-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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Glen Loftus Cant

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Date of birth: 7th June 1902
Place of birth: Glenelg, Victoria, Australia
Wife: Alice Jean Robertson
Service: Royal Australian Navy
Rank: Sub-Lieutenant (Acting)
Joined Hood: 4th January 1922 (Midshipman)
Left Hood: 9th August 1922 (Sub-Lieutenant (Acting))








Biographical Information: Glen Loftus Cant entered the Royal Australian Naval College as a Cadet Midshipman on the last day of 1915, and was promoted Midshipman on New Year's Day 1920.

Glen Cant, still a Midshipman, joined HMS Hood on the 4th of January 1922. He was promoted Acting Sub-Lieutenant under training when in Hood. In March 1922 the Australian Naval Board, needing to reduce manpower, assessed him and four other Midshipmen as being unlikely to develop into efficient officers. It was recommended that he be returned to Australia for half pay and discharge. This did not happen: his training and reports from Hood were obviously good enough, so nothing further was heard from the Board. Promoted substantively to Sub-Lieutenant on 15th December 1922, he was awarded his Watchkeeping Certificate in HMS Snapdragon

He returned for further Royal Navy exchange service as a Lieutenant in HMS Iron Duke from 1th May 1929 to 3rd October 1930. He married Alice Jean Robertson in Sydney on 15th April 1931.

Promoted Lieutenant Commander on 15th December 1932, Glen Cant commanded HMAS Tattoo in reserve and then the World War One era HMAS Vendetta from 28th June 1938 until 6th May 1940, by which time the Second World War had broken out. Sailing to the Mediterranean in October 1939, Vendetta became part of the famous 'Scrap Iron Flotilla'.

Lieutenant Commmander Cant briefly commanded HMAS Kybra before being appointed commissioning captain of the Australian-built corvette HMAS Maryborough from 12th June 1941 until 25th May 1943. Seeing extensive service in Malay, Java, Sumatra and Eastern Fleet operations he was promoted in her to Acting Commander on 10th November 1941. After service ashore he commanded HMAS Bungaree in 1944 and HMAS Adelaide in 1945. Post World War Two his hazardous service continued as Commander of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla in HMAS Katoomba around New Guinea, New Britain and the Solomons from 10th February 1946 until 26th November 1946. The photo shows him, as a Commander, at around this time.

Glen Cant commanded the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia from 27th November 1946 until 29th May 1947 and he paid off her sister ship HMAS Shropshire. After further shore appointments he retired in 1955 and was appointed a Commander on the Emergency List on the 1st of June 1955.



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)