The Heritage Buddy

​It’s been 85 years… (yep, pun intended)! Today I knew I needed to write a blog post, as well as make some art of this fine ship’s crest, using a mix of watercolours and Indian ink on this boiling hot day.  With Following Winds is the English translation from HMS Hood's Latin motto: Ventis Secundis.  85 years ago today, the Royal Navy lost their dear ship, HMS Hood. Launched on 22nd August 1918 at John Brown and Co shipyard on the Clyde by Lady Hood, the widow of Admiral Sir Horace Hood who died at the Battle of Jutland in 1918 and commissioned in 1920.  Source: HMS Hood Association  Was this Admiral-class battlecruiser named after Horace Hood?  No, she was actually named after First Viscount Samuel Hood - another notable naval officer.  Read more about Samuel Hood here.  However, Horace Hood may have inspired the name.  On 24th May 1941, HMS Hood was sunk by the German battleship KMS Bismarck; the Bismarck shot a shell that landed a direct hit on...

I stepped out of Portsmouth Harbour train station one freezing cold Saturday afternoon in January this year. I was slowly making my way to my hotel and stopped to admire how beautiful HMS Warrior looked against the winter sunset over the harbour, so I sat down on a bench to bring myself out of anxiety about getting lost, shutting down or dissociating and losing awareness of my surroundings and into the present. After a moment, I noticed an obelisk with HMS Royal Oak inscribed on it; I quickly learnt it was a memorial commemorating the 85th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Royal Oak. I knew I had to take some photos for some volunteering. (This memorial will be discussed in a future post - watch this space!) 😀 The reason I was visiting Portsmouth was because I am a board member at the National Museum of the Royal Navy and our board was encouraged to visit for branding reasons. After spending a couple of hours chilling in my hotel room by video-calling family to let them know ...