Recovered HMS Hood Ensign Preserved
From the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth:
On the eightieth anniversary of the sinking of HMS Hood, the museum has acquired a new acquisition with an association to the ship.
The flag came into the possession of Arthur George Parrot during the Second World War. A merchant seaman, he claimed to have picked it out of the debris floating in the water following the sinking of HMS Hood. For him, the flag was an item of special significance which he said represented all the boys he’d known from Winchester and Southampton who’d joined HMS Hood at the outbreak of war but did not survive.
The flag is currently in a fragile condition, it shows evidence of old repairs and many holes so it will require some attention to consolidate the fabric before it can be shared with visitors.
Notably, the NMRN also has Hood’s bell, recovered from her battered wreck in the Denmark Strait, conserved.
