H.M.S. Hood Association Honorary Officers
 |
Patron Henry Hood Henry, the 8th Viscount Hood, is the grandson of Rear Admiral Sir Horace Hood who was killed at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. He is a well-established practising solicitor specialising in family law and mediation and heads the Family Law department at Hunters in the City of London. |
 |
President Rear Admiral Dr Chris Parry, C.B.E., PhD After reading Modern History at Jesus College Oxford, Chris Parry spent 36 enjoyable, rewarding years in the Royal Navy as an aviator and warfare officer. He commanded the destroyer H.M.S. Gloucester, the Amphibious Assault Ship H.M.S. Fearless, the UK's Amphibious Task Group and the Maritime Warfare Centre. He also held five senior Joint and UK Ministry of Defence appointments, with responsibility for the future strategic development, policy, effectiveness and operational deployment of all three armed forces out to 2030. As well as sailing every sea, he experienced regular operational tours and combat operations in Northern Ireland, the Gulf and the Falklands, where he rescued 16 SAS troopers from a glacier during a hurricane in South Georgia and disabled the Argentinian submarine Santa Fe. He was awarded the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators Helicopter Rescue Award in 1983 and his Falklands War diary was published as the best- selling 'Down South' in 2012. He was the founding Chair of the UK's Marine Management Organization in 2009. He now runs a strategic forecasting and trouble-shooting company, advising governments, leading corporates and banks about geo-political and strategic issues, leadership psychology and systemic risk, as well as continuous organisational improvement. He is also an internationally recognized authority on the future of warfare and emerging technologies. With a doctorate in organisational psychology, Chris teaches leadership, risk management and human and business optimisation at several universities and corporates, and at the UK Defence Academy, the Judge Business School, and the Global Leadership Academy. He regularly appears as a broadcaster and commentator on international and UK media and is an active author, most recently with 'Super Highway: Sea Power in the 21st Century'. |
 |
Vice-President David L. Mearns, O.A.M. David is one of the world’s most experienced and successful deep-sea shipwreck hunters having located 25 major shipwrecks with an overall 90% success rate. The Association owes David a debt of gratitude for his discovery, in 2001, of the wreck fo H.M.S. Hood and the recovery of the ship's bell in 2015. In a career spanning four decades David has also located, amongst others, the wrecks of the Laccona, Derbyshire and H.M.A.S. Sydney. More recently he came to prominence when he located the wreck of the aircraft in which footballer Emilio Sala had been killed. David has agreed to lead the team which will search for the wreck of the Empire Windrush and hopefully recover her anchor. |
 |
Vice-President Rob White Rob is a TV producer, reporter and camera operator with 30 years’ experience at the BBC, Channel 4 and ITN, in news, factual and documentary production. He is a four times award winner, whose awards include a coveted Royal Television Society award for his work on Channel 4 News. Rob worked with David fristly on the documentary about the discovery of the Derbyshire and later on the discovery of the wreck of H.M.S. Hood. In recently years Rob has produced several documentaries through Marimtime Films featuring Hood including For Years Unseen and Mighty then, Mighty Now. |
 |
Vice-President Frank Allen Frank, who lives in New Hartford, (New York State, U.S.A.) established this web site in 1997 and was made Vice-President in recognition of the significant contribution that the web site has made in ensuring that the Association continues to thrive in the post-veteran era. Despite living "across the pond" Frank has been a regular attendee at the Annual Dinner. Frank edited The Chough for many years and continues to maintain an actoive role in the maintenance and deelopment of the web site. |
 |
Vice-President Paul Bevand Along with Frank, Paul undertook much of the early research and development which has resulted in the web site being widely considered the foremost single ship resource on the internet. In 2001 Paul initiated the display at the Annual dinner of a Memorial Gallery of photographs of men lost with the ship. Paul continues to contribute to the web site and, in recent years, has developed the use of database technology which has facilitated the enlargement of the crew database and the individual pages on the site for each amn lost in or who served in the ship. |
H.M.S. Hood Association Committee
 |
Chairman Barry Roberts Barry has recently retired from a life in the Merchant Navy which saw him rise to the rank of Master Mariner. His career took him all around the world but most recently he worked on ships building and servicing the growing number of electric turbine fields in the north sea. A member of the Association for nearly 20 years, Barry assumed the role of Association Chairman in May 2022. In doing so, he has also retained his former role as Archivist and, as such, is the man to speak to about donating items to the Association. e-mail Barry (in respect of issues for the attention of the Chairman): chairman@hmshood.org.uk e-mail Barry (as Archivist): archivist@hmshood.org.uk |
 |
Vice-Chairman and Membership Secretary Mike Ware Mike Ware is HMSHA Vice Chairman and Membership Secretary. Married to Lynn for over 50 years, he lives in Leeds and worked in the IT industry until retirement in 2011. When a schoolboy, he borrowed the book, ‘The Mighty Hood’ by Ernle Bradford, from the school library. Then along came the film ‘Sink the Bismarck’ and an Airfix scale model kit of Hood. Mike was hooked on Hood for life! He has been a member of HMSHA since 1998 and a committee member since 2014. e-mail Mike: membership@hmshood.org.uk |
 |
Secretary Vacancy This post is currently unfilled. e-mail (box is checked weekly): secretary@hmshood.org.uk |
 |
Treasurer George Wronski Biographical information awaited. e-mail George: treasurer@hmshood.org.uk |
 |
Crew submissions Commander William Sutherland William Sutherland served nearly 25 years in the Royal Navy, the first member of his family ever to join that service. He was inspired to do so by a lifelong fascination with HMS Hood and her magnificent, tragic story. Following his naval career, spent (when not at sea) in Plymouth, Portsmouth and London, William returned with his wife Judi to their native county of Sutherland, in Scotland’s northern Highlands. William has been a member of the Association since 2009, a committee member since 2014 and chairman between 2017 and May 2022. On stepping down as Chairman, William retained his role as the lead on submissions of information about crew members for inclusion on the web site. e-mail William: crewsubs@hmshood.org.uk |
|
Slop Shop (items for Sale) Paul Bevand After a break of five or six years, Vice-Present Paul has come out of "Committee Retirement" to assume responsibility for sales of HMSHA merchandise – ‘slops’ in naval parlance. Paul also leads on Committee liaison in respect of the web site and is the editor of "The Chough". e-mail Paul (slops): slopshop@hmshood.org.uk e-mail Paul (other isues): paul@hmshood.org.uk |
 |
Media Officer Alex Ray Alex is the Committee Member for Media whose responsibilities include looking after the Facebook Page, Twitter Account and Instagram Account, in essence the Public face of HMSHA. Alex has been a member since 2014, and he has no known link to HMS Hood through Family who served on her he has been a Naval enthusiast since his earliest days, helped on, he says by his Grandad. He studied Naval history particularly of the First World War at University in Portsmouth, and has come to the Association through his love of Naval History. Alex says that "it's an absolute Honour to be a part of the Association and to help keep the memory of Hood and her crew alive for the future. e-mail Alex: media@hmshood.org.uk |
|
Events Officer Vacancy This post is currently unfilled. e-mail Events (e-mail box is checked weekly): events@hmshood.org.uk |
|
Chough Article co-oordination and special projects Vacancy This post is currently unfilled. e-mail The Chough: chough@hmshood.org.uk |
 |
Standard Bearer Mark Jackson Mark has been the Association Standard Bearer for several years and gets to represent the us at many different events. He also undertook the role of Events co-ordinator until stepping down in May 2022. |
 |
Web site enquiries James Warrand James is the son of Hood's last Nevigating Officer, Commander John Warrand. Living in Australia has not prevented James attending the Reunion Dinner on many occasions across the years nor from fulfilling the vital role of fielding the corresponence and enquiries which reach us through the web site. e-mail James: enquiries@hmshood.org.uk |
Please note that we run things on a voluntary basis. Although we are all deeply committed to the preservation of the memories of Hood and her crew, we are only human and we do have other commitments. With that in mind, we won't always be able to respond to all requests immediately. Whilst we are always happy to hear from members, do please also make use of the website "site search" tool or check our FAQ page). We will of course, do our best to respond (where warranted) as quickly as possible, but there may be periodic delays.
Another useful resource is our Facebook page. There is a chance that someone here may have information they are willing to share (and/or would appreciate anything you might have to share).
