Changes

''Hood'' spent the remainder of her service operating from [[Scapa Flow]], covering the North Sea and Atlantic from the threat of German [[surface raiders]]. She was now elderly, overloaded, and burdened with an inadequate armoring arrangement. However, her great operational value had acted through the 1930s to prevent the Royal Navy from taking her out of service for a badly-needed modernization; due to previous additions, her speed had dropped from 32 knots at the time of her commissioning to 29 knots in 1941; her weight increased from 45,200 to 48,360 tons; her crew complement increased by over 350 men; and she was still without vital armor plating on her decks, which would prove to be her Achilles heel. In May 1941, in company with the new battleship [[HMS Prince of Wales|''Prince of Wales'']], she was sent out to search for the German battleship [[Battleship Bismarck|''Bismarck'']], which had left Norway for the Atlantic. On the morning of 24 May, the two British capital ships found the enemy to the west of [[Iceland]]. In the resulting Battle of the Denmark Strait, five salvos were fired at ''Hood''; the fourth salvo straddled the ship and gave the range ''Bismarck'' was looking for, and a shell from the fifth salvo penetrated the unprotected deck behind the aft funnel, penetrating into a magazine and causing a massive explosion.  ''Hood'' broke in two - the bow section lifting clear of the water to nearly vertical - and sank in moments.  Of the ship's crew of 1,418, which included 4 [[Poland|Polish]] and 3 [[Canada|Canadian]] officers, only three men survived. These deaths constituted the Royal Navy's greatest single ship loss of the Second World War.

''Hood'' spent the remainder of her service operating from [[Scapa Flow]], covering the North Sea and Atlantic from the threat of German [[surface raiders]]. She was now elderly, overloaded, and burdened with an inadequate armoring arrangement. However, her great operational value had acted through the 1930s to prevent the Royal Navy from taking her out of service for a badly-needed modernization; due to previous additions, her speed had dropped from 32 knots at the time of her commissioning to 29 knots in 1941; her weight increased from 45,200 to 48,360 tons; her crew complement increased by over 350 men; and she was still without vital armor plating on her decks, which would prove to be her Achilles heel. In May 1941, in company with the new battleship [[HMS Prince of Wales|''Prince of Wales'']], she was sent out to search for the German battleship [[Battleship Bismarck|''Bismarck'']], which had left Norway for the Atlantic. On the morning of 24 May, the two British capital ships found the enemy to the west of [[Iceland]]. In the resulting Battle of the Denmark Strait, five salvos were fired at ''Hood''; the fourth salvo straddled the ship and gave the range ''Bismarck'' was looking for, and a shell from the fifth salvo penetrated the unprotected deck behind the aft funnel, penetrating into a magazine and causing a massive explosion.  ''Hood'' broke in two - the bow section lifting clear of the water to nearly vertical - and sank in moments.  Of the ship's crew of 1,418, which included 4 [[Poland|Polish]] and 3 [[Canada|Canadian]] officers, only three men survived. These deaths constituted the Royal Navy's greatest single ship loss of the Second World War.

''Hood's'' loss was an event that shocked the Royal Navy, the British nation and the entire world, which the British at the time would equate with the attack on [[Pearl Harbor]] several months later. As with Pearl harboor, the loss of the Hood was not viewed as a complete defeat: the action in the Denmark Strait endede ''Bismarck's'' sortie, and the resolve of the British Empire was restored with a vengeance.  

''Hood's'' loss was an event that shocked the Royal Navy, the British nation and the entire world, which the British at the time would equate with the attack on [[Pearl Harbor]] several months later. As with Pearl harboor, the loss of the Hood was not viewed as a complete defeat: the action in the Denmark Strait endede ''Bismarck's'' sortie, and the resolve of the British Empire was restored with a vengeance.  

''Hood's'' remains were located and photographed by a British deep sea expedition in July, 2001.

''Hood's'' remains were located and photographed by a British deep sea expedition in July, 2001.