-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.

Chainbar divider


Leonard Joseph Crispin

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Date of birth: 3rd November 1914
Place of birth: Stepney, London, England
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Stoker 1st Class
Service Number: KX 91268
Joined Hood: 16th November 1937
Left Hood: 29th June 1939 (Stoker 1st Class)








Biographical Information: Leonard Joseph Crispin was born on the 3rd November, 1914, in Stepney, London, into a working-class family of Huguenot descent. He had a variety of jobs, including working for the gas company and for the London Underground. For a day out he would cycle to Southend-on-Sea on a fixed-wheel bike down the newly constructed A127.

After his mother died in the mid-1930s, he decided to join the armed services, which led him to joining the Navy on the 4th May, 1937, signing on for 12 years. He served aboard Hood from 16th November, 1937 to 29th June,1939, with a very brief four-day posting to HMS London in September/October, 1938.

Most of his service aboard Hood was in the Mediterranean. He then subsequently served in the submarine service until he resumed general service in October 1941, when he was posted to HMS Kongoni. Then, in September 1942, he was drafted to HMS Assegai in Durban, South Africa. He remained in South Africa until just before he was medically discharged in December 1944.

Following his naval service, Leonard moved from London to Oxford, where he worked in a hospital, which is where he met his future wife. The family lived in that area until 1964, when they moved to Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Leonard did a number of mainly manual jobs during his life, but apart from the Navy, he most enjoyed being a telephonist at Harwell atomic research station, and then doing bar work in later life.

Leonard Crispin died aged 60 in 1975.



Additional Photos



Leonard Crispin (left) with an unknown Hood shipmate. Location not known.




Leonard in tropical rig, ashore with an unnamed shipmate.




Leonard (centre) on the upper deck with two shipmates. Hood's mainmast, with its distinctive 'starfish platform' clearly visible in the background.



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)
Photographs and information courtesy of Leonard's son, Graham Crispin, April 2021