The time the mighty Hood anchored in Topsail

The Great War Memorial in St. John’s was dedicated 100 years ago this year. Preparations are being made to commemorate the event.

Shortly after the Memorial was erected, several naval vessels anchored off Topsail. They were part of the Empire Cruise where a Royal Navy squadron of various battleships toured various ports around the world – mostly in British Empire countries.

As best as I can tell from the photo attached the HMS Hood anchored just off Monument Road in Topsail. You can see Topsail Head in the background. It makes sense since the original name of Monument Road was Station Road (the railway station was located at the top end of the road).

Across the highway there was a wharf on the beach. To this day this small section of road is still called Wharf Road.

So, visitors from St. John’s touring the vessel could arrive and leave by train almost directly from what is now the T’Railway to the beach.

The Hood was the largest and fastest battleship in its time. I think it stretched from Miller’s Road to Monument Road. The other vessels were the HMS Repulse and the Australian HMAS Adelaide.

The Hood was lost by a single salvo from the Bismark in the Second World War. It hit the ammunition storage area. Of about 2,500 crew only three survived.
The Repulse was sunk by Japanese dive bombers off Singapore along with the HMS Prince of Wales. They were on their way to protect the British garrison in Hong Kong. The Prince of Wales was the ship where Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt signed the Atlantic Charter off Ship Cove in Placentia Bay just a few months before. Only the Adelaide survived the War.

Also attached is a newspaper extract vividly describing sunsets that “the Shore” is famous for.

While the Terra Nova FPSO or the shuttle tankers that moor on the bay are as large or larger, having a vessel such as the mighty Hood so large and so close to shore and so heavily armed must have been thrilling for many of the visitors. But in the context of history, looking back Topsail for a little while served as a sanctuary of peace between two horrible wars.

Peter Shapter
Topsail, CBS