The bell of HMS Hood has finally been recovered from the depths of the North Atlantic and will be put on public display following a successful expedition led by billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

Allen, said to be worth some £11.5bn ($17.8bn), deployed his luxury 414ft luxury yacht Octopus and a custom-built submersible for the successful removal of the artefact, which lay near the wreck of the battlecruiser at a depth of 2,800m (9,200ft).

In 2012, Allen lent his state-of-the-art equipment to a British party, which located the bell but were unable to lift it due to strong currents and bad weather at the site, between Iceland and Greenland.

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Deep sea mission: A suction device lifts the bell from the sea floor during the successful expedition

The bell of HMS Hood has finally been recovered from the depths of the North Atlantic and will be put on public display

Now on dry land, the bell will now be shown at National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth after a program of conservation, which could take up to a year due to damage caused by the seawater.

HMS Hood sank on 24 May 1941 after being hit by several shells fired by the Bismark during the Battle of Denmark Strait, one of the fiercest naval encounters of the war.

Catastrophic explosions rocked HMS Hood, leading to the death of 1,415 Naval personnel - the biggest loss of life ever suffered by a single British warship.

Launched in 1918, she came to symbolise the power of the British Empire and was well-known to the wartime public as 'Mighty Hood'.

The ship's invincible reputation and subsequent loss had a deep effect on morale and the precise cause of the sinking remained a controversy for some years.

HMS Hood sank on 24 May 1941 after being hit by several shells fired by the Bismark during the Battle of Denmark Strait, one of the fiercest naval encounters of the war

Detonation: This picture from the German Federal Archives shows the moments after HMS Hood was hit by shells from the Bismark and was blown completely out of the water

After the recovery operation, Allen said: 'This year marks the 70th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II, and this effort commemorates the hundreds of brave sailors who were lost at sea.

'It is a true honour to undertake the expedition to recover the bell from 'The Mighty Hood'.'

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir George Zambellas said: 'The recovery of the Ship's Bell will help ensure the 1,415 men lost, and the name Hood, will always be remembered by a grateful nation'.

Recovery: This is Paul Allen's boat Octopus, which was the world's largest private yacht when launched in 2003