HMS Hood

Was listening to something about the rise of Japan up to WW2 and the thoughts behind air power at sea. The Japanese were well enthused by the British action at Taranto.
6 Italian ships lost or well damaged and 660 casualties to the loss of 2 planes and 4 men .
Made economic sense to the Japs to build aircraft carriers.
Funny thing , Germans didn't have a single aircraft carrier in Ww2.
They did. The Graf Zeppelin.

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Also, I made the best Airfix model ever. HMS Hood must have been one of the top selling models in the late 50s, early 60s, it was a great way of keeping memories alive.

i built a huge one in the early 80's. It was my pride and joy. But over the years it collected dust, paint faded and it looked a bit sorry for itself, plus as I got older I lost interest in models.

Really tempted to give airfix models another go. Been building a trainset with the lad and forgotten how much fun painting and building can be.
 
Naval warfare had changed leading into WW2. There was never going to be another Jutland.

The Royal Navy, at the beginning of World War 2, was immense — it was the largest naval force in the world. The 332 warships included 15 mighty battleships, 7 aircraft carriers, 66 cruisers, 184 destroyers, 45 patrol vessels, and 60 submarines.

Air power (naval) became everything and the two fleets (GB and Germany) didn't have a large scale battle in the war. The USA was very active in the Pacific but the cost of losing a carrier meant fleets were often hundreds of miles apart.

The great battleships were done.
 
The wooden deck on the Hood was the major factor .Me grandad was a gunner on Ark Royal which sent the Swordfish plane which did for the Bismark .He was also on board Ark Royal when she sunk after an Italian U-boat I think slammed a couple of torpedoes into her when she was getting towed back to port after suffering damage .

the wooden deck had no bearing whatsover. The hit that destroyed HMS Hood gets called the Golden BB for a reason

It occurred at exactly the right range, and at the exact time the Hood was heeling over to open her guns that the shot was able to pierce the armour and detonate the 4in magazine

999 times out of 1000 this doesn't happen and the battle is completely different - hell just swapping the order and having PoW in front of Hood (as should have been the case if PoW had been fully worked up) changes everything
 
This!!!

I know Clarkson isn't everyone's cup of tea but his documentaries on the war are class IMO.

He did another one about the Russian Convoys which was excellent IIRC
It certainly was. His ex father in law was a hero - I believe he won the VC for actions at Arnhem. I think he attacked tanks with a bloody PIAT gun
I think this is him

Major Robert Henry Cain VC TD (2 January 1909 – 2 May 1974) was a Manx recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
 
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