-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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George Haywood

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Date of birth: 24th October 1904
Place of birth: Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Previous occupation: Metal machinist
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Mechanician
Service Number: K61107
Joined Hood: 10th March 1931
Left Hood: 26th August 1932







Biographical Information: George Haywood was born in the great industrial city of Birmingham, and carved out a career as a metal machinist before he joined the Royal Navy as a Stoker Second Class in 1923. At age 18 he was older than the average RN recruit. George was the eldest child of a large family, with three younger brothers (William, Ernest and Kenneth) and two younger sisters (Marjorie and Freda.) Family folklore records that George may have enlisted as a result of overcrowding at home: recollections are that he was 'farmed out' to relatives at one point in his childhood.

With his background in engineering, George made meteoric progress in the Stoker branch (the RN's semi-skilled engineering cadre) and had been advanced to Stoker Petty Officer a little over three years after joining the Service. It seems that he stood from his peers, because, not long after, he was selected for transfer to the Mechanician branch, a skilled branch equivalent to Artificer. By the time he joined HMS Hood early in 1931, he was an Acting Mechanician. Later in his career, he was promoted to Chief Mechanician.

George was drafted from Hood in 1932. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, George, as a Chief Mechanician, was drafted to the cruiser HMS Gloucester. As a 'Chief Mech' it is likely that he was senior rating in charge of the ship's propulsion system.

Family members recall that when George was home on leave, his father (also George) would spend any savings he had on buying a large barrel of beer and any food he could afford, in order to celebrate the occasion with the family and as many neighbours as could squeeze into the front room of their small three up, two down mid-terrace house in Cherry Wood Road. The piano was put to good use and anyone who could sing or entertain would be prevailed upon to do a 'party piece'. Needless to say, George Junior was a very popular young man! .

Tragically, just two days before the loss of HMS Hood, George Haywood died when Gloucester was sunk in the battle for Crete. Family memories record that George's wife began to receive a War Widow's Pension from the Royal Navy. The date was not recorded correctly, however, and as a result she began receiving the pension slightly sooner than expected and she subsequently received an official letter asking for the overpaid sum to be refunded: five pounds!




Additional Photos



George Haywood, wearing the uniform of a Chief Mechanician.




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)
Mr Mark Haywood, great-nephew, and Miss Bonnie Haywood, great-great niece, March 2021.