-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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Harold Victor William Groos

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Date of birth: 2nd September 1912
Place of birth: Louisiana, New Orleans, USA
Service: Royal Canadian Navy
Rank: Midshipman
Service Number: O-29540
Joined Hood: 1931? (Midshipman)
Left Hood: 1931? (Midshipman)








Biographical Information: Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, Harold Groos joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1930. Over the following four years, as a Cadet and then as a Midshipman, Harold trained in a succession of RN ships and establishments (mostly heavy units) of which Hood was one. The length of his stay on board is not known.

His suitability for seagoing command was noticed early: during World War II he commanded a succession of vessels, starting (as a Lieutenant) with the Flower class corvette HMCS Orillia and culminating in 1944 (as a Lieutenant Commander) with the magnificent new Tribal class 'super destroyer' HMCS Huron.

The fine career of Harold Groos continued after the war, and he ended his service as a Rear Admiral. He left the RCN on 30th January 1965 and passed away in July 1987.

A summary of Harold Groot's career is as follows.

Naval Cadet RCN (seniority 1 September 1930 HMS Erebus for training 1930 Midshipman RCN (seniority 1 January 1931) HMS Carysfort for training HMS Hood for training HMS Victory for training Acting Sub-Lieutenant RCN (seniority 1 January 1934 HMS Warspite for training HMS Rodney for training Sub-Lieutenant RCN (seniority 1 January 1934) HMS Excellent HMS Dryad Lieutenant RCN (seniority 1 May 1936) HMCS Skeena 1936 HMCS Fraser as First Lieutenant 1937 RCN Barracks Halifax 1940 HMCS Orillia in command 1942 Acting Lieutenant-Commander RCN 1943 HMCS St. Francis in command 1943 Lieutenant-Commander RCN (seniority 1 May 1944) HMCS Gatineau in command 1943 HMCS Huron in command 1944 Acting Commander RCN (seniority 25 October 1945 NSHQ as Assistant Chief of Naval Personnel 1945 NSHQ as Director of Seaman Personnel 1945 NSHQ as Staff Officer (Plans & Intelligence) 1946 NSHQ Directorate of Naval Plans and Operations as Staff Officer (Strategy) 1948 National Defence College of Canada 1948 Commander RCN (seniority 1 January 1949) RCN Barracks Esquimalt as Executive Officer 1950 HMCS Crusader in command 1951 Captain RCN (seniority 1 January 1953) Appointed as aAdC HMCS Niobe in command and Naval Member Canadian Joint Liaison Staff London UK 1952 HMCS Bonaventure in command 1957 Acting Commodore RCN 1958 Commodore RCN Barracks Esquimalt 1958 Commodore RCN (seniority 15 January 1960) NSHQ for special duties as Director General Officer Cadets 1962


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)
Canada's Admirals and Commodores by Norman H Jolin and John M MacFarlane 3rd Edition, Revised and Updated. Per Chris Varley, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.