The ship in the photo certainly IS HMS Hood. However, the photograph is wrongly captioned because it does NOT show the final moment of HMS Hood at all.
Firstly, the bottom lefthand corner of the photo shows another ship in company with HMS Hood, and from her position in the photo, she would be alongside and slightly ahead of Hood, but during the action against Bismarck, which this photo is supposed to be, the only ship in company with Hood was HMS Prince of Wales, which was in fact astern of Hood, and indeed had to take evasive action to avoid hitting the Hood's sinking wreckage. If Hood were explode in the position shown in the photo, the ship alongside would already be pulling away from the sinking wreck, and therefore in no way likely to hit it.
Secondly, the ship in the foreground is not HMS Prince of Wales, the quarterdeck shown is far too small and the turret in view is Not a quadruple one, thus it cannot be Prince of Wales.
Thirdly, the one portion of HMS Hood visible in the photo is the aft end of the boat deck and the main mast. this is clearly in view and appears to be totally undamaged. Yet moments after the final action against Bismarck and Prinz Eugen began, HMS Hood received a large-calibre shell hit in this area which set off 4" ready use ammunition and caused a huge fire, which weakened the ship sufficiently for her to break in half when struck in this area again moments before she exploded, yet as can be seen in the photo, this area of the ship is intact and not on fire, therefore it can't have been taken seconds before the explosion.
Fourthly, there were only two British warships actually directly involved in the gun duel with Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were Hood and Prince of Wales. There are two ships shown in this photo, so, irrespective of whether the ship in the foreground is or is not Prince of Wales, there cannot have been any other British warship this close to them during the battle. Therefore where on earth was the man who took this photos standing? The viewpoint here is only a few hundred yards(if that) from the British ships in the photo, so he cant have been on Bismarck or Prinz Eugen, there were no other British ships this close, so he cant have been on a British ship either. The only way for him to have been in the position he must have been in to take this picture, is for him to have been on another ship in company with Hood and the ship in the foreground, therefore the photo cannot have been taken on May 24th 1941 when Hood was sunk.
This photo does in fact show HMS Hood in the western Mediterranean on 9 July 1940, under air attack by Italian SM79 bombers. The ship in the left foreground is HMS Valiant, a Queen Elizabeth class battleship, and the photo was in fact taken from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. None of the British ships mentioned, Valiant, Ark Royal or Hood were in fact damaged in this air raid
Firstly, the bottom lefthand corner of the photo shows another ship in company with HMS Hood, and from her position in the photo, she would be alongside and slightly ahead of Hood, but during the action against Bismarck, which this photo is supposed to be, the only ship in company with Hood was HMS Prince of Wales, which was in fact astern of Hood, and indeed had to take evasive action to avoid hitting the Hood's sinking wreckage. If Hood were explode in the position shown in the photo, the ship alongside would already be pulling away from the sinking wreck, and therefore in no way likely to hit it.
Secondly, the ship in the foreground is not HMS Prince of Wales, the quarterdeck shown is far too small and the turret in view is Not a quadruple one, thus it cannot be Prince of Wales.
Thirdly, the one portion of HMS Hood visible in the photo is the aft end of the boat deck and the main mast. this is clearly in view and appears to be totally undamaged. Yet moments after the final action against Bismarck and Prinz Eugen began, HMS Hood received a large-calibre shell hit in this area which set off 4" ready use ammunition and caused a huge fire, which weakened the ship sufficiently for her to break in half when struck in this area again moments before she exploded, yet as can be seen in the photo, this area of the ship is intact and not on fire, therefore it can't have been taken seconds before the explosion.
Fourthly, there were only two British warships actually directly involved in the gun duel with Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were Hood and Prince of Wales. There are two ships shown in this photo, so, irrespective of whether the ship in the foreground is or is not Prince of Wales, there cannot have been any other British warship this close to them during the battle. Therefore where on earth was the man who took this photos standing? The viewpoint here is only a few hundred yards(if that) from the British ships in the photo, so he cant have been on Bismarck or Prinz Eugen, there were no other British ships this close, so he cant have been on a British ship either. The only way for him to have been in the position he must have been in to take this picture, is for him to have been on another ship in company with Hood and the ship in the foreground, therefore the photo cannot have been taken on May 24th 1941 when Hood was sunk.
This photo does in fact show HMS Hood in the western Mediterranean on 9 July 1940, under air attack by Italian SM79 bombers. The ship in the left foreground is HMS Valiant, a Queen Elizabeth class battleship, and the photo was in fact taken from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. None of the British ships mentioned, Valiant, Ark Royal or Hood were in fact damaged in this air raid
