Ted Briggs | WWII cruiser survivor, 85

Ted Briggs, 85, the last survivor of the World War II sinking of the British battle cruiser HMS Hood, died Saturday in Portsmouth, England.

Mr. Briggs was one of only three seamen among the crew of more than 1,000 to survive the attack by the German battleship Bismarck in the Denmark Strait on May 24, 1941.

Mr. Briggs, an 18-year-old signalman, later described how he was sucked under by the sinking ship before surfacing and seeing the Hood disappear below the waves.

The sinking of the flagship of the British home fleet, and the heavy loss of life, shocked a country proud of its naval might. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the Bismarck hunted down and destroyed, and British forces sank it May 27. - AP