No.P/JX 136123, Petty Officer, Joseph Beddington CROSS
Aged 26
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Born in 1915 (3rd qtr 1915 Cosford 4a:1591) son of Robert and Rose CROSS (née COLLINS).
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HMS Hood was 44,600 tons, had a crew of 1,418 and was faster than the Bismarck with a maximum speed of 32 knots. The Hood had been launched in 1918 and was
armed with 8 x 15 inch guns, 12 x 5.5 inch guns, 8 x 4 inch AA guns, 24 x 2 pound guns and 4 x 21 inch torpedoes. However, the Hood suffered from one major
flaw – she did not have the same amount of armour as the Bismarck. The fact that the Hood was faster than the Bismarck by 3 knots was as a result of her lack
of sufficient armour for a naval battle fought in World War Two. What had been considered sufficient armour in 1918 when Hood was built, was to prove a fatal
flaw in 1941. The "Bismark" and "Prinz Eugen" broke out into the Atlantic where they would have created havoc amongst Allied shipping. The Royal Navy pursued them with "Hood" and "Prince of Wales" but lost them for a time at night and in fog, but the cruiser "Suffolk" re established contact early on the 24th May 1941. "Prinz Eugen" hit the "Hood" from about 22 Km and ignited some anti aircraft shells on deck, not a great problem, but then the "Hood" was hit by a salvo of high trajectory shells from "Bismark". One is believed to have pierced the deck armour, exploding one of the magazines. This tore the "Hood" in half and she sunk within 2 minutes taking 1,415 men with her, just three men survived. "Prince of Wales" was forced to disengage due to damage but not before hitting "Bismark" three time, which damage caused the Bismark to turn to return to safety in occupied France. Before she could do that she was intercepted by aircraft from "Ark Royal" who damaged her sufficiently for the "Rodney" and "King George V" to catch up and sink her. |
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