-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


Percy Mullice Couch

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Date of birth: 27th March 1896
Place of birth: Devonport, Devon, England
Previous occupation: Errand boy
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Petty Officer
Service Number: J17136
Joined Hood: 10th June 1922 (Petty Officer)
Left Hood: 6th January 1926 (Petty Officer)







Biographical Information: Percy Couch had two brothers who served in the Royal Navy: Joseph Samuel Couch and Edward Charles George Couch. . Edward served simultaneously in Hood with Percy. Both participated in the Empire Cruise. onboard in 1923-4.

Percy was already a married man by this time, having married Olive Metters in Devonport in 1922. He and Olive had at least one son, Albert. Percy continued to serve in the Royal Navy, being promoted to Chief Petty Officer in 1933, while serving in the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Glorious. He retired to pension on 29th March 1936, the day before his 40th birthday - as was normal. He returned to the Service in 1938, however, with the clouds of war looming, and remained in the Service throughout the whole of the Second World War, being Mentioned in Despatches in December 1944.

Percy Couch finally retired from the RN in 1946. He resided in Morice Town, in central Plymouth immediately adjacent to the dockyard, and died in Plymouth on 14th March 1971, just short of his 75th birthday. He is buried in the Weston Mill Cemetery in Plymouth in grave number 12403.




History of ships served in and ratings held:


Date FromDate toShipRatingSource
22nd April 191228th November 1912ImpregnableBoy 2nd ClassADM188/681
29th November 191227th May 1913ImpregnableBoy 1st ClassADM188/681
28th May 19135th October 1913TheseusBoy 1st ClassADM188/681
6th October 191329th October 1913Vivid IBoy 1st ClassADM188/681
30th October 19139th January 1914AjaxBoy 1st ClassADM188/681
10th January 19144th November 1914AjaxOrdinary SeamanADM188/681
5th November 19149th February 1915AjaxAble SeamanADM188/681
10th February 191521st March 1915Vivid IAble SeamanADM188/681
22nd March 19152nd June 1915DefianceAble SeamanADM188/681
3rd June 191524th June 1915Blake (Hope)Able SeamanADM188/681
25th June 191519th August 1915Dido (Hope)Able SeamanADM188/681
20th August 191514th September 1916Vivid II (Hope)Able SeamanADM188/681
15th September 191625th October 1916Vivid IAble SeamanADM188/681
26th October 191631st August 1917Vivid II (Hope)Able SeamanADM188/681
1st September 191731st October 1917Hecla (Hope)Able SeamanADM188/681
1st November 191731st December 1917BlenheimAble SeamanADM188/681
1st January 191818th March 1919BlenheimLeading SeamanADM188/681
19th March 191931st December 1919Egmont (Hope)Leading SeamanADM188/681
1st January 192030th April 1920Vivid ILeading SeamanADM188/681
1st May 192031st August 1920ColumbineLeading SeamanADM188/681
1st September 192030th September 1920ColumbinePetty OfficerADM188/681
1st October 192016th November 1921ColleenPetty OfficerADM188/681
17th November 192128th February 1922Colleen (Urchin)Petty OfficerADM188/681
1st March 192210th June 1922Dido (Urchin)Petty OfficerADM188/681
11th June 19226th January 1926HoodPetty OfficerADM188/681
7th January 19261st June 1927Impregnable (Colossus)Petty OfficerADM188/681
2nd June 19272nd May 1928Vivid IPetty OfficerADM188/681
3rd May 192823rd January 1931CornwallPetty OfficerADM188/681
24th January 193110th March 1931Vivid I-IPetty OfficerADM363/85
11th March 19313rd November 1931DefiancePetty OfficerADM363/85
4th November 193130th June 1932Victory XI (Dunoon)Petty OfficerADM363/85
1st July 19321st September 1932Vivid IPetty OfficerADM363/85
2nd September 193231st December 1932Vivid II (Tedworth)Petty OfficerADM363/85
1st January 193316th January 1933Vivid IPetty OfficerADM363/85
17th January 193320th January 1933GloriousPetty OfficerADM363/85
21st January 193324th July 1935GloriousChief Petty OfficerADM363/85
25th July 19352nd September 1935Drake IChief Petty OfficerADM363/85
3rd September 193527th December 1935St. Angelo (Medusa)Chief Petty OfficerADM363/85
28th December 193525th March 1936Drake IChief Petty OfficerADM363/85
26th March 193627th September 1938PensionedChief Petty OfficerADM363/85
28th September 19381st October 1938Drake I (Mobilised)Chief Petty OfficerADM363/85
2nd October 193825th October 1940DemobilisedChief Petty OfficerADM363/85
26th October 194011th November 1940Drake IChief Petty OfficerADM363/85
12th November 194024th December 1940AntwerpChief Petty OfficerADM363/85
25th December 19403rd January 1941Drake IChief Petty OfficerADM363/85
4th January 194131st March 1941Defiance (Plougastil)Chief Petty OfficerADM363/85
1st April 194125th June 1941Paris (Plougastil)Chief Petty OfficerADM363/85
26th June 194111th July 1941Drake IChief Petty OfficerADM363/85
12th July 19418th October 1945Quebec (Iris)Chief Petty OfficerADM363/85
9th October 1945Released in Class AChief Petty OfficerADM363/85

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)
The Empire Cruise by VC Scott O'Connor
Service Record: ADM/363/85(Ancestry)
Melanie Bryan (information and photograph July 2023.)