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 Glasgow | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Glasgow |
| Namesake | Glasgow |
| Builder | Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company,Greenock |
| Laid down | 16 April 1935 |
| Launched | 20 June 1936 |
| Commissioned | 9 September 1937 |
| Decommissioned | November 1956 |
| Identification | Pennant number: C21 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, July 1958 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Town-classlight cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 591 ft (180 m) overall |
| Beam | 61 ft 8 in (18.80 m) |
| Draught | 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | Four-shaft geared turbines |
| Speed | 32knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
| Complement | 748 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | TwoSupermarine Walrus aircraft (Removed in the latter part of WWII) |
HMSGlasgow was aTown-classcruiser commissioned in September 1937. She took part in theFleet Air Arm raid that crippled the Italian Fleet atTaranto in 1940. She had the unfortunate experience of sinking twoAllied ships during her wartime service, once through accidental collision and the other by gunfire after a case of mistaken identity.
Laid down on 16 April 1935,Glasgow waslaunched on 20 June 1936 by Lucy Baldwin, the wife of the prime ministerStanley Baldwin.[1] She entered service without some components of her main armament's fire control system, which were subsequently fitted at the end of that year. She commencedsea trials in the spring of 1937. Designed with a maximum speed of 32knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) she achieved 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) atstandard displacement during her trials.[1] She was subsequentlycommissioned on 9 September 1937.
Upon entering serviceGlasgow was allocated to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of theHome Fleet. Her service was mostly uneventful, consisting of fleet exercises and 'flag showing'. Her most glamorous operation was when together with her sister HMSSouthampton she escorted the linerEmpress of Australia on the outward and the linerEmpress of Britain on the return voyage carryingKing George VI andQueen Elizabeth to Canada on their royal visit to the United States and Canada in May and June 1939.[1]
Glasgow remained allocated to the Home Fleet during the first year of the Second World War, under the command of CaptainFrank Pegram from July 1939 to April 1940.
With war approaching,Glasgow sailed on 2 September 1939 fromGrimsby to patrol off the Norwegian coast withHumber Force to intercept any German commerce raider attempting to reach the Atlantic or any blockade runner returning to Germany. While operating with the Humber Force she in company with the cruisersSouthampton andEdinburgh was subjected to a heavy air attack by theLuftwaffe on 9 October 1939, but suffered no damage despite 120 bombs being dropped on the ships.[2]
On the outbreak of war, she operated off theScandinavian coast, and in November was off the coast ofNorway with two destroyers in the hope of intercepting the German passenger shipSS Bremen which had sailed fromMurmansk. This was unsuccessful, but on 12 February 1940, she captured the GermantrawlerHerrlichkeit offTromsø.[3]
On 9 April 1940, she was attacked offBergen byJunkers Ju 88 andHeinkel He 111 aircraft and damaged by two near misses. Both bombs fell about 15 feet (4.6 m) from the ship's side, one bursting on impact abreast station 70 and the other under water further forward. A large proportion of the bomb which burst on impact entered the ship three feet (0.91 m) above the lower deck level, holing an area of approximately six by three feet (1.83 by 0.91 m) with about 60 scattered splinters entering the ship's side in all. The ship's movement allowed a considerable quantity of water to enter the hull causing the messdecks between stations 53 – 74 to be flooded by one foot (30 cm) of water. Some minor underwater damage and a small amount of flooding occurred further forward, probably as a result of the other bomb. In addition the forward 'A' turret was temporarily out of action. Two crew members were killed and five were wounded. After returning toScapa Flow on 10 April for temporary repairs and transfer of the dead and wounded the ship returned to sea 22 hours later.[4]
On 11 April 1940, during theAllied campaign in Norway in World War II,Glasgow, along withHMS Sheffield and sixTribal-classdestroyers landed troops nearHarstad and three days later on 14 April, again in company withSheffield and ten destroyers, landed an advance force ofRoyal Marines atNamsos to seize and secure the wharves and approaches to the town, preparatory to the landing of a largerAllied force. On 23 AprilGlasgow,Sheffield,HMS Galatea and six destroyers landed the first part of the 15th Infantry Brigade inÅndalsnes. On 29 April, she evacuatedKing Haakon andCrown Prince Olav of Norway,Nygaardsvold's Cabinet and part ofthe Norwegian gold reserves when they fled fromMolde toTromsø, escaping theadvancing German forces.[5] She then departed to the United Kingdom on 1 May, carrying among others the Minister of Foreign AffairsHalvdan Koht and the Minister of DefenceBirger Ljungberg.[6]
Whilst operating in home waters after the withdrawal from Norway,Glasgow accidentally rammed and sank the destroyerHMS Imogen in thick fog offDuncansby Head on 16 July 1940.Glasgow was able to rescue the majority of the destroyer's crew but 19 lost their lives as well as two crew members ofGlasgow.[1]
Following repairsGlasgow was transferred to theMediterranean where she was employed as a convoy escort and as a reinforcement of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron based atAlexandria. She took part in theFleet Air Arm raid that crippled the Italian Fleet atTaranto; on 14 November,Glasgow, along withBerwick,HMAS Sydney andHMS York, landed 3,400 troops from Alexandria inPiraeus. On 26 November,Glasgow,HMS Gloucester andYork escorted a supply convoy from Alexandria toMalta.
On 3 DecemberGlasgow was attacked by Italian aircraft while anchored inSuda Bay,Crete. She was hit by two torpedoes fired by aSavoia-Marchetti SM.79 flown byCarlo Emanuele Buscaglia. The torpedoes struck far forward and aft, the latter putting two of her propeller shafts out of service. Other than that she received only moderate damage.[1] She was able to return to Alexandria, where as the shipyard did not have the resources and capability to make a full repair, she was repaired to a level that allowed her to return to secondary duties.[1] During this period she was temporarily replaced byHMS Southampton.
As a result of her diminished capabilityGlasgow was allocated to the Indian Ocean, leaving Alexandria on 12 February 1941 and passing through the Suez Canal.[7] On 18 February she joined East Indies Fleet at Aden.[7] In February theGerman cruiser Admiral Scheer sank the freightersCanadian Cruiser andRantaupandjang in theIndian Ocean. Both managed to transmit distress signals, that were picked up byGlasgow, which deployed in search of the German ship. On 22 January,Admiral Scheer was sighted by the spotter aircraft fromGlasgow, the East Indies Task Force was deployed to the reported area. However,Admiral Scheer had escaped by turning away to the southeast and further searches were in vain. In MarchGlasgow, in company withHMS Caledon, twoauxiliary cruisers, two destroyers and two anti-submarine trawlers of theIndian Navy, escorted two troop transport vessels containing two Indian battalions and one Somali commando detachment, who were landed on either side ofBerbera, inSomaliland, which had previously beenoccupied by the Italians. The town was taken after only slight Italian resistance, which was soon broken by naval gunfire fromGlasgow and the other escorts.
At midnight on 9 December 1941,Glasgow sank theRIN patrol vessel HMISPrabhavati with two lighters in towen route toKarachi, with 6-inch shells at 6,000 yards (5,500 m).Prabhavati was alongside the lighters and was mistaken for a surfaced Japanese submarine.Glasgow picked up the survivors and took them toBombay, arriving there later that day.[8]
On 19 March 1942,Glasgow escorted convoy WS-16 from the UK to South Africa. In AprilGlasgow again underwent temporary repairs, this time inSimonstown, South Africa. She subsequently sailed to the US for permanent repairs at theBrooklyn Navy Yard from 6 May onwards. As well as repairing the damage from her 1940 torpedo attack, additional 20 mm Oerlikon cannons were added to improve her close range anti-aircraft capability.[1] It was also decided to improve her radar suite by replacing her existing Type 286M radar with the new Type 271, while a Type 284 fire-control radar to control her main armament, type 285 and 282 aircraft warning fire-control and Type 281 aircraft warning radars were installed.[4]
Following the completion of her shipyard work, she returned to the UK in August to complete work on her radar installations at Portsmouth. On 3 September she joined the 10th Cruiser Squadron at Scapa Flow where she was assigned to covering forces for theArctic convoys.
_and_USS_Quincy_(CA-71)_underway_off_Cherbourg_on_25_June_1944_(A_24309).jpg)
Glasgow escortedArctic convoys between January and February 1943. In March she intercepted the Germanblockade runnerRegensburg in theDenmark Strait as it returned from the Far East with valuable rubber, tungsten and other commodities. Her crew managed to scuttle the ship, but most of the crew drowned in the heavy seas while abandoning her, withGlasgow being able to recover only six survivors. During June and July she supplied cover for escort groups in theBay of Biscay.
Between August and September she entered the HM Dockyard at Devonport where her aircraft facilities were removed and more 20 mm weapons were installed to improve her air defences. She received a new Fire-Control Type 283. The opportunity was also taken to installIFF equipment and VHF radio-telephone outfits.[4] Upon completion of her refit she was transferred to join theCommander-in-Chief, Plymouth. On 26 October she took to sea the First Sea Lord, Admiral SirAndrew Cunningham to undertake the interment of the ashes of Admiral SirDudley Pound and his late wife in theSolent.[9][4]
In December 1943 she formed part ofOperation Stonewall, the interception of German blockade runners. In late December,Glasgow and the cruiserHMS Enterprise in theBattle of the Bay of Biscay fought a three-hour battle with eleven German destroyers andtorpedo boats of which three were sunk and four damaged by gunfire. After this engagementGlasgow returned to Plymouth in spite of several air attacks whereglider bombs were used.
On 6 June 1944Glasgow was part ofOperation Neptune, (theNormandy landings). Along with thebattleshipsUSS Texas andUSS Arkansas, the French cruisersMontcalm andGeorges Leygues, nine US destroyers and threeHunt-class destroyers, she made up the Gunfire Bombardment Support Force C forOmaha Beach. On 25–26 June, in support of the attack by the 7th US Corps onCherbourg, she conducted theBombardment of Cherbourg shelled German artillery batteries nearQuerqueville. During this exchange of fireGlasgow was hit and damaged. In August 1945 she set sail for theEast Indies, where she was the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief.
With the demand for cruisers in the European theatre decreasing it was decided to withdrawGlasgow and modernise her in preparation for the ongoing war in the Pacific. Entering a shipyard on the River Tyne on 3 July 1944 her aft 6-inch turret ('X') was removed to compensate for the additional weight of adding the more powerful anti-aircraft armament needed to counter the threat ofkamikaze attacks. The space freed by the removal of the aft turret was used to mount two quad40 mm Bofors guns. New radar systems were fitted including a single aerial air warningType 281B (which replaced an earlier twin mast Type 281), a surface warningType 293 (which replaced the existing Type 273), while the main armament's Type 284 gunnery radar was replaced by a Type 274.[4] She was also fitted with a US made YE homing beacon to help her undertake the high risk role of a radar picket. The beacon issued coded directions to Allied aircraft returning from missions, which would allowGlasgow to be stationed on an outer screen around the main fleet to separate Allied aircraft from accompanying enemy aircraft and so destroy enemy aircraft before they reached the fleet.[1] The modernisation was completed on 29 June 1945.[4] She then spent July working up for operational war service.
On 22 August 1945Glasgow set out with HMSJamaica for the East Indies as acting flagship. She transferred to the Indian Ocean arriving in Colombo on 5 October to relieve HMSPhoebe as the flagship of 5th Cruiser Squadron. After serving for two years in the Indian OceanGlasgow returned to Portsmouth and was placed in the Reserve. Following a refit she was re-commissioned in September 1948 and on 26 October, 1948,Glasgow replacedHMS Sheffield at her new base, theRoyal Naval Dockyard in theImperial fortress colony ofBermuda, as the flagship on theAmerica and West Indies Station.[10] She attended theHalifax bicentenary celebrations inNova Scotia in 1949, returning to the UK in October 1950.[4]
She was then refitted at Chatham in 1951 before becoming in 1952 the flagship of theMediterranean Fleet based at Malta under Admiral theEarl Mountbatten of Burma.[4] In 1953, she took part in the filmSailor of the King. In the same year she took part in theFleet Review to celebrate theCoronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[11]
Together withHMS Gambia, HMSBermuda, HMSEagle, seven destroyers and twofrigates she escorted QueenElizabeth II andDuke of Edinburgh on board the royal yachtBritannia at the end of their world tour to Malta where they arrived on 2 May 1954.[12] She was still in the Mediterranean Fleet when together with HMSGambia she participated in August 1954 in the withdrawal of40 Commando Royal Marines fromPort Said.[12]
In 1955Glasgow returned to the UK, and in May 1955 onwards rejoined the Home Fleet as flagship of the Flag Officer D (Flotillas) before being paid off at Portsmouth in November 1956.[4] TheSuez crisis in 1956 causedGlasgow to be temporarily re-commissioned.
After the Suez Crisis it was decided thatGlasgow was surplus to requirements and was paid off in November 1956. The warship was placed on the disposal list in March 1958 and was sold toBISCO for demolition. Departing Portsmouth on 4 JulyGlasgow arrived under tow on 8 July atHughes Bolckow's yard inBlyth for breaking up.[4][1]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1940 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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