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Model comes on wood base with solid brass pedestals

(image of model not yet available)

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The four ships of the Admiral Class battlecruisers laid down by Britain in 1916 were the largest battlecruisers in the world. However, the Great War disrupted construction and 3 ships (HMS Anson, HMS Repulse and HMS Renown) were cancelled the following year. "HMS Hood", launched in 1918, was the only one in the class to be completed.

On her launch, "HMS Hood" was the fastest warship in the world, but her speed was gained at the expense of light amour protection; and would  contribute to her destruction. The ship's horizontal armour was especially thin and completion was delayed to allow some 5000 tons more of amour to be added to the design.

Commissioned in 1920, the ship underwent several small refits from 1929 to 1938. However, because of monetary restraints, it was not until 1939 that major refit work got started. Even that was interrupted by the the next great war (WWII), and, apart from secondary armament, Hood was little different in 1941 then when originally completed.

On May 21st, 1941, HMS Hood sailed with the battleship HMS Prince Of Wales to intercept the German battleship Bismarck (in company with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen) who had escaped out of the Baltic sea and would soon be threatening convoys vital to Britain's survival.  Numerous other Allied warships were also trying to close with the two German ships but -  early on the morning of May 24th - the Hood and Prince of Wales were the first to meet the enemy ships in Denmark Strait off Iceland. HMS Hood opened fire first at 5:52 AM, and two minutes later the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen responded. The German gunnery was excellent and - within minutes - Hood was hit several times. Then a 15" shell from Bismarck's 3rd salvo apparently penetrated Hood's deck armor and detonated inside an aft ammunition magazine causing a huge explosion that ripped the ship in two. Hood sank quickly with only 3 survivors found out of her crew of 1421. The Prince of Wales withdrew in a smoke screen... and the Bismarck became more dreaded than ever.