Stoker William Nelson, HMS Hood WW2

Postcard of the WW2 British Battle Cruiser H.M.S. Hood (c.1938)
More than 1500 men were lost when the 'Hood' was sunk on 24 May 1941
Stoker William Nelson was one of those lost

When H.M.S. Hood was sunk in battle by the German battleship Bismarck on 24 May 1941 more than 1500 lives were lost. The Hood had engaged the Bismarck in battle, and went down after it exploded following several hits by shells from the Bismarck. There was little time for the crew to escape and only three survivors were picked up.

One of those lost on the Hood was West Cumbrian seaman William Nelson, Stoker 2nd Class, P/KX 116642, who is remembered on the Cleator Moor Roll of Honour and the Portsmouth Naval Memorial (Panel 56, Column 2). The Portsmouth Memorial remembers those Naval personnel lost in the two World Wars who have no known grave. In 1941 Stoker William Nelson's parents were living in Frizington (about 4 miles from Cleator Moor) and so his name is also listed among the Second World War casualties on the Frizington Village War Memorial.