-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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James Henry Down

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Date of birth: 22nd July 1899
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Schoolmaster
Joined Hood: 4th May 1923 (Schoolmaster)
Left Hood: 31st December 1924 (Schoolmaster)










Biographical Information: James Henry Down was born on the 22nd of July 1899, but interestingly his RN record sheet has no space in which to record his birth place.

James served for a year in the Army at the very end of World War I and shortly after, during the latter part of which he was a sergeant instructor. It was a natural path for him to migrate to the RN as a Schoolmaster in 1920, therefore. His service record (ADM 196) is notably brief in comparison to those of commissioned officers of other specialisations, and contains his entire service history, with assessments by his reporting officers, in a very few sheets. It also contains records of his exam results, from which it is clear that he was highly academically capable.

James had the good fortune to serve in Hood during the Empire Cruise of 1923-4. He went on to complete over thirty years in the RN, leaving as an Instructor Lieutenant Commander in 1952, after 32 years' service.


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)