The Royal Navy has always been a source of pride for the British.
In 1920,
the freshly-constructed battlecruiser
HMS Hood became an object of admiration for the nation.
Perfect, powerful, and fast,
she held the title of the largest ship in the world for seven years,
and the largest ship in the United Kingdom for ten years.
Looking at her magnificent lines,
it's easy to understand why every schoolboy of that time
knew the specifications of this beauty by heart.
A battlecruiser is an intermediate link between a battleship and a heavy cruiser.
In World of Warships,
Hood has found herself at Tier VII in the British battleships branch.
The most important thing for a battleship is its primary armament.
A caliber of 381 millimeters at Tier VII is nothing extraordinary.
The reload time is standard for a battleship.
However,
the turrets rotate at a leisurely pace, with a lot of dignity.
The range of fire is slightly shorter than that of her counterparts.
The secondary armament is average,
but the AA defense will surprise you!
The first rockets in World of Warships!
Five 20-tube UP AA Rocket Mark I rocket launchers
and a unique consumable for a battleship—Defensive AA fire—
allow you to literally sweep enemy aircraft from the sky.
Of course, the rockets only work at close range,
but Hood can still stand up for herself in a battle against aviation.
Another piece of cruiser heritage is speed.
She's one of the fastest battleships in the game.
32 knots!
However, her long and narrow hull creates a large turning circle radius.
We strongly advise against entering an island labyrinth on Hood.
At the same time,
her maneuverability is sufficient enough to angle the hull
in a skirmish at an average distance,
while the wide rotation angles of her turrets allow you to not expose your sides
too much when firing a full broadside.
Finally, a battleship must be durable.
Yes, Hood has the best survivability in her tier.
In addition to the armor belt covering the central part of the ship,
she is protected by bow and aft armor belts.
Main battery turrets and the conning tower are also adequately armored.
The citadel is almost entirely hidden below the waterline.
Several other features will help you stay in battle longer,
such as sloping armor plates,
a low hull silhouette, and the speed,
which allows you to rapidly react to changes in the battle situation,
maintain your distance to enemies, and dodge their salvos.
In gameplay terms,
Hood is something between a battleship and heavy cruiser.
The main engagement distance for her is from 10 to 15 kilometers.
At this range,
she excels at destroying enemy cruisers
and can put up a decent fight against battleships.
In close quarters engagements,
her large turning circle radius and slow turrets can make you an easy target,
that's why it is important to keep destroyers away from Hood
and try not to come under focused fire,
and she’ll be more forgiving of your blunders.
And one more thing.
She will give you the opportunity to not only train a commander for British battleships,
but also re-write the history of her fateful encounter in the Denmark Strait.
Good luck, captains!