Summary

Named after the 18th-century Admiral Samuel Hood, HMS Hood was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. Originally one of four Admiral-class battlecruisers ordered in mid-1916, she was the only one completed being commissioned in 1920 after extensive modifications bought about by a review of the Battle of Jutland, which showed up serious limitations in the original design. On launching she was the largest and most powereful warship in the British Navy and remained the pride of the fleet for a generation. HMS Hood was hit by enermy fire and sunk on 24 May 1941, with the loss of all but three of her crew, during the Battle of the Denmark Strait in which the British Navy attempted to block the escape of the German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen from the North Sea into the Atlantic Ocean.

The HMS Delhi was a Danae-class cruiser ordered in 1917 and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1919. In 1941 she was converted to an anti-aircraft cruiser in New York, and despite suffering serious damage during the North African landings in November 1942, she managed to survive WWII, but was laid up from late 1945 and finally scrapped in 1948.

HMS Hood and HMS Delhi formed part of the Special Service Battlecruiser Squadron that visited Melbourne from Monday 17th March to Tuesday 25th March 1924, during an "Empire Cruise" around the world. For most of their stay in Melbourne, the five visiting warships were open to the public from 1.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. daily.

Description of Content

View from the bridge of the HMS Hood looking towards the HMS Delhi, showing crowds of visitors aboard the two British warships which are berthed on the eastern side of the new opened Princes Pier, Port Melbourne. The photograph has been incorrectly captioned as showing the HMS Danae, but contemporary press reports confirm that the HMS Danae was berthed on the opposite side of Princes Pier. In the background can be seen bulk oil storage tanks and the tower of one of the two leading lights, which guided vessels at night into the shipping channel leading to the two Port Melbourne piers. The photograph was taken on Sunday 23rd March 1924, by Ronald Cheers, who along with thousands of other members of the public visited these naval ships of the Special Service Squadron during their stay in Port Philip, which lasted from 17-25 March 1924. Warships included in the visit were the battle cruisers HMS Hood and HMS Repulse, and the light crusiers HMS Delhi, HMS Danae, HMS Dunedin, HMS Dauntless and HMS Dragon.

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