-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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David Towse

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Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Able Seaman
Service Number: P/JX 138207
Joined Hood: October 1933
Left Hood: January 1939










Biographical Information: David Towse was born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire on 1 June 1917.

Having worked as a baker's boy in his home town, David joined the Royal Navy on 23 November 1932 as a Boy 2nd Class, being drafted to H.M.S. St Vincent - the Royal Navy's shore training establishment in Gosport, Hampshire. David spent 11 months here, progressing to Boy 1st Class before leaving the base on 11 October 1933.

His first sea-going draft was the one which all boys hoped for - H.M.S. Hood, still pride of the Royal Navy. This first period of service in Hood was to be a short one as he left the ship on 19 March 1934 to join the battleship Royal Sovereign. Hood spent October and the first week of November 1933 in Scottish waters before heading back to her home port of Portsmouth. She remained here until 12 January 1934 when she sailed for Arosa Bay at the beginning of that year's spring cruise. This included visits to Madeira and Gibraltar before taking part in the combined exercises during the first half of March. It seems likely that David left the ship in Gibraltar immediately before she sailed for home.

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)
Derrick Towse, February 2009 (from service records)