-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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Frederick Charles Rowsell

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Date of birth: 3rd May 1903
Place of birth: Lymington, Hampshire, England
Previous occupation: Schoolboy
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Ordnance Artificer 3rd Class
Service Number: M34963
Joined Hood: 10th March 1931 (Ordnance Artificer 3rd Class)
Left Hood: 4th September 1931 (Ordnance Artificer 3rd Class)







Biographical Information: Fred followed his father into the Royal Navy in August 1919 as a member of the first boy Ordnance Artificer entry initially based in HMS Indus at Devonport. He proved extremely able and conscientious and gradually 'climbed the ladder' until he retired from active service in 1953 with the rank of Lieutenant- Commander (E). He was appointed MBE in the Queen's Coronation Honours List that year. After his retirement from active service he joined the Civil Service as a technical author until his final retirement in 1968.

Fred joined HMS Hood in March 1931, when she was emerging from her major mid-life refit. He left in early September that year, narrowly missing Hood's involvement in the Invergordon Mutiny later that month. Of many other highlights in his career Fred survived the torpedoing of HMS Manchester on a Malta convoy in July 1941 and was in charge of 'Y' 14 inch gun turret on HMS Duke of York in the action which sank the German battle cruiser 'Scharnhorst' in the Arctic Ocean on Boxing Day 1943. By September 1945, still serving in Duke of York, he was on board when they entered Tokyo harbour as second ship in line, astern of USS Missouri, to accept the Japanese surrender.

Away from the Navy Fred had a very fine tenor voice and was a member of several choirs and concert parties. He was married to his wife Kathleen ('Kit') for over fifty-seven years and is survived by his only son, Graham, and by grandsons, Colin and Alan. The former coincidently was a Sea Cadet at TS Hood in St Austell before also serving in the Royal Navy as a Marine Engineering Artificer in nuclear powered submarines.


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: ADM363/170(Ancestry)