Albert Edward Pryke Briggs (1 March 1923 – 4 October 2008) was an English seaman and one of only three survivors from the loss of the battlecruiser in 1941. He remained in the Royal Navy after the Second World War and was later commissioned, serving a total of 35 years by the time of his retirement in 1973. He was the final Hood survivor to die.

Early life

Briggs was born on 1 March 1923 in Redcar, North Riding of Yorkshire. He and his sister were raised there and later in Derby by their mother; Briggs was never to know his father. He first saw Hood at anchor off the River Tees when he was 12 and volunteered to join the Royal Navy the following day. He was told he would have to wait until he was 15, When the list reached 30 degrees Briggs realised that "she was not coming back". Briggs states that no order was given to abandon ship, saying that "It just wasn't necessary," and that he found himself in the water about from Hood as her B-Turret went under after he made it only halfway down the ladder leading to the bridge. As Briggs and the remaining crew on the compass platform struggled to escape, Briggs remembered "The flag Lieutenant who was just in front of me stood to one side to let me go through ... I'll never forget that." He also could remember how the compass master had stood on the platform "tall and fearless" as the water pulled him down. Briggs himself attempted to swim away from the vessel but was pulled under by her as she started toward the ocean bottom. Briggs remembers struggling to stay afloat, giving up hope, and then miraculously being propelled to the surface. He recalls: "I turned and fifty yards away I could see the bows of the Hood vertical in the sea. It was the most frightening aspect of my ordeal and a vision which was to recur terrifyingly in nightmares for the next forty years. Both gun barrels of B turret were slumped hard over to port and disappearing fast beneath the waves. My experience of suction seconds before forced me to turn in sheer terror and swim as fast and as far as I could away from the last sight of the ship that had formulated my early years".

After Hood sank, Briggs got aboard a Denton raft from the ship and saw only two other survivors, Bob Tilburn and Bill Dundas, who boarded some rafts as well. Briggs paddled his raft to the other two survivors and stayed by their sides, holding their hands and singing popular British songs to keep them conscious. After three hours, and about to pass out from hypothermia, the three survivors were rescued by .

Later career

After the loss of Hood, Briggs spent more than a week being looked after by his mother before being assigned to . He gave evidence to the second inquiry into the loss of Hood. Briggs was then transferred to and then to the requisitioned merchantman . Hilary served as a Combined Operations Headquarters ship at Salerno and had the same role during the D-Day landings. Later, Briggs served aboard HMS Mercury as a fleetwork instructor. He was promoted first to leading signalman in March 1942 and then yeoman of signals in March 1943. Briggs remained in the Royal Navy after the end of the war and witnessed the troubles in Palestine from 1945-48 and served in the Korean War. He had become a communications officer, serving on board HMS Ceylon by the time of the Suez Crisis of 1956.

Retirement

Briggs retired on 2 February 1973, with the rank of lieutenant, settled in the south of England and worked in Fareham as a furnished lettings manager. In the year he retired, at the Queen's Birthday Honours he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire. In 1975, Briggs joined the HMS Hood Association as one of its youngest members and was elected as its first president. In 1995, Briggs again served as president of the organisation. He met Bismarck survivors on a number of occasions.

Military service

  • July 1939 – May 1941:
  • 1941 to possibly 1943: shore establishments and
  • 1943–1944: , including Salerno and Normandy
  • October 1945: – Palestine patrols
  • April 1948: HMS Mercury as fleetwork instructor
  • February 1949: – 2nd Submarine Squadron
  • October 1949: HMS Mercury – cryptographic instructor
  • February 1950: – Korean War
  • July 1952: HMS Mercury – signal instructors course
  • January 1953: rated as chief yeoman of signals served at CinC EASTLANT (Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Atlantic Area, NATO) Communications Centre
  • November 1953: and training squadron as training chief yeoman
  • December 1955: commissioned officer. HMS Mercury – commissioned communication officer course
  • July 1956: promoted to commissioned communication officer
  • September 1956: as a signals officer – Suez Crisis
  • May 1958: HMS Mercury
  • January 1959: (Derry) as assistant base communications officer
  • December 1960: HMS Mercury – new entry training officer
  • April 1961: promoted to lieutenant
  • February 1963: assigned to as communications officer – 3rd Frigate Squadron
  • June 1964: Whitehall Wireless Station as rating control officer
  • October 1966: as communications officer
  • June 1969: HMNB Devonport as officer in charge of the Signal Training Centre
  • January 1971: (Whale Island) as officer in charge of the Leading Rates Leadership School