-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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Kenneth Lloyd Dyer

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Date of birth: 7th October 1915
Place of birth: Toungoo, Burma
Service: Royal Canadian Navy
Rank: Midshipman
Service Number: O-21480
Joined Hood: 1934 (Midshipman)
Left Hood: 1934 (Midshipman)








Biographical Information: Kenneth Dyer was one of many Canadian midshipmen appointed to HMS Hood for training in the years between the World Wars and right up to and including Hood's sinking. His career was a particularly distinguished one: he rose to the rank of Vice Admiral.

Born in Burma, Kenneth Dyer joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1933 and spent part of the following year under training in Hood. Later, he specialised in Gunnery. As an Acting Lieutenant Commander, he commanded two destroyers in succession during World War II's Battle of the Atlantic: HMCS Skeena and HMCS Kootenay.

Kenneth Dyer retired as a Vice Admiral in 1967 and passed away on 3rd October 2000, at the age of 85.

Details of his career are as follows.

Naval Cadet RCN (seniority 1 January 1933) HMCS Stadacona 1933 HMS Frobisher for training 1933 Midshipman RCN (seniority 1 September1934) HMS Hood for training 1934 HMS Furious for training 1934 HMS Enterprise for training 1936 HMS Victory for RN training courses 1936 HMS President for Royal Naval College Greenwich for junior officer training 1936 Acting Sub-Lieutenant RCN (seniority 1 January 1937 HMS Dryad for training 1937 HMS Excellent for training 1937 HMS Victory for training courses 1937 Sub-Lieutenant RCN (seniority 1 January 1937) HMCS Stadacona HMCS Venture1938 Lieutenant RCN (seniority 1 March 1938) HMCS Saguenay for Navigating and Watchkeeping duties 1938 HMS Excellent for RN Specialist Gunnery Course 1938 HMS Excellent attached to Captain (D) Greenock for Gunnery Duties 1940 HMS Drake for Gunnery Duties 1940 HMCS Dominion as Executive Officer 1941 HMCS Stadacona as Officer-in-Charge RCN Gunnery School 1941 HMS Walker for ASW Destroyer Familiarization 1942 Acting Lieutenant-Commander (G) RCN (seniority 15 June 1942) HMCS Skeena in command 1942 HMCS Kootenay in command 1943 HMCS Acadia as Senior Instructional Officer 1944 HMS Malabar as Senior Canadian Training Officer 1944 Lieutenant-Commander RCN (seniority 15 August 1944) HMCS Somers Isles as Senior Training Officer 1944 HMS Glory for Carrier Experience 1945 Commander RCN (seniority 1 July 1945) HMCS Somers Isles as Training Commander 1945 HMCS Niobe to stand by First Light Fleet Carrier and for aircraft carrier experience in USS Intrepid 1945 HMCS Warrior as Executive Officer 1945 RN Staff Course 1948 UK Joint Services Staff College 1948 Captain RCN (seniority 1 January 1949) NSHQ as Deputy Chief of Naval Personnel 1949 HMCS Magnificent in command 1951 Commodore RCN (seniority 9 April 1953) HMCS Naden as Commodore RCN Barracks Esquimalt 1953 HonouraryAdC to Governor General 1953 NSHQ as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Warfare) and Member of the Naval Board of Canada 1954 NSHQ as Naval Comptroller and Member of the Naval Board of Canada 1956 National Defence College of Canada 1956 Rear-Admiral RCN (seniority 30 July 1957) NSHQ as Chief of Naval Personnel and Member of the Naval Board of Canada 1957 Flag Officer Atlantic Coast and as Commander Canadian Sub-Area 1960 NSHQ as Vice Chief of Naval Staff and Member of the Naval Board of Canada 1963 NSHQ as Acting Chief of the Naval Staff and Chairman of the Naval Board of Canada 1964 Vice-Admiral RCN (seniority 1 August 1964) CFHQ as Chief of Personnel and Principal Naval Adviser 1964 Resigned 1966 effective 2 July 1967



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.