Book Review

Warship Pictorial #20 HMS Hood by Steve Wiper of Classic Warships reviewed by Timothy Dike
The Battlecruiser Hood was the pride of the British Navy. Built in 1920, and modernized over the years, the Hood was fast but lightly armed. She was best known for her encounter with the German Battleship Bismarck. The Hood set out with the Prince of Wales to intercept the Bismarck before it could escape into the Atlantic Ocean. The Hood was sunk with almost her entire crew. It was her loss that brought out almost the entire British fleet to avenge her.
Classic Warships Warship Pictorials has been publishing a wide variety of books lately. This book on the Hood is the latest. If you think everything that could be written about this ship has been done already, guess again. This book includes photo's that I have not seen in print anywhere. As is typical for these books the photo's trace the history of the ship from beginning to end. Photo's of her construction and fitting out are at the beginning of the book.	click to enlarge images


A large number of high quality photo's show the ship from all area's. They are all well captioned and show everything from weapons to deck fittings.
A nice addition to the book is the 3D Computer Generated Images from Thomas Schmid. The ship is beautifully rendered and shown from a number of angles that give the reader a perspective of the ship not seen before. A large centerfold shows the ship in plan and elevation in May 1941.


Conclusions: A great book for anyone interested in this famous British Warship. This book is 72 pages with 102 black and white photo's, and 11 full color CGI views. A history and record of movement for the ship, and general statistics throughout the years are included in this 8-1/4" x 11" soft book format. With a retail price of $15.95 US this book is an excellent value and a great addition to your Warship reference library. Links: More Classic Warships books