Ted Briggs was the last remaining survivor of HMS Hood until he passed away in 2008 at age 85. He is seen, being interviewed in the footage above. When HMS Hood came up against the Bismark in May 1941, the British battle cruiser was designed for speed and lacked the armour that the German battleship Bismark had. She was destroyed when a shell fired from Bismark hit the Hood's mid section and penetrated into the ship's magazine. This set of a colossal explosion that broke the Hood in half. She went down taking 1,418 seamen with her.
Only 3 crewmen survived the Hood's horrendous demise - one of them was Ted Briggs who was 18 years of age at the time. He was trying to come down from the compass platform when the sinking ship took him into the sea. He thought this was to be his last moments, but some how, he surfaced. He caught a glimpse of HMS Hood's final moments - witnessing the upright bow before it slide down into the Atlantic. He turned and tried to swim away from the sinking vessel, afraid he might be dragged down with it.
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