The Pride of the Royal Navy: HMS Hood in the Interwar Years
HMS Hood, commissioned in 1920, stood as the largest and most advanced warship in the Royal Navy during the interwar period. This battlecruiser, named after the 18th-century Admiral Samuel Hood, represented British naval supremacy following World War I. With her impressive dimensions (860 feet long, displacing 41,200 tons) and formidable armament (eight 15-inch guns), she became known as “The Mighty Hood” and served as the flagship of the Battlecruiser Squadron.
The ship boasted significant improvements in living conditions compared to earlier vessels. Officers enjoyed spacious cabins, while ratings benefited from modernized facilities including an advanced medical bay and a revolutionary central catering system that replaced the traditional messdeck cooking arrangements. However, this innovation proved controversial among crew members who missed the extra income from “mess savings” – funds left over from their food allowances under the old system.
A Navy Divided: The Social Hierarchy of HMS Hood
The ship’s company of over 1,100 men operated under the traditional “Division” system, last updated during World War I. Crew members were divided into 13 divisions based on their specialties:
– Three seaman divisions plus Royal Marine divisions operated the main gun turrets
– Separate divisions for torpedomen, signalmen, boy seamen, artificers, and stokers
– A mixed division for supply ratings and technicians
This organizational structure created significant barriers between different groups of sailors. The social divisions aboard mirrored those throughout the Royal Navy, with stark contrasts between officers and ratings, as well as tensions between different ratings groups:
1. Officer-Rating Divide: Officers maintained pre-war living standards even during wartime austerity, enjoying multi-course meals while ratings’ families struggled with rationing.
2. Specialist vs General Ratings: Artificers (skilled tradesmen recruited from civilian life) comprised just 5% of the crew but enjoyed higher pay, different uniforms, and better working hours than regular seamen.
3. Seamen vs Stokers: Mostly recruited from industrial areas, stokers earned slightly more than seamen, creating resentment among the latter who had typically joined as boy seamen.
The Gathering Storm: Economic Pressures on the Navy
Britain’s post-WWI economic decline created mounting pressures on naval personnel:
1. Pay Reductions: The 1925 pay scheme reduced wages for new entrants by 25%, creating a two-tier system where veterans maintained higher pay for identical work.
2. Promotion Freeze: Post-war downsizing left many qualified sailors like Len Wincott (a future mutiny leader) stuck at Able Seaman despite passing promotion exams.
3. Career Sailors: Economic depression led many to extend service rather than face unemployment, creating a demoralized “old guard” that mocked ambitious younger sailors.
When the 1929 Great Depression hit, the British government implemented across-the-board pay cuts for public servants, including a proposed 25% reduction for junior ratings (compared to just 17% for admirals). This regressive cut, announced abruptly in September 1931, proved the final straw for many sailors.
The Mutiny Unfolds: September 1931 at Invergordon
The crisis came to head during Atlantic Fleet exercises in Scotland’s Cromarty Firth:
September 10-14: Communication Breakdown
– Fleet Commander Admiral Michael Hodge fell ill, leaving temporary command to Rear Admiral Wilfred Tomkinson
– Critical Admiralty messages about pay cuts were delayed or missed entirely
– Ratings first learned details from BBC broadcasts rather than official channels
September 15: The Mutiny Begins
– Crews of HMS Hood, Rodney, and Valiant refused to prepare for sea
– Non-violent protests spread across the anchored fleet
– Officers found themselves unable to compel compliance without using force
September 16: Escalation
– Admiralty dismissals of the protests as “minor unrest” further angered crews
– Tomkinson advocated for compromise, warning London the situation could spiral out of control
– By evening, the Admiralty ordered ships to return to home ports separately
September 17-21: Resolution
– The fleet dispersed while the government revised pay cuts to maximum 10%
– Britain abandoned the gold standard shortly afterward, easing economic pressures
Aftermath and Legacy
The Admiralty’s response focused more on assigning blame than addressing root causes:
1. Personnel Purges: Over 400 sailors were discharged, including suspected ringleaders
2. Scapegoating: Admiral Tomkinson received a promotion alongside a reprimand and early retirement
3. Cultural Shifts: The mutiny forced improvements in officer-rating relations and welfare systems
HMS Hood’s story continued until her tragic sinking by the Bismarck in 1941, but the Invergordon Mutiny remained a defining moment in Royal Navy history. It exposed:
– The dangers of ignoring crew welfare
– The need for better communication channels
– The changing social expectations of 20th century sailors
The event marked the last major mutiny in Royal Navy history and served as a cautionary tale about maintaining morale during times of austerity. For HMS Hood specifically, the mutiny period represented a low point before her subsequent revival under more capable leadership in the mid-1930s.
The lessons of Invergordon would resonate through World War II, when the Royal Navy successfully maintained discipline despite even greater hardships, in part by applying the hard-won insights about crew welfare and leadership that the 1931 crisis had made so painfully clear.