-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.

Chainbar divider


Richard Thomas (Mike) Doolin

Photo of
Date of birth: 25th April 1919
Place of birth: Grantham, Lincolnshire, England
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Boy 1st Class
Service Number: P/JX 145003
Joined Hood: 1936
Left Hood: 1937








Biographical Information:

Mike was born on 25 April 1919 in Grantham, UK to Irish parents. He joined the Royal Navy at age 16 on 12 June 1935. His service number was JX 145003. He was assigned as a Boy 2nd Class to the training establishment at H.M.S. Ganges. During his time at Ganges he was promoted to Boy 1st Class (25 January 1936). He left at Ganges on 19 March 1936 and joined the crew of the battleship H.M.S. Royal Sovereign the following day.

Mike served aboard Royal Sovereign for six months until 07 September 1936. He joined the battle cruiser H.M.S. Hood the following day. Hood, at that time was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. During his time in Hood, he was promoted to Ordinary Seaman (25 April 1937). He is believed to have worked with the ship's torpedoes. He remained with Hood until 23 July 1938.

Following his time in Hood, Mike returned to England to Victory Barracks, Portsmouth. He was promoted to Able Seaman on 25 Juy 1938. September and October of that year saw Mike training at Effingham and Vernon then rejoining Victory Barracks. He then joined the sloop Auckland from November 1938 to May 1940.

1940 saw Mike assigned to the following establishments/ships: Victory, Nimrod, Defiance/Centurion, and Dolphin. He was promoted to Leading Seaman in August of that year. He left Dolphin in April 1941. The remainder of 1941 saw him serve in/at Osprey, Orlando, Cormorant and the Nile. He had been promoted to Acting Petty Officer during this timeframe.

Mike left the Nile in April 1942. The rest of the year saw Mike serve in/at St Angelo, Lance and Osprey. He was promoted to Petty Officer during this timeframe. He left the Osprey in January 1943. The rest of that year saw him serve in/at Nimrod, Victory, Osprey, Dolphin, Cyclops, Maidstone and Medway II.

Mike left Medway II in Mar 44. The remainder of that year saw him serve at Victory. He left Victory in February 1945 and was assigned "next door" at Vernon. The rest of that year saw him serve at/in Eaglet, Victory and Diadem. He served in Diadem until March 1948, at which time he returned to Victory. He was assigned to Resource and Victory throughout 1948 and into 1949. He was released from service (put into reserve status) in April 1949.

During his naval service, he received the 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star, Africa Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal and the War Medal 1939-45. After his Royal Naval service, Mike served in the Merchant Navy for a time. He later emigrated to Australia, where he worked on a dredger off Port Phillip.

Mike passed away on on 4th December 2015. His legacy lives on through his donation of the Richard Doolin Award. This award was presented by the H.M.S. Hood Association to Sea Cadets, St Austell (formerly Hood) in May 2015. It will continue to be awarded annually to the unit's most improved cadet.






History of ships served in and ratings held:


Date FromDate toShipRatingSource
12th June 193525th January 1936GangesBoy 2nd ClassService record (via Mike)
26th January 193619th March 1936GangesBoy 1st ClassService record (via Mike)
20th March 19367th September 1936Royal SovereignBoy 1st ClassService record (via Mike)
8th September 193624th April 1937HoodBoy 1st ClassService record (via Mike)
25th April 193723rd July 1938HoodOrdinary SeamanService record (via Mike)
13th September 193717th September 1938Effinham (Vimy)Able SeamanService record (via Mike)
24th July 193824th July 1938Victory IOrdinary SeamanService record (via Mike)
25th July 193812th September 1937Victory IAble SeamanService record (via Mike)
18th September 193812th October 1938Vernon (Vimy)Able SeamanService record (via Mike)
13th October 193818th November 1938Victory IAble SeamanService record (via Mike)
19th November 19383rd December 1939AuklandAble SeamanService record (via Mike)
4th December 19399th May 1940Cochrane II (Aukland)Able SeamanService record (via Mike)
10th May 194012th June 1940Victory IAble SeamanService record (via Mike)
13th June 194024th July 1940NimrodAble SeamanService record (via Mike)
25th July 19406th August 1940Defence (Centurion)Able SeamanService record (via Mike)
7th August 19404th October 1940Defence (Centurion)Acting Leading SeamanService record (via Mike)
5th October 194010th April 1941Dolphin (L129)Acting Leading SeamanService record (via Mike)
11th April 194121st April 1941OspreyActing Leading SeamanService record (via Mike)
22nd April 19416th July 1941Orlando (Lance)Acting Leading SeamanService record (via Mike)
7th July 194131st August 1941Orlando (Lance)Acting Petty Officer (Temporary)Service record (via Mike)
1st September 194131st October 1941Cormorant (Lance)Acting Petty Officer (Temporary)Service record (via Mike)
1st November 19415th April 1942Nile (Lance)Acting Petty Officer (Temporary)Service record (via Mike)
6th April 19426th July 1942St. AngeloActing Petty Officer (Temporary)Service record (via Mike)
7th July 19422nd September 1942St. AngeloPetty OfficerService record (via Mike)
3rd September 194225th October 1942LancePetty OfficerService record (via Mike)
26th October 19428th January 1943OspreyPetty OfficerService record (via Mike)
9th January 19435th February 1943NimrodPetty OfficerService record (via Mike)
6th February 194311th February 1943OspreyPetty OfficerService record (via Mike)
12th February 19433rd March 1943VictoryPetty OfficerService record (via Mike)
4th March 194310th April 1943Dolphin (S/Ms)Petty Officer (Temporary)Service record (via Mike)
11th April 194323rd June 1943Cyclops (S/Ms)Petty Officer (Temporary)Service record (via Mike)
24th June 194313th July 1943Dolphin (S/Ms)Petty Officer (Temporary)Service record (via Mike)
14th July 194319th August 1943Maidstone (S/Ms)Petty Officer (Temporary)Service record (via Mike)
20th August 194320th February 1944Medway II (S/Ms)Petty Officer (Temporary)Service record (via Mike)
21st February 194431st March 1944Medway II (S/Ms)Petty OfficerService record (via Mike)
1st April 194430th November 1944VictoryPetty OfficerService record (via Mike)
1st December 194420th February 1945VictoryPTRTI 2nd ClassService record (via Mike)
21st February 194510th July 1945VernonPTRTI 2nd ClassService record (via Mike)
11th July 194518th September 1945EagletPTRTI 2nd ClassService record (via Mike)
19th September 194521st October 1945VictoryPTRTI 2nd ClassService record (via Mike)
22nd October 194516th March 1948DiademPTRTI 2nd ClassService record (via Mike)
17th March 194817th March 1948VictoryPTRTI 2nd ClassService record (via Mike)
18th March 19487th March 1949Resource (S.O.R.F.)PTRTI 2nd ClassService record (via Mike)
8th March 194924th April 1949VictoryPTRTI 2nd ClassService record (via Mike)
25th April 1949Released to reservePTRTI 2nd ClassService record (via Mike)



Additional Photos



Mike and his class at Ganges




Mike and his wife in 2007.




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)
John Tyson, e-mail 2 April 1003