Ted Briggs, the last survivor of the World War II sinking of the British battle cruiser HMS Hood, died Saturday in Portsmouth, England. He was 85. Briggs was one of only three seamen among the crew of more than 1,000 to survive the attack by the German battleship Bismarck on May 24, 1941. Briggs, an 18-year-old signalman, later described how he was sucked under by the ship before surfacing and seeing the Hood sink.

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