HMS Hood (1891)
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HMS Hood in the 1890s
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Hood |
| Namesake: | |
| Ordered: | 1889 |
| Builder: | Chatham Dockyard, England |
| Cost: | £926,396 |
| Laid down: | 12 August 1889 |
| Launched: | 30 July 1891 |
| Christened: | Viscountess Hood |
| Commissioned: | 1 June 1893 |
| Decommissioned: | March 1911 |
| Fate: | Sunk as a blockship in Portland harbour, 4 November 1914 |
| Notes: | Wreck remains visible at Portland |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 410 ft 5 in (125.1 m) (o/a) |
| Beam: | 75 ft (22.9 m) |
| Draught: | 27 ft 6 in (8.4 m) |
| Installed power: | |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) |
| Range: | 4,720 nmi (8,740 km; 5,430 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 690 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: | Belt 18 in (457 mm) compound, deck 3 in (76 mm), turret 17 in (432 mm) |
HMS Hood was a modified Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy in the early 1890s. She differed from the other ships of the class in that she had cylindrical gun turrets instead of barbettes and a lower freeboard. She served most of her active career in the Mediterranean Sea, where her low freeboard was less of a disadvantage. The ship was placed in reserve in 1907 and later became the receiving ship at Queenstown, Ireland. Hood was used in the development of anti-torpedo bulges in 1913 and was scuttled in late 1914 to act as a blockship across the southern entrance of Portland Harbour after the start of World War I.
Hood, the last of the eight Royal Sovereign-class battleships to be built, differed significantly from the other ships of her class in that she had a forward freeboard of only 11 feet 3 inches (3.43 m) compared to 19 feet 6 inches (5.94 m) of the other ships. The Royal Sovereigns had reverted to a higher freeboard after several classes of low-freeboard vessel had been constructed, the last being the Trafalgar class. Low freeboard had been popular for around ten years since it required less armour and made a smaller target for gunfire to hit, although it had the disadvantage that it reduced seaworthiness. This low freeboard meant that Hood was very wet in rough weather and her maximum speed reduced rapidly as the wave height increased, making her only suitable for service in the relatively calm Mediterranean. This was seen as a vindication of the barbette/high-freeboard design in the rest of her class, and all subsequent British battleship classes had high freeboard.
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