The bell was successfully recovered the 7th of August. Mr. Allen's team led the operation using his yacht M/Y Octopus, which is equipped with a state-of-the-art remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Once restored, the bell will respectfully serve as a tangible and fitting memorial for the 1,415 lives lost when the Bismarck sunk the ship in the North Atlantic.

The bell was first discovered and photographed in July 2001. The bell was found lying on the seabed well away from the parts of the battlecruiser's hull. A 2012 Allen-led expedition to recover the bell was hampered by prevailing weather conditions and technical difficulties. The bell is in good condition but will require a year-long expert conservation and restoration effort because it has spent so long in deep seawater.

Sunk by Bismarck

HMS Hood is the largest Royal Navy vessel to have been sunk, causing the largest loss of life suffered by any single British warship and the recovery is fully supported by the HMS Hood Association whose members include veterans who served in the ship before her final mission in 1941, and relatives of those lost with her.

In May 1941, she and the battleship Prince of Wales were ordered to intercept the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which were en route to the Atlantic where they were to attack convoys. On 24 May 1941, early in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, Hood was struck by several German shells, exploded and sank.