them all to explode and wreck
16440-399: The year these three commandos had all been disbanded, to supply replacements for the other commando units. The formation of the brigades was: The previous Special Service Brigade Headquarters was replaced by Headquarters Special Services Group under Major-General Robert Sturges . The four brigades were destined to serve in different theatres of war. The 1st and 4th brigades were based in
16577-448: Was 12 inches (305 mm) thick between 'A' and 'Y' barbettes and thinned to 5 to 6 inches (127 to 152 mm) towards the ship's ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. The middle armour belt had a maximum thickness of 7 inches over the same length as the thickest part of the waterline armour and thinned to five inches abreast 'A' barbette. The upper belt was 5 inches thick amidships and extended forward to 'A' barbette, with
16714-435: Was 3 inches (76 mm) thick over the magazines and 1 inch (25 mm) elsewhere, except for the 2-inch-thick slope that met the bottom of the main belt. The lower deck was 3 inches thick over the propeller shafts, 2 inches thick over the magazines and 1 inch elsewhere. Live-firing trials with the new 15-inch APC (armour-piercing, capped) shell against a mock-up of Hood showed that this shell could penetrate
16851-414: Was St Nazaire, and he had submitted a report detailing how to put the dock out of action. The Germans had around 5,000 troops in the immediate area of St Nazaire. The port was defended by the 280th Naval Artillery Battalion under the command of Kapitän zur See Edo Dieckmann. The battalion was composed of 28 guns of various calibres from 75 mm to 280 mm railway guns , all positioned to guard
16988-431: Was backed by a 1.5-inch-thick torpedo bulkhead . Hood was initially fitted with flying-off platforms mounted on top of 'B' and 'X' turrets, from which Fairey Flycatchers could launch. During her 1929–1931 refit, the platform was removed from 'X' turret and a rotating, folding catapult was installed on her quarterdeck, along with a crane to recover a seaplane . She embarked a Fairey III F from No. 444 Flight of
17125-458: Was clear she would need a tow if taken in that condition. The flawed boat brought disapproval, necessitating last-minute modifications. To assist in transporting the commandos, 12 Fairmile B Motor Launches (ML) were assigned from the 20th and 28th Motor Launch flotillas. These boats were re-armed with two Oerlikon 20 mm guns mounted forward and aft to complement their twin 0.303-in Lewis guns . At
17262-738: Was commissioned, and retained that distinction for the next 20 years. Her size and powerful armament earned her the nickname of "Mighty Hood" and she came to symbolise the might of the British Empire itself. Shortly after commissioning on 15 May 1920, Hood became the flagship of the Battlecruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet, under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes . After a cruise to Scandinavian waters that year, Captain Geoffrey Mackworth assumed command. Hood visited
17399-405: Was completed in 1932. The "Old Mole" jetty juts into the Loire halfway between the southern pier of the Avant Port and the old entrance into the basin. On 24 May 1941, the Battle of the Denmark Strait was fought between the German ships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen and the British ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Hood . Hood exploded and sank; the damaged Prince of Wales
17536-404: Was damaged en route and needed repairs. They came to the conclusion that if the dock at St Nazaire were unavailable, the Germans were unlikely to risk sending Tirpitz into the Atlantic. Combined Operations examined several options while planning the destruction of the dock. At this stage of the war the British government still tried to avoid civilian casualties. This ruled out a bombing attack by
17673-432: Was due to be modernised in 1941 to bring her up to a standard similar to that of other modernised First World War-era capital ships. She would have received new, lighter turbines and boilers, a secondary armament of eight twin 5.25-inch (133 mm) gun turrets , and six octuple 2-pounder "pom-poms". Her 5-inch upper-armour strake would have been removed and her deck armour reinforced. A catapult would have been fitted across
17810-406: Was forced to retire. Bismarck , also damaged, ordered her consort to proceed independently while she headed for the French port of St Nazaire, which was the only port on the Atlantic coast with a dry dock able to accommodate a ship of her size. She was intercepted by the British and sunk en route . Britain's Naval Intelligence Division first proposed a commando raid on the dock in late 1941. When
17947-429: Was hit again on the boat deck by one or more shells from Bismarck ' s fifth salvo, fired from a range of approximately 16,650 metres (18,210 yd) (or 10.3 mi.). A shell from this salvo appears to have hit the spotting top, as the boat deck was showered with body parts and debris. A huge jet of flame burst out of Hood from the vicinity of the mainmast, followed by a devastating magazine explosion that destroyed
18084-409: Was killed, and his replacement was wounded and replaced as well. Blinded by the searchlights, Beattie knew they were close to their objective. Still under heavy fire, the MGB turned into the estuary as Campbeltown cleared the end of the Old Mole, cut through anti-torpedo netting strung across the entrance and rammed the dock gates, striking home at 01:34, three minutes later than scheduled. The force of
18221-411: Was reinstated during the ship's 1929–1931 refit. For protection against torpedoes, she was given a 7.5-foot (2.3 m) deep torpedo bulge that ran the length of the ship between the fore and aft barbettes. It was divided into an empty outer compartment and an inner compartment filled with five rows of water-tight "crushing tubes" intended to absorb and distribute the force of an explosion. The bulge
18358-476: Was scheduled to undergo a major rebuild in 1941 to correct these issues, but the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 kept the ship in service without the upgrades. When war with Germany was declared, Hood was operating in the area around Iceland , and she spent the next several months hunting for German commerce raiders and blockade runners between Iceland and the Norwegian Sea . After
18495-423: Was temporarily able to evade detection, but was later spotted and sunk on 27 May . The official Admiralty communiqué on the loss, broadcast on the day of the sinking, reported that: "during the ... action, HMS Hood ... received an unlucky hit in a magazine and blew up." The first formal board of enquiry into the loss, presided over by Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Blake , reported on 2 June, less than
18632-519: Was the squadron commander, Rear-Admiral Sidney Bailey. Tower and Bailey were acquitted, but Renown ' s Captain Sawbridge was relieved of command. The Admiralty dissented from the verdict, reinstated Sawbridge, and criticised Bailey for ambiguous signals during the manoeuvre. The ship participated in King George V 's Silver Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead the following August. She was attached to
18769-421: Was undertaken by the Royal Navy (RN) and British Commandos under the auspices of Combined Operations Headquarters on 28 March 1942. St Nazaire was targeted because the loss of its dry dock would force any large German warship in need of repairs, such as Tirpitz , sister ship of Bismarck , to return to home waters by running the gauntlet of the Home Fleet of the Royal Navy and other British forces, via
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