HMS Hood (1891) - Construction and Career

Construction and Career

Hood was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 12 August 1889 and was launched on 30 July 1891, the Viscountess Hood christening her. She finished her sea trials in May 1893 and was commissioned on 1 June 1893 at the cost of £926,396. Her assignment to the Mediterranean Fleet was delayed when she sprang a leak in her forward compartments on 7 June as a result of faulty riveting and excessive strain on the hull when she had been docked. Repairs took only two days, and the ship left Sheerness for the Mediterranean on 18 June.

Hood arrived at Malta on 3 July, relieving the battleship HMS Colossus. In 1897 and 1898 the ship served as part of the International Squadron blockading Crete and maintaining order during the Greco-Turkish uprising there. She was ordered to return home in April 1900 and paid off into reserve at Chatham Dockyard on 29 April 1900. Seven months later, on 12 December 1900, Hood recommissioned to relieve the elderly ironclad HMS Thunderer as port guard ship at Pembroke Dock.

The ship rejoined the Mediterranean Fleet at the end of 1901 and participated in combined exercises with the Channel Squadron and the Cruiser Squadron off the coasts of Cephalonia and Morea in late 1902. Two days before the exercises ended, Hood damaged her rudder on the seabed while leaving Angostili Harbor on 4 October. She went first to Malta for temporary repairs, then on to England for permanent repairs at Chatham Dockyard, using her twin screws to steer for the entire voyage. The repairs began on 5 December 1902 and she transferred to Devonport for a refit upon their completion.

On 25 June 1903 Hood relieved the battleship HMS Collingwood in the Home Fleet. She took part in combined exercises of the Channel Fleet, Mediterranean Fleet, and Home Fleet off the coast of Portugal from 5 to 9 August. The battleship HMS Russell relieved Hood on 28 September 1904. Hood was placed into reserve at Devonport on 3 January 1905, where she remained until February 1907. In April 1909, the ship was refitted and partially stripped at Devonport, after which she began service as a receiving ship at Queenstown, Ireland. In September 1910 Hood recommissioned to serve as flagship of the Senior Naval Officer, Coast of Ireland while continuing as a receiving ship. On 2 April 1911 the ship was in Cork Harbour for the 1911 Census.

Later in 1911, Hood was towed to Portsmouth and listed for disposal. During 1913–14 she was employed as a target for underwater protection experiments and was used in secret tests of anti-torpedo bulges. Subsequently she was photographed in dry dock at Portsmouth by the crew of Naval Airship No. 18 in June 1914, before being placed on the sale list in August 1914. On 4 November 1914 Hood was scuttled in Portland harbour to block the Southern Ship Channel, a potential access route for U-boats or for torpedoes fired from outside of the harbour. Her wreck became known as "Old Hole in the Wall". Despite her 1914 scuttling, the Royal Navy included Hood on its sale list in both 1916 and 1917.