HMS Hood Refit between August 1940 - April 1941
- Thread starter Logan2879
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I think it likely that she would get a Valiant/Queen Elizabeth/Renown style deep refit (top picture) with the refit taking place in Devonport as soon as Valiant has been finished (so possibly March 1940?) - and I'm making an assumption that the dockyard at Devonport is big enough?
HMS Hood is
Length: 860 ft 7 in (262.3 m) Beam: 104 ft 2 in (31.8 m)
HMS Hood is
Length: 860 ft 7 in (262.3 m) Beam: 104 ft 2 in (31.8 m)
If nothing else the ammo bunker issue was on the list of things to be fixed. Assuming butterfly's don't see her assigned somewhere else she won't blow up from Bismarcks first salvos. Hood is still an upgraded battle cruiser (and the RN knew it, they never saw her as a battleship) so it still may not do well in a long gun battle, but the bismarck has flaws of her own. It's too long (due to having the guns in double rather than triple turrets) making a bigger target and it's steering is pretty vulnerable. Both ships are relics of the pre-jutland era, Hood being the result of desperate redesigns after the flaws in battle cruisers were exposed (and which the refit might finally have remedied). Bismarck meanwhile is a product of a two decade layoff in German battleship building that ensured it did not incorporate the design lessons learned in WW1.
In a Bismarck vs refit hood and Prince of Wales clash things probably go rather better than OTL. POW still has working up issues (it still had yard crew on board during the fight it was so new). But a fixed Hood will be able to rain salvo after salvo down on Bismarck, while POW will be a bit slower but firing as well.
Assuming they don't cripple Bismarck quickly it probably turns into a gun fight like the North Cape, with the British in a stern chase exchanging salvos while the cruisers try to close and torpedo the monster. Eventually they will wear Bismarck down and she ends up on the bottom a few days earlier than OTL. I expect it will be a hard fight but without the Hood blowing up the Bismarck won't gain the rep it did in OTL. Instead the battle will be remembered like the North Cape a throwback to the last war in which a German ship was outnumbered, outgunned and out fought in a traditional gun action.
If Bismarck fails to give good account of herself the RN may be less worried about a German fleet in being later in the war. It would be clear that as surface raiders the German ships are at best flawed, and they are no match in a fight for the modern British battle wagons, so there might not be so much pressure to keep a strong fleet close to home. More ships could be freed up for the East earlier and just keep the Nelsons and a couple of KGV''s in home waters to handle Tirpitz or scharnhost if the stick their nose's out of their fjord's.
Probably more attention would be drawn to the weakness of the Bismarck design in post war histories and the German surface navy would be even more a footnote than it was in OTL. I don't know what state Hood would be in after a long gun duel although since the Bismarck will be more worried about leaving the area than fighting the RN ships may not be hit that hard.
Probably Hood serves on throughout the war but by 1945 I expect it will be in the same position as the two Nelson''s. Since it will still be one of the most modern ships (due to the "holiday" between the nelsons and the KGV's) it will have been worked very hard and is unlikely to have time for a major refit after the 1941 one. By 1945 it will be clapped out, in need of massive work to stay in service and largely obsolete I the world of the carrier. Probably she goes to the brakers around the same time as Rodney , say about 1947.
In a Bismarck vs refit hood and Prince of Wales clash things probably go rather better than OTL. POW still has working up issues (it still had yard crew on board during the fight it was so new). But a fixed Hood will be able to rain salvo after salvo down on Bismarck, while POW will be a bit slower but firing as well.
Assuming they don't cripple Bismarck quickly it probably turns into a gun fight like the North Cape, with the British in a stern chase exchanging salvos while the cruisers try to close and torpedo the monster. Eventually they will wear Bismarck down and she ends up on the bottom a few days earlier than OTL. I expect it will be a hard fight but without the Hood blowing up the Bismarck won't gain the rep it did in OTL. Instead the battle will be remembered like the North Cape a throwback to the last war in which a German ship was outnumbered, outgunned and out fought in a traditional gun action.
If Bismarck fails to give good account of herself the RN may be less worried about a German fleet in being later in the war. It would be clear that as surface raiders the German ships are at best flawed, and they are no match in a fight for the modern British battle wagons, so there might not be so much pressure to keep a strong fleet close to home. More ships could be freed up for the East earlier and just keep the Nelsons and a couple of KGV''s in home waters to handle Tirpitz or scharnhost if the stick their nose's out of their fjord's.
Probably more attention would be drawn to the weakness of the Bismarck design in post war histories and the German surface navy would be even more a footnote than it was in OTL. I don't know what state Hood would be in after a long gun duel although since the Bismarck will be more worried about leaving the area than fighting the RN ships may not be hit that hard.
Probably Hood serves on throughout the war but by 1945 I expect it will be in the same position as the two Nelson''s. Since it will still be one of the most modern ships (due to the "holiday" between the nelsons and the KGV's) it will have been worked very hard and is unlikely to have time for a major refit after the 1941 one. By 1945 it will be clapped out, in need of massive work to stay in service and largely obsolete I the world of the carrier. Probably she goes to the brakers around the same time as Rodney , say about 1947.
Is this too early to send her to the United States? I can't remember when the RN started sending ships there.
nbcman
Donor
I don't think any capital ships from the RN went there before March / April 1941. From this website for RN Repairs in the US and other searches, HMS Resolution arrived at Philadelphia Naval Yard on 20 Apr 1941. HMS Malaya may have arrived slightly earlier than that in the New York Naval Yard. HMS Illustrious arrived in Norfolk in May 1941.
Lost Freeway
Banned
The best option would have been giving her a more extensive refit pre-war, instead of giving her quick refits so the RN could deploy her on the next Imperial dick-waving exercise.
I was searching if HMS Hood could fit in one of the dry docks in Devonport and no she would not fit because the biggist dry dock was dry dock No. 9 (double) 745x95ft) so Devonport is out.
You and I know that a pre-war refit is good but since this didn't occurred and instead is given after she takes part with Force H in July 1940, she is given a refit from August 1940 -April 1941 what refit would she have like her engines her armor, guns, extention of forecastle... Things like that
If she is sent to Singapore with Force Z maybe it would be a diferent story. Maybe she has better armor, better anti-aircraft guns, and much faster. Also a carrier would be with Force Z. Also maybe she won't be sent since she is the pride of Britain and the flagship.
Admiral Beez
Banned
My fantasy Force Z is a fast CBG of upgraded battlecruisers (focused on dramatically increased AA), of Hood, Repulse, Renown, Courageous, Furious and Glorious along with four Dido-class AA cruisers, eight prewar destroyers and a dozen submarines.
Notice that outside of the CLs and subs, I'm sending all the older big ships, as all had similar endurance and presumably maintenance/upkeep needs.
Hood would have made a great AA platform, with so much deck space for heavy and medium range AA mounts and their directors.
The first british ship to dock in the United States was HMS Resolution in January 1941. She was torpedoe at the battle of Dakar by a vichy submarine and Devonport could not fix her because of continuous air raid from germany.
Yes HMS Hood could have gotten a refit at Belfast as also well as Liverpool or Roysth.
One question how does HMS Courageous and HMS Glorious would survived in the early part of the war since HMS Glorious was sunk by a submarine in 1939 and HMS Courageous was sunk by the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in June 1940
Admiral Beez
Banned
That's why it's my fantasy Force Z. Torpedo misses Courageous, Hood survives, Glorious escapes, leaving three free carriers and three BCs when the four AFD carriers and first three KGVs enter service by mid-1941.
nbcman
Donor
Based on what I have read, HMS Resolution was damaged in September 1940 as you described however she was towed to Freetown. In December 1940, she sailed from Freetown to Gibraltar for further repairs. She remained in Gibraltar for another couple months before she sailed to Portsmouth prior to sailing to the US in early April 1941.
Well your fantasy is good to a point. Lets say Glorious was damage and not sunk by the submarine so she is drydock at Roysth for four months. HMS Courageous escapes Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to fight another day. HMS Hood gets a good eight months refit ending by April 15, 1941. So the battle of Denmarck Strait starts with a refit HMS Hood with HMS Prince of Wales cover by HMS Courageous, two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and eight destroyers against Bismarck and Prinz Eugen wihile at Scapa Flow would be HMS King George V, HMS Repulse, and carrier HMS Victorious with cruisers and destroyers. At Alexandria would be carriers HMS Glorious and HMS Formidable with the rest of Mediterrenean Fleet. Force H has carrier HMS Ark Royal and HMS Renown. Then the problems starts in the far east. Sending maybe HMS Ark Royal with HMS Glorious with battleship HMS Prince of Wales battlecruisers HMS Hood as flagship, HMS Repulse gets a refit of eight months from July 1941 - February 1942, HMS Courageous joins Force H as well as escort carrier HMS Audacity, HMS Eagle in drydocks for repairs as well as HMS Hermes in Simontown. Well two carriers, a modern battleship, a refit battlecruiser with one heavy cruiser (HMS Exeter) six modern light cruisers (4 Dido class, HMS Mauritius, and HMAS Perth) and 12 modern destroyers with 6 older destroyers could be a good Force Z. Now that would be a good fantasy.
