Remember the Hood!

An marine archaeological expedition has discovered the shattered remains of HMS Hood, a battlecruiser that has as much emotional resonance for England as the USS Arizona does for America.

In May 1941, in battle near the Denmark Straits, Hood and Prince of Wales engaged Nazi battlecruisers Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. At stake was Britain's Lend-Lease lifeline across the Atlantic.

Hood blew up in a fashion that has puzzled naval historians to this day. Only three sailors survived. The shock that rolled across Britain was profound, and Churchill made sinking the Bismarck a national priority and point of honor.

Such underwater discoveries not only fire the imagination but add to our knowledge of the past. Perhaps the mystery of the Hood's sinking can be solved now.

Closer to home, Hawaiian waters hold many ships, including the Japanese underwater aircraft carriers I-400 and I-401, the scuttled Pearl Harbor (and Bikini Atoll) survivor USS Nevada, and several "four-stacker" destroyers. The mouth of Pearl Harbor, long a dumping ground for military equipment, has never been surveyed.

Historical discoveries always seem to happen elsewhere.

--Burl Burlingame

---