 Glorious after her conversion into anaircraft carrier | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Glorious |
| Ordered | 14 March 1915 |
| Builder | Harland and Wolff,Belfast |
| Cost | £1,967,223 |
| Yard number | 482–484 |
| Laid down | 1 May 1915 |
| Launched | 20 April 1916 |
| Completed | 31 December 1916 |
| Commissioned | January 1917 |
| Reclassified | Converted toaircraft carrier, 1924–1930 |
| Identification | Pennant number: 77 |
| Nickname(s) | Laborious |
| Fate | Sunk byScharnhorst andGneisenau, 8 June 1940 |
| General characteristics (as battlecruiser) | |
| Class & type | Courageous-classbattlecruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 786 ft 9 in (239.8 m) (o/a) |
| Beam | 81 ft (24.7 m) |
| Draught | 25 ft 10 in (7.9 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 4 shafts; 4 gearedsteam turbines |
| Speed | 32knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
| Range | 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | 842 officers and men |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
| General characteristics (as aircraft carrier) | |
| Class & type | Courageous-classaircraft carrier |
| Displacement |
|
| Length |
|
| Beam | 90 ft 6 in (27.6 m) (atwaterline) |
| Draught | 27.75 ft (8.5 m) |
| Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Range | 5,860 nmi (10,850 km; 6,740 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Complement | 793 + 490 air group (1931) |
| Armament | 16 × single4.7 in (120 mm)DP guns |
| Armour | |
| Aircraft carried | 48 |
HMSGlorious was the second of the threeCourageous-classbattlecruisers built for theRoyal Navy during the First World War. Designed to support theBaltic Project championed by theFirst Sea Lord, LordFisher, they were relatively lightly armed and armoured.Glorious was completed in late 1916 and spent the war patrolling theNorth Sea. She participated in theSecond Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917 and was present when the GermanHigh Seas Fleet surrendered a year later.
Glorious waspaid off after the war, but was rebuilt as anaircraft carrier during the late 1920s. She could carry 30 per cent more aircraft than herhalf-sisterFurious which had a similar tonnage. Afterre-commissioning in 1930, she spent most of her career operating in theMediterranean Sea. After the start of theSecond World War in 1939,Glorious spent the rest of the year hunting for thecommerce-raidingGerman cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in theIndian Ocean before returning to the Mediterranean. She was recalled home in April 1940 to supportoperations in Norway. While evacuating British aircraft from Norway in June, the ship was sunk by the GermanbattleshipsScharnhorst andGneisenau in the North Sea with the loss of over 1,200 lives.
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During the First World War,Admiral Fisher was prevented from ordering an improved version of the precedingRenown-class battlecruisers by a wartime restriction that banned construction of ships larger than light cruisers. To obtain ships suitable for traditional battlecruiser roles, such as scouting for fleets and hunting enemy raiders, he settled on a design with the minimal armour of alight cruiser and the armament of a battlecruiser. He justified their existence by claiming he needed fast, shallow-draught ships for his Baltic Project, a plan to invade Germany via its Baltic coast.[1][2]
Glorious had anoverall length of 786 feet 9 inches (239.8 m), abeam of 81 feet (24.7 m), and adraught of 25 feet 10 inches (7.9 m) atdeep load. She displaced 19,180 long tons (19,490 t) at load and 22,560 long tons (22,922 t) at deep load.[3]Glorious and hersisters were the first large warships in the Royal Navy to have gearedsteam turbines. TheParsons turbines were powered by eighteenYarrow boilers. During the ship's abbreviatedsea trials, she reached 31.42knots (58.19 km/h; 36.16 mph).[4] The ship was designed to normally carry 750 long tons (760 t) offuel oil, but could carry a maximum of 3,160 long tons (3,210 t). At full capacity, she could steam for an estimated 6,000 nautical miles (11,110 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).[5]
Glorious carried fourBL 15-inch (381 mm) Mark I guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore ('A') and aft ('Y'). Her secondary armament was 18BL 4-inch (102 mm) Mark IX guns mounted in six triple mounts.[5] These mounts had the threebreeches too close together and the 23 loaders tended to interfere with one another. This negated the mount's intended high rate of fire againsttorpedo boats and other smaller craft.[6] A pair ofQF 3-inch (76 mm) 20 cwt[Note 1]anti-aircraft guns were fitted abreast of themainmast onGlorious. She mounted two submergedtubes for21-inch torpedoes and 10 torpedoes were carried.[5]
Glorious'keel waslaid down on 1 May 1915 byHarland and Wolff at theirBelfast shipyard. She waslaunched on 20 April 1916 and completed on 14 October[7] at a cost of£1,967,223.[8] During her sea trials the following month, her sisterCourageous sustained structural damage while running at full speed in a roughhead sea and had the damaged areas stiffened shortly afterwards to prevent a recurrence.[9]Glorious did not suffer similar damage and did not receive her stiffening until 1918.[10] Upon commissioning,Courageous served with the3rd Light Cruiser Squadron of theGrand Fleet. After most of the1st Cruiser Squadron was sunk at theBattle of Jutland, the squadron was re-formed withCourageous andGlorious.[11]Glorious received six twin-tube torpedo mounts in mid-1917: one mount on each side of the mainmast on the upper deck and two mounts on each side of 'Y' turret on thequarterdeck.[12][13]
On 16 October 1917 the Admiralty received word of German ship movements, possibly indicating some sort of raid. AdmiralBeatty, commander of the Grand Fleet, ordered most of his light cruisers anddestroyers to sea in an effort to locate the enemy ships.Courageous andGlorious were not initially ordered to sea, but were sent to reinforce the2nd Light Cruiser Squadron patrolling the central part of theNorth Sea later that day.[14] Two GermanBrummer-class light cruisers slipped through the gaps in the British patrols and destroyed aconvoy bound for Norway during the morning of 17 October, but the British warships received no word of the engagement until that afternoon. The 1st Cruiser Squadron was ordered to intercept, but was unsuccessful as the German cruisers were faster than expected.[15]
Throughout 1917 the Admiralty was becoming more concerned about German efforts to sweep paths through the British-laid minefields intended to restrict the actions of theHigh Seas Fleet and Germansubmarines. A preliminary raid on German minesweeping forces on 31 October by light forces destroyed 10 small ships and the Admiralty decided on a larger operation to destroy theminesweepers and their light cruiser escorts. Based on intelligence reports, the Admiralty allocated the 1st Cruiser Squadron on 17 November 1917, with cover provided by the reinforced1st Battlecruiser Squadron and distant cover by the battleships of the1st Battle Squadron.[16]
The German ships, four light cruisers of II Scouting Force, eight destroyers, three divisions of minesweepers, eightsperrbrecher (cork-filledtrawlers) and two trawlers to mark the swept route, were spotted at 7:30 am,[Note 2] silhouetted by the rising sun.Courageous and the light cruiserCardiff opened fire with their forward guns seven minutes later. The Germans responded by laying asmoke screen and this made spotting targets very difficult. The British continued in pursuit, but lost track of most of the smaller ships in the smoke and concentrated fire on the light cruisers as opportunity permitted. One 15-inch shell hit a gun shield ofSMS Pillau, but it did not affect her speed. At 8:33 the left-hand gun inGlorious's forward turret was wrecked when a shell detonated inside the gun barrel. At 9:30 the 1st Cruiser Squadron broke off their pursuit to avoid a minefield marked on their maps. The ships turned south, playing no further role in the battle.[17]Glorious required five days of repairs to fix damage caused by premature detonation and her ownmuzzle blast.[18] She fired 57 15-inch and 213 four-inch shells during the engagement.[19]
Glorious receivedflying-off platforms on top of her turrets in 1918. ASopwith Camel was carried on the rear turret and aSopwith 1½ Strutter on the forward turret.[20] On 5 November 1918,Glorious was anchored offBurntisland in theFirth of Forth together with theseaplane tenderCampania and thebattleshipRoyal Oak when a suddenForce 10squall causedCampania to drag heranchor and collide first withRoyal Oak and then withGlorious. BothRoyal Oak andGlorious suffered only minor damage, butCampania was holed by her collision withRoyal Oak.Campania′sengine rooms flooded, and she settled by the stern and sank five hours later without loss of life.[21]
Glorious was present at the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet on 21 November 1918.[13] She was placed inreserve atRosyth, Scotland, on 1 February 1919 and served as a turret drill ship, being alsoflagship of therear-admiral commanding theDevonport Reserve between 1921 and 1922.[22]
TheWashington Naval Treaty of 1922 limited the amount ofcapital ship tonnage and the Royal Navy was forced to scrap many of its older battleships and battlecruisers. However up to 66,000 long tons (67,059 t) of existing ships could be converted into aircraft carriers, for which theCourageous-class ships' large hulls and high speeds made them ideal candidates.Glorious began her conversion at Rosyth in 1924, and was towed to Devonport where she was completed on 24 February 1930. During the ship's post-conversion sea trials, she reached 29.47 knots (54.58 km/h; 33.91 mph).[23] Her 15-inch turrets were placed into storage and later reused during theSecond World War forVanguard, the world's last battleship to be built.[24]
Her new design improved on her half-sisterFurious which lacked anisland and a conventionalfunnel. Allsuperstructure, guns, torpedo tubes, and fittings down to the main deck were removed. A two-storeyhangar, each level 16 feet (4.9 m) high and 550 feet (167.6 m) long, was built on top of the remaining hull; the upper hangar level opened on to a shortflight deck, below and forward of the main flight deck. The lower flying-off deck improvedlaunch and recovery cycle flexibility until heavier fighters requiring longer takeoff rolls made the lower deck obsolete in the 1930s.[25] Two 46-by-48-foot (14.0 m × 14.6 m)lifts were installed fore and aft in the flight deck. An island with thebridge, flying-control station, and funnel was added on thestarboard side as islands had been found not to contribute significantly to turbulence. By 1939 the ship could carry 34,500imperial gallons (157,000 L; 41,400 US gal) ofpetrol for her aircraft.[26]
Glorious received adual-purpose armament of sixteenQF 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark VIII guns in single mounts. One mount was on each side of the lower flight deck and a pair was on the quarterdeck. The remaining twelve mounts were distributed along the sides of the ship.[27] During her 1935 refit, the ship received three octupleQF two-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" mounts, one on each side of the flying-off deck, forward of the 4.7-inch guns, and one behind the island on the flight deck. She also received a single quadruple mount for water-cooled0.5 in (12.7 mm) Vickers machineguns for anti-aircraft use.[28]
The ship recommissioned on 24 February 1930 for service with theMediterranean Fleet, but was attached to theHome Fleet from March to June 1930. She relievedCourageous in the Mediterranean Fleet in June 1930 and remained there until October 1939. In a fog on 1 April 1931Glorious rammed the Frenchocean linerFlorida amidships while steaming at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). The impact crumpled 60 feet (18.3 m) of the flying-off deck and killed 1 seaman aboardGlorious and 24 passengers and crew aboardFlorida.[29][30] The ship was forced to put intoGibraltar for temporary repairs. She had to sail toMalta for permanent repairs which lasted until September 1931. Sometime in the early 1930s, transversearresting gear was installed. She was refitted at Devonport from July 1934 to July 1935 where she received two hydraulic accelerators (catapults) on her upper flight deck, which was also extended to the rear, her quarterdeck was raised one deck and she received her multiplepom-pom mounts.Glorious participated in the CoronationFleet Review atSpithead on 20 May 1937 for KingGeorge VI before returning to the Mediterranean.[31]
The ship could carry up to 48 aircraft; when first recommissioned, she carriedFairey Flycatcher fighters,Blackburn Dart andBlackburn Ripontorpedo bombers, andFairey IIIF reconnaissance planes of theFleet Air Arm. From 1933 untilGlorious returned to the United Kingdom in April 1940, aside from a period when refitting in the mid-1930s, she carried802 Squadron which flew a mixture of nineHawker Nimrod and threeHawker Osprey fighters, until re-equipping with a dozenGloster Sea Gladiators in May 1939.[32]812 and823 Squadrons were embarked for reconnaissance and anti-ship attack missions. They flew the Blackburn Ripon, theBlackburn Baffin and theFairey Swordfish torpedo bombers and as well asFairey IIIF andFairey Seal reconnaissance aircraft.[33] WhenGlorious recommissioned after her refit in 1935,825 Squadron was embarked, initially with Fairey IIIFs, but the squadron converted to Fairey Swordfish in May 1936.[34]
Glorious served briefly with the Mediterranean Fleet for a time after the Second World War broke out. In October 1939, she moved through theSuez Canal to the Indian Ocean where she became part of Force J which was organised to hunt for theAdmiral Graf Spee in the Indian Ocean. It was not successful andGlorious remained in the Indian Ocean until December when she returned to the Mediterranean.[35]
She was recalled to the Home Fleet in April 1940 to provide air cover for British forces landing inNorway.[35] EighteenGloster Gladiators ofNo. 263 Squadron RAF were flown aboard to be transferred to Norwegian airbases. ElevenBlackburn Skuas of803 Squadron, plus eighteen Sea Gladiators from 802 and804 Squadrons were also embarked.Glorious andArk Royal arrived off central Norway on 24 April where 263 Squadron was flown off and their own aircraft attacked targets in and south ofTrondheim beforeGlorious had to return toScapa Flow late on 27 April to refuel and embark new aircraft.Glorious's Sea Gladiators provided air cover for the two carriers. They damaged oneHeinkel He 111 bomber on a reconnaissance mission. Before departing she transferred four serviceable Skuas toArk Royal. She returned on 1 May, but had been unable to load many new aircraft because of poor weather. Only a dozen Swordfish of 823 Squadron, three Skuas and oneBlackburn Roc managed to be flown aboard. The task force was under heavy air attack by theLuftwaffe all day and was withdrawn that evening. OneJunkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber was shot down after it dropped its bomb by the Sea Gladiators on patrol.[36]
Glorious returned on 18 May with sixSupermarine Walrusflying boats of701 Squadron and 18Hawker Hurricanes ofNo. 46 Squadron RAF. The latter aircraft had been loaded aboard by crane. The Walruses were quickly flown off toHarstad, but the airfield inSkånland was not yet ready for the Hurricanes and they were still aboard whenGlorious returned to Scapa on 21 May.Glorious came back to theNarvik area on 26 May and the Hurricanes were quickly flown off.[37]
Even this success proved ephemeral and British forces were ordered to withdraw a few days later. The evacuation (Operation Alphabet) began in the north on the night of 3/4 June andGlorious arrived off the coast on 2 June to provide support, although she only carried nine Sea Gladiators of 802 and six Swordfish from 823 Squadrons for self-defence as it was hoped to evacuate the RAF fighters if at all possible. Ten Gladiators of 263 Squadron were flown aboard from their base at Bardufoss during the afternoon of 7 June and the Hurricanes of 46 Squadron were landed without significant problems in the early evening despite having a much higher landing speed than the biplanes. These had been flown off from land bases to keep them from being destroyed in the evacuation after the pilots discovered that a 7 kg (15 lb) sandbag carried in the rear of the Hurricane allowed full brakes to be applied immediately on landing.[38] This was the first time that high-performance monoplanes withouttailhooks had landed on an aircraft carrier.[39]
The commanding officer ofGlorious,CaptainGuy D'Oyly-Hughes, was a former submariner who had beenexecutive officer ofCourageous for 10 months.[40] He was granted permission to proceed independently to Scapa Flow in the early hours of 8 June. Howland maintains the reason was to hold acourt-martial of his Commander (Air), J. B. Heath, who had refused an order to carry out an attack on shore targets on the grounds that the targets were at best ill-defined and his aircraft were unsuited to the task. Heath had been left behind in Scapa to await trial.[39] Another rationale was thatGlorious was running short of fuel. One possibility was thatGlorious, with her Swordfish detachment equipped with long-range fuel tanks, had been selected forOperation Paul, the mining ofLuleå harbor, which had to happen before Narvik was evacuated.[41][42]
Unknown to the British, the German Navy had launchedOperation Juno: the German battleshipsScharnhorst andGneisenau, the heavy cruiserAdmiral Hipper and four destroyers were ordered to attack the British base at Harstad and support the German advance towards Narvik. Whilst preparing to attack on 7 June, the German commander realized the British were evacuating Norway and instead of attacking Harstad, he chose to intercept the evacuation convoys on 8 June. During the morning of 8 June some ships were intercepted but no convoy was found. The German force then split up.Admiral Hipper and the four destroyers were sent to Trondheim to refuel and then provide artillery support for the German force (Gruppe Feuerstein) advancing to Narvik.
Scharnhorst andGneisenau continued to search for convoys in theNorwegian Sea. At 15:45 a lookout at the highest platform onScharnhorst sighted a dust cloud, and then the mast ofGlorious at a distance of 46 km (29 mi). The German battleships gave chase immediately and at 16:10 the two escorting destroyers,Acasta andArdent were detected as well.[43][Note 3]
The British spotted the German ships shortly after 16:00 andArdent was dispatched to investigate.Glorious did not alter course or increase speed. Five Swordfish were ordered to the flight deck andAction Stations were ordered 16:20. Nocombat air patrol was being flown, no aircraft were ready on the deck for quick take-off and there was no lookout inGlorious'scrow's nest.Scharnhorst opened fire onArdent at 16:27 at a range of 16,000 yards (15 km), causing the destroyer to withdraw, firingtorpedoes and making a smoke screen.Ardent scored one hit with her 4.7-inch guns onScharnhorst but was hit several times by the German ships' secondary armament and sank at 17:25.[44]
Scharnhorst switched her fire toGlorious at 16:32 and scored her first hit six minutes later on her thirdsalvo, at a range of 26,000 yards (24,000 m), (or 15 miles), when one 28.3-centimetre (11.1 in) hit the forward flight deck and burst in the upper hangar, starting a large fire. This hit destroyed two Swordfish being prepared for flight and the hole in the flight deck prevented any other aircraft from taking off.[45] Splinters penetrated a boiler casing and caused a temporary drop in steam pressure. At 16:58 a second shell hit the homing beacon above the bridge and killed or wounded the captain and most of the personnel stationed there.Ardent's smokescreen became effective enough to impair the visibility of the Germans from about 16:58 to 17:20 so they ceased fire onGlorious.[44]
Glorious was hit again in the centre engine room at 17:20 and this caused her to lose speed and commence a slow circle to port. She also developed alist to starboard. The German ships closed to within 16,000 yards and continued to fire at her until 17:40.Glorious sank at 18:10,[44] approximately at68°38′N03°50′E / 68.633°N 3.833°E /68.633; 3.833,[46] with 43 survivors.[47]
As the German ships approachedGlorious,Acasta, which had been trying to maintain the smokescreen, broke through her own smoke and fired two volleys of torpedoes atScharnhorst. One of these hit the battleship at 17:34 abreast her rear turret and badly damaged her.Acasta also managed one hit from her 4.7-inch guns onScharnhorst, but was riddled by German gunfire and sank at around 18:20.[44]
Survivors estimated that about 900 men abandonedGlorious. WithScharnhorst damaged by the torpedo hit and unaware that Allied ships were not in contact withGlorious the German force withdrew and did not try to pick up survivors.[48] The Royal Navy meanwhile, knew nothing of the sinking until it was announced on German radio.[49][41] The Norwegian shipBorgund, on passage to theFaroe Islands, arrived late on 10 June and picked up survivors, eventually delivering 37 alive toTórshavn of whom two later died. Another Norwegian ship,Svalbard II, also making for the Faeroes, picked up five survivors but was sighted by a German aircraft and forced to return to Norway, where the four still alive became prisoners of war for the next five years. Another survivor fromGlorious was rescued by a German seaplane.[50][better source needed] Therefore, the total of survivors was 40, including one each fromAcasta andArdent.[51] The total killed or missing was 1,207 fromGlorious, 160 fromAcasta and 152 fromArdent, a total of 1,519.[52]
The sinkings and the failure to mount a rescue were embarrassing for the Royal Navy. All ships encountering enemies had been ordered to broadcast a sighting report, and the lack of such a report fromGlorious was questioned in theHouse of Commons.[54][55] It emerged that theheavy cruiserDevonshire had passed within 30–50 miles (48–80 km) of the battle, flying the flag ofVice-AdmiralJohn Cunningham, who was carrying out orders to evacuate theNorwegian royal family to the UK and maintain radio silence. Some survivors fromGlorious andDevonshire testified that a sighting report had been correctly sent, and received byDevonshire, but that it had been suppressed by Cunningham, who departed at high speed in accordance with his orders.[56] It was also alleged that there was confusion over the use ofwireless telegraphy frequencies on boardGlorious which could have contributed to the failure of any other ship or shore-station to receive a sighting report. The absence of normal airborne patrols overGlorious and its destroyers, in conditions of maximum visibility, was named as a contributor to the sinkings.[57]
The circumstances of the sinking were the subject of a debate in the House of Commons on 28 January 1999.[58] After the existence of the Bletchley Park intelligence activities was made public in the 1970s, it was revealed that Naval Section personnel at Bletchley Park predicted a breakout into the Baltic by German warships based ontraffic analysis but the RN Operational Intelligence Centre did not agree on the interpretation, and did not inform the Home Fleet.[59]
The most prominent memorial for the lost crew of HMSGlorious, HMSArdent and HMSAcasta is situated in Southsea Common, Portsmouth, overlooking the promenade and is accessible to the public at all times. There are 176 memorials from the 1,531 servicemen lost with HMSGlorious, HMSArdent and HMSAcasta at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.[citation needed]
For many years the only memorial to the seamen lost in the three ships was a stained-glass window in thechurch of St Peter Martindale inCumbria, on the east side ofUllswater. A new memorial plaque dedicated to HMSGlorious, and her escort destroyersArdent andAcasta, was unveiled in St. Nicholas's Church, in HMSDrake, Devonport in 2002. On 8 June 2010, 70 years after the loss ofGlorious,Acasta andArdent, a memorial plaque inscribed in English and Norwegian was unveiled near theTrondenes Historical Centre in Harstad, Norway, the two destroyers' last port of call.[60] A memorial plaque is mounted on a stone plinth next to a memorial tree, in theNational Memorial Arboretum inAlrewas, Staffordshire. It can be found in the gardens in location 19-81. On 8 June 2019, a memorial plaque was unveiled in the Belvedere Gardens, Plymouth Hoe, dedicated to all crew members who lost their lives onboard HM ShipsGlorious, Ardent andAcasta.
A model of HMSGlorious by model makerNorman A. Ough built for theRoyal United Services Museum is now on display in theFleet Air Arm Museum atRNAS Yeovilton.[61]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in November 1918 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1931 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in June 1940 | |
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