When the battlecruiser Hood was blown up in action with the Bismarck only three of the ship’s 1,400-strong crew survived, and of these only one is still alive. It is therefore surprising that the ship should have a thriving veterans’ association; it is even more remarkable that its membership includes more than one man who actually served on a ship that was lost more than sixty years ago. The explanation is to be found in the career and character of the Hood: as the largest vessel in the fleet, her vast crew was subject to constant comings and goings, with many men being rotated through the ship – some were lucky enough to be drafted out just before her final, fatal deployment. The association also includes family and relatives of those lost, drawn together by the shared tragedy. A large part of the association’s function is to preserve the memory of the ship and those who served in her, so it is very active in collecting relevant photographs, written accounts and memorabilia. This now forms a rich archive – surprisingly under-used by previous historians – that was thrown open to Bruce Taylor for his new book on the ship. The enthusiastic cooperation of the association made available unseen photos and many first-hand accounts of life in the pre-war Navy’s ‘glamour ship’, making The Battlecruiser HMS Hood one of the most detailed portraits ever published of life aboard any warship. Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 129 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com