-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 Walter Trimbrell

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Date of birth: 1st February 1920
Place of birth: Tavistock, Devon, England
Service: Royal Canadian Navy
Rank: Midshipman
Service Number: O-73390
Joined Hood: 1938 (Midshipman)
Left Hood: 1938 (Midshipman)








Biographical Information: Although English born, Robert Tribrell joined the Royal Canadian Navy as a Special Entry Cadet in 1937, at the age of 17. He served in Hood as a Midshipman under training in 1938. As a Lieutenant RCN, he specialised in anti-submarine warfare. Among many key appointments he held was that of the first First Lieutenant of the brand-new Tribal class destroyer HMCS Micmac, the first fast warship to be built in a Canadian shipyard. He rose to the rank of Rear Admiral before submitting his resignation in 1973. He died in 2006, at the age of 86 years.

Full career details of Robert Walter Tribrell are listed below.

Cadet RNR 1935 HMS Conway (Merchant Navy training establishment) 1935 Special Entry Naval Cadet No. 43 RCN 1937 HMS Erebus for training 1937 HMS Vindictive for training Midshipman RCN (seniority 1 September 1938) HMS Barham for training 1938 HMS Hood for training HMS Warspite for training Sub-Lieutenant RCN (seniority May 1940) HMCS Annapolis as First Lieutenant 1940 HMCS Margaree 1940 Lieutenant RCN (seniority 15 August 1941) HMS Osprey for Anti-Submarine Officers Course 1942 HMCS Cornwallis as Officer-in-Charge Anti-Submarine School 1943 HMCS Ottawa - Senior Officer Escort Group EG-5 as Staff Officer (Anti-Submarine) 1943 HMCS Qu'Appelle - Senior Officer Escort Group EG-11 as Staff Officer (Anti-Submarine) 1944 HMCS Micmac as First Lieutenant 1945 HMCS Stadacona as Officer-in-Charge Anti-Submarine School 1946 HMCS Swansea in command 1948 Lieutenant-Commander RCN (seniority 15 August 1949) NSHQ as Staff Officer Torpedo Anti-Submarine 1949 HMCS Ontario as Training Officer 1951 Commander RCN (seniority 1 July 1952) Royal Roads Service College as Vice-Commandant 1952 RN Staff Course 1954 HMCS St. Laurent in command and Commander Third Canadian Escort Squadron 1956 HMCS Shearwater as Executive Officer 1957 Captain RCN (seniority 1 July 1958) NSHQ as Director Undersea Warfare 1958 ACLANT HQ Norfolk Virginia as Assistant Director Plans, Defensive Operations 1958 HMCS Bonaventure in command 1963 CFHQ as Director Officer-Cadets 1965 Commodore RCN (seniority 1 July 1965) Commander Designate Training Command 1965 Canadian Forces Training Command as Chief of Staff (Administration and Technical Services) 1966 Rear-Admiral RCN (seniority 1 September 1967) CFHQ as Deputy Chief Plans 1967 Commander Canadian Defence Liaison Staff (Washington) and Canadian Forces Defence Attache 1970 Commander Maritime Command 1971 Resigned 9 November 1973


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.