-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 Thomas Spiller

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Date of birth: 11th March 1890
Place of birth: Ilford, Essex, England
Previous occupation: Baker
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Stoker Petty Officer
Service Number: K551
Joined Hood: 19th August 1922 (Stoker Petty Officer)
Left Hood: 12th November 1922 (Stoker Petty Officer)







Biographical Information: Robert Thomas Spiller was in Hood for just three months, from August to September 1922. During that time, Hood visited Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, to help celebrate the centenary of Brazil's independence. American battleship Maryland was in Rio also, for the same reason. Spiller's short draft to Hood at that time is unlikely to have been a matter of chance: a sporting contest was to be held between the ships of the various nations present, and Spiller was the Royal Navy and British amateur boxing champion at his weight.

In the event, Spiller lost his bout against his American opponent, who, right at the start of the contest, just as Spiller was preparing to shake hands, struck him two unexpected, unsporting and conclusive blows. A riot by the RN sailors present was only averted by prompt action by Rear Admiral Walter Cowan leaping into the ring and asking for 'three cheers for the US Navy!' In the event, the bout was declared null and void, Spiller's opponent apologised, and the RN squadron won the sporting tournament.

Spiller was drafted from Hood only two months later. He was advanced to Chief Stoker in 1929, before being pensioned in 1930. In August 1939, just before the start of the Second World War, he re-enlisted, serving for another two years.



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)
Service Record: ADM363/119(Ancestry)
'The Battlecruiser HMS Hood' by Bruce Taylor.