Date:

Plans to recover bell of HMS Hood postponed

HMS Hood : Wiki Commons

- Advertisement -

A historic attempt to recover the bell of the Second World War battle-cruiser HMS Hood has been postponed due to bad weather.

After more than ten days working in the North Atlantic in worsening weather and difficult deep currents, the recovery team on board US philanthropist Paul Allen’s yacht Octopus were reluctantly forced to discontinue the operation, but not before commemorative wreaths were laid where the ship sank.

The bell was found in more than 2,800 metres of water in the Denmark Strait, where it has lain since Hood was sunk by the German warship Bismarck on 24 May 1941.

Yesterday, Monday 3 September, from a rain-swept flight deck, crew members of the Octopus laid wreaths in memory of the 1,415 members of the naval service who died, including personnel from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Poland.

Mr Allen said:

“I was honoured to be involved in this project, and I stand ready to help the Royal Navy try again in the future.

“Recovering this bell is a way to commemorate the hundreds of brave sailors who were lost at sea and I want to see it through.”

Mr Allen has offered to recover the bell without any cost to a grateful Royal Navy and Ministry of Defence. The Octopus, which is equipped with a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), is being supported by Blue Water Recoveries Ltd which specialises in the search for and investigations of shipwrecks.

- Advertisement -

The recovery is fully supported by the HMS Hood Association whose members include veterans who served in the ship before her final mission in 1941 and relatives of those lost with her.

Members of the crew of the Octopus conduct a service in memory of the 1,415 men who lost their lives in the HMS Hood in 1941 [Picture: Courtesy of the Octopus]

Association President Rear Admiral Philip Wilcocks, whose uncle was among those who died on board Hood, said:

“While hugely challenging conditions have precluded a successful recovery of HMS Hood’s bell on this occasion, the Hood Association continues to hope that another attempt will be made at some stage in the next year or so.

“Our objective remains the provision of a unique memorial in the National Museum of the Royal Navy for this iconic warship and her gallant crew.

“We are extremely grateful to Paul Allen, to David Mearns [of Blue Water Recoveries Ltd] and for the professionalism of the captain and crew of the Octopus for their outstanding assistance on this occasion.”

A Royal Navy spokesman said:

“After days of trying to recover the bell of HMS Hood, poor weather and other issues have made it impossible to successfully retrieve the bell on this trip.

“We want to thank philanthropist Paul Allen and the HMS Hood Association for all their support and efforts.

“The work that was accomplished on this trip has been invaluable and will put us in an even stronger position for a future mission.

“We will be co-ordinating with all parties to see if and when we can make another attempt some time in the future.”

David Mearns of Blue Water Recoveries Ltd, who first found one of the two ship’s bells in 2001, said:

“Despite our limited dive-time we were able to relocate the bell relatively quickly and confirm that the ROV’s manipulator arms were able to physically reach it in order to attach recovery tools.

“This information will be vitally important in planning a future recovery attempt. The location of the bell, and decoration on its rim, strongly indicates that it is Hood’s main bell as we had expected and hoped.

“The high definition video showed the bell was in excellent condition and thus another year or so on the seabed will cause it no harm.”

If recovered, the bell will form a major feature of a new exhibition dedicated to the 20th and 21st century Navy. It is due to open at the National Museum of the Royal Navy at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in 2014, which is a fitting location as HMS Hood was based in Portsmouth.

Professor Dominic Tweddle, Director General of the National Museum, said:

“I am deeply grateful to Paul Allen, Blue Water Recoveries and the HMS Hood Association for all their hard work and support in attempting to recover the bell.

“A place will be reserved in our new galleries dedicated to the 20th and 21st century Navy; a place that we hope to fill in the future when Hood’s bell is successfully recovered.”

The wreck of HMS Hood is designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 and the recovery of the bell has been licensed by the British Government.

Contributing Source : Defence News

HeritageDaily : Archaeology News : Archaeology Press Releases

- Advertisement -

Stay Updated: Follow us on iOS, Android, Google News, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, and our newsletter

spot_img
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan is a multi-award-winning journalist and the Managing Editor at HeritageDaily. His background is in archaeology and computer science, having written over 8,000 articles across several online publications. Mark is a member of the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW), the World Federation of Science Journalists, and in 2023 was the recipient of the British Citizen Award for Education, the BCA Medal of Honour, and the UK Prime Minister's Points of Light Award.
spot_img
spot_img

Mobile Application

spot_img

Related Articles

Soldier’s wrist purse discovered at Roman legionary camp

Archaeologists have discovered a fragment of a soldier's wrist purse at the site of a temporary Roman camp in South Moravia, Czech Republic.

Lost equestrian sculpture found buried in Toul

Archaeologists from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) have discovered an equestrian sculpture during excavations in Toul, France.

Roman-Era settlement unearthed in Alès

A recent excavation led by Inrap has uncovered a remarkably well-preserved Roman-era settlement on the slopes of the Hermitage hill overlooking Alès, southern France.

Excavations in Olympos reveal ancient mosaics and sacred inscriptions

Excavations in Olympos, Antalya province, have uncovered mosaic floors and inscriptions within a 5th-century church, part of a year-round project backed by Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Mammoth bones uncovered during road construction works

The Construction of the S17 Piaski–Hrebenne highway near the Arabunie village in Zamość County has revealed the remains of what is believed to be either a woolly mammoth or a forest elephant.

Hidden Medieval tower unearthed in Lublin reveals forgotten chapter of city’s past

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a previously undocumented medieval tower within the grounds of the former Pobernardine monastery complex, near the Church of the Conversion of Saint Paul on Bernardyńska Street.

Sinkhole reveals lost remains of medieval hospital

A sinkhole that formed outside the York Theatre Royal has led to the discovery of what could be one of England’s largest medieval hospitals.

Chalcolithic cultural treasures unearthed in Caucasus

Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences have uncovered 13 Chalcolithic-era sites, each yielding a wealth of cultural artefacts and material evidence.