Last survivor of HMS Hood sinking dies at 85

[82Rigger]

LONDON
OCT 7, 2008 1:00:00 AM

Ted Briggs, the last survivor of the World War II sinking of British battle cruiser HMS Hood, has died, his naval association said. He was 85.
Mr Briggs died on Saturday at a hospital in Portsmouth, southern England, HMS Hood Association chairman Peter Heys said.

Mr Briggs was one of only three seamen among the 1418-strong crew to survive an attack by the German battleship Bismarck on May 24, 1941.
A salvo from the Bismarck hit the Hood during the Battle of the Denmark Strait and the magazine exploded, tearing the ship in half. It sank within three minutes.

Mr Briggs, an 18-year-old signalman, later described how he had been sucked under by the sinking ship before being propelled to the surface, where he saw the ship disappearing below the waves.

He wrote in an account of the sinking posted on the HMS Hood Association's website, ''I turned and swam as best I could in water four inches [10cm] thick with oil and managed to get on one of the small rafts she carried, of which there were a large number floating around. ''When I turned again she had gone and there was a fire on the water where her bows had been.''
Mr Biggs said he had seen two other survivors, Midshipman William Dundas and Able Seaman Bob Tilburn, on rafts nearby. ''There was not another soul to be seen.''

The trio were picked up by another ship hours later. Mr Dundas died in 1965, Mr Tilburn in 1995.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that the Bismarck be destroyed. It was pursued by British forces and sunk three days later, with the loss of almost 2000 lives.

Mr Briggs remained in the navy until 1973. He is survived by his wife, Clare.