Paul Allen’s yacht Octopus
Billionaire and philanthropist, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is loaning his 126 metre superyacht Octopus to the British Royal Navy to mount an expedition to locate and raise the bell from the battle cruiser HMS Hood (51) sunk by the German battleship Bismark in the Denmark Strait in 1941. Only three survived the sinking in which 1,415 died, the largest loss of life ever suffered by any single British warship.
If the recovery effort is successful, the bell will be given to the HMS Hood Association to be displayed at a new exhibition hall due to open at the Royal Navy Museum. The wreck of HMS Hood was discovered in 2001, in water 2,800 meters deep, and has been designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. The bell is known to be lying on the seabed well away from the ship’s hull which will not be disturbed by the recovery operation. The government has licensed the recovery of the bell – as well as providing a memorial, the recovery will prevent it being taken by any illegal operation for personal gain, an MoD spokesman said. Thanks to Captain Michael J. Howorth for passing the news along.
As noted by Super Yacht News, none of the newspapers carrying the story of the loaning of Octopus to the Royal Navy explain why it is a superyacht carrying out the expedition and not a properly equipped salvage vessel.
Paul Allen to Loan Octopus to Royal Navy in Search for Bell from HMS Hood
Fascinating piece – yes it does seem very strange for a superyacht to be carrying out the recovery of the bell and apparently Mr Allen has offered the Octopus at no cost to the government – what a great cause! Would be a fitting tribute to see the bell in the Museum in Portsmouth to remember the 1,415 victims. Will be keeping an eye out for updates on this!