Summary: The HMS Hood, once the pride of the British Royal Navy and the largest warship globally during the interwar years, met a tragic fate early in World War II. Designed during a bygone era with specifications to counter the German fleet from WWI, the Hood was ill-prepared for the advanced warfare tactics of WWII.

-Its catastrophic loss in the Battle of the Denmark Strait against the German battleship Bismarck not only marked a significant blow to British naval prestige but also highlighted the dangers of relying on outdated military doctrines and technologies. This event serves as a poignant historical lesson, particularly relevant to modern powers like the United States, which faces its strategic challenges and potential overreliance on seemingly invincible technologies like aircraft carriers.

-The HMS Hood's fate is a stark reminder of the need for military innovation and adaptability in response to evolving global threats.

The HMS Hood was laid down by British warship designers in 1916. She launched in 1918, waving the flag of the British Royal Navy. This battlecruiser was the largest warship in the world throughout the interwar years. But the Hood, despite its impressive size and accompanying fanfare, was built for the previous war. 

Because of her status as an iconic ship of the line in the most powerful navy in the world, her loss – she would be sunk by a German warship within three minutes – was a psychic wound suffered not only by the Royal Navy, but by the entire British population. 

HMS Hood Specs

The HMS Hood was billed as a battlecruiser by her designers, but naval experts from the start debated whether the Hood was a battlecruiser or a “fast battleship.” On paper, she had the armaments and armor of a classic battleship. But the Hood was much faster when at sea than any battleship of her day.

The Hood had four boilers with associated steam turbines that produced 150,000 shaft power, pushing the great warship to 32 knots, or 36 miles per hour. That is very fast, even by today’s standards, for any large warship.

By comparison, the mighty Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, the newest carriers in the U.S. Navy’s fleet, move at about 34 miles per hour.

As for weapons, the Hood packed potent 15-inch guns, separated into four pairs of twin turrets. There were twelve 5.5-inch guns backing up the larger 15-inch guns, too. The HMS Hood traveled with torpedoes and anti-aircraft weapons in her armaments package as well. The defenses of the warship, specifically her thick, heavy armor, were almost cartoonish. 

But the Hood was designed to fight the German navy of the First World War, not that of the Second World War. 

Fighting the Last War

Royal Navy planners imparted lessons learned from the Battle of Jutland onto the HMS Hood while it was under construction. 

Thus, her armor was thick – so thick that the ship rode low in the water when it was cruising. It was weighed down by the extra armor belts that were installed as a response to the Battle of Jutland. The British did not want to replicate their harrowing experiences in that campaign, but the methods for winning the big battles of the last war would create the conditions for losing battles in the next.

The HMS Hood participated in some notable operations at the start of the war. She was present when Prime Minister Winston Churchill commanded the British Royal Navy to sink the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir after Paris had surrendered to the Nazis and France became part of Hitler’s Reich. Ever fearful that Hitler would acquire the large and advanced French fleet as part of his conquest, Churchill opted to pre-empt this possibility and keep the otherwise small German navy contained. 

The Sinking of the HMS Hood

Shortly thereafter, the Battle of the Denmark Strait occurred. The HMS Hood and the battleship HMS Prince of Wales were deployed to prevent the German Navy’s great warship, the Bismarck, and another warship from busting out of the British blockade of Germany. The Bismarck was the archnemesis of the Hood, and everyone expected a legendary naval engagement between the greatest warships of the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine.

The battle was indeed legendary, but not for the expected reasons. The HMS Hood was struck as she was preparing to fire her massive aft guns at the Bismarck. The German force had launched a volley of shells at the Hood, and that fusillade struck the British vessel’s volatile ammo stores. The armor that had been installed in response to the last war’s heavy naval engagements did little to protect the great British warship in its hour of need. The Hood’s participation in the battle lasted all of 10 minutes, with the warship taking a measly three minutes to sink. 

All but three of her crew were lost at sea. It was a humiliation – the first of many that would hit the once-mighty British Royal Navy during the war. 

While the loss of the Hood prompted the Royal Navy to hunt the Bismarck down and sink her with extreme prejudice, which they did, the prestige of the Royal Navy was irrevocably damaged. 

There are real lessons to be learned for the United States today.

America Should Learn from This Historical Example 

Just as Britain was in the Second World War, the United States today is a great power in relative decline. This declining America is being challenged by great power rivals, notably China. 

The Americans have overcommitted themselves to the modern aircraft carrier, just as the British overcommitted themselves to the battlecruiser. The Hood was an obsolete weapons platform before she ever left drydock. The British didn’t see that until it was too late. Germany had developed tactics and weapons that could overcome whatever advantages the Hood once had. 

Today, the Chinese have developed methods for overcoming the power of America’s aircraft carriers. The Americans just refuse to acknowledge this fact. And so, they continue throwing good money at bad strategic investments. If the United States doesn’t immediately reverse course and stop blindly supporting the aircraft carrier, it might suffer a similar fate to the British.

About the Author

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is due October 22 from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.