The superstructure of the Hood is buried up to the top of the secondary gun ports. Empty gun ports provide easy access to the interior of the wreck. The superstructure of the Hood is buried up to the top of the secondary gun ports. Empty gun ports provide easy access to the interior of the wreck.
If you decide to have a poke about just inside this part of the wreck, remember to look up and make sure you are not venturing beneath anything that could be about to squash you. Also beware of going too far. It is easy to get drawn in by going just inside the wreck, then going a little bit further, then a little bit further, until a quick look has turned into a major wreck penetration that you are not equipped or trained for.
Towards the bows, interesting features along the edge of the deck include a hoist and pulley, a huge pair of bollards and similarly sized deck cleats. Under the bows the armoured deck has separated from a huge circular turret base that supports the wreck above the seabed. If the tide is running a large shoal of bib will be holding position against the current that surges through beneath the wreck.
The first few metres of the keel are intact, but you will soon come to a break where plates have collapsed and the entire line of the keel has sagged inwards by several metres. This break goes most of the way to the stern and is full of the jumbled remains of the battleship's machinery.
The engine room has collapsed inwards noticeably over the last winter. The ends of boilers and huge cranks and gear wheels are particularly impressive. There are still a few intact keel plates overhanging this area from the starboard side of the wreck.
Aft of the engine room follow a valley between the port prop shaft and the keel. Parts of the covering of the prop shaft have broken away, one section of which you may have seen earlier. Missing plates on the sides of the keel provide a view through the wreck.
The end of the prop shaft has broken from one of its mounts as the hull has collapsed and folded, leaving it attached by a solid steel wing to the keel just forward of the rudder. More stone blocks rest against the hull filling the gap between the stern and the breakwater.
From here it is easy to navigate back to the post to which the guide rope is attached, then follow it back to the buoy. On the way keep an eye out for unusual marine life. This is a good area to spot black faced blennies, cuttlefish and octopus. Last time I dived the Hood one of the other divers even saw a john dory close in to the breakwater wall.