-H.M.S. Hood Crew Information-
H.M.S. Crew List

It is estimated that as many as 18,000 men served aboard the 'Mighty Hood' during the operational portion of her 21 year career. Unfortunately, there is no surviving official single listing of ALL men who served in her. Here you will find our attempt at creating such a listing. We are using the few, fragmentary crew lists known to exist, Navy Lists, various official reports, public records, and most importantly of all, inputs from the families of former crew.

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Robert McCoy or McKay

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Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Stoker Petty Officer
Service Number: 300584
Joined Hood: 1st April 1920
Left Hood: 14th May 1923










Biographical Information: Robert McKay, also known as Robert McCoy was born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire but his family were from Belfast. He joined the Army aged 14 but his father bought him out. To escape detection he then joined the Navy as Robert McCoy - the name he was known by throughout his Navy career. He joined the Royal Navy in 1902 and was sent to the Vivid barracks at Devonport. He served on a variety of ships and was awarded the DSM in 1918. He also received the Order of the Rising Sun - 8th Class From the Emperor of Japan in 1918 and is mentioned in the London Gazette. He served in H.M.S. Crescent from 24 February 1920 to 31 March 1920 before transferring to Hood. He was on board her for the trip to Rio in 1922 and received his Neptune certificate for crossing the Equator in August 1922. He was a good boxer. He left the Hood when it went in for a refit in 1923 at Devonport. On leaving Hood, Robert joined H.M.S. Impregnable. In 1925 he joined the Royal Fleet Reserve at Devonport until he was discharged on 9 October 1933 aged 50. He was recalled in 1939 to Devonport and served for 3 years before returning in 1942 to his pre-war job of Chief Stoker at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Robert's youngest son followed him into the Navy in 1942.

Additional Photographs
None at this time.


Memorials
No known memorials


Sources
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
'Register of Deaths of Naval Ratings' (data extracted by Director of Naval Personnel (Disclosure Cell), Navy Command HQ, 2009)
Sally Batten, Robert's great Grandaughter