HMS Glorious - Guide 065

The HMS Glorious of the British Royal Navy is today's subject.

Next on the list:
-Erebus class
-Salamis (NB)
-B-65 class (NB)
-Deutschland class (pre-Dreadnought)
-G3 class (NB)
-USS North Carolina
-Tillman Battleship Special
-Deutschland class (1930)
-KMS Graf Spee
-Tone class
-HMS Warrior (1860)
-IRN Potemkin
-Hipper class
-KMS Prinz Eugen
-Yamato class
-Italia class
-Tsesarevich
-Βασίλισσα Ολγα (Basilissa Olga)
-Nagato class
-Monitor Parnaiba
-G-class destroyer
-HMS Glowworm
-Town class cruisers
-USS Wichita
-Lord Nelson class
-Essex class
-Slava (Pre-dreadnought)
-USS Massachusetts
-Pensacola class
-HIJMS Oyodo
-Riachuelo (NB)
-I-19
-HMS Ark Royal
-ORP Błyskawica
-USS West Virginia
-Amagi Class
-Tosa Class
-Alaska class
-Derfflinger class
-Yorktown class
-Tre Kronor class
-Nelson class
-Gato class
-Admiralen class
-H class (NB)
-Greek 'Monarch' class destroyers
-'Habbakuk' project
-USS Texas
-USS Olympia
-HIJMS Mikasa
-County class
-KMS Tirpitz
-Montana class
-Florida class
-USS Salt Lake City
-Storozhevoy
-Flower class
-USS San Juan
-HMS Sheffield
-USS Alaska
-USS Texas
-USS Johnston
-Dido class
-Hunt class
-HMS Vanguard
-Mogami class
-Almirante Grau
-Surcouf
-Von der Tann
-Massena

Specials:
-Fire Control Systems
-Protected Cruisers
-Scout Cruisers
-Naval Artillery
-Tirpitz (damage history)

[davidcollinson]

My late Mother in Laws Husband, was a bosun aboard HMS Glorious and went down with her. His name was Percy Caddy. RIP.

[dracoleusten]

The single 50. machine gun clearly makes the difference in the AA screen

[raynus]

A rather gruesome end for both ships and their crews.
Fascinating as always. Thanks for posting.

[cdamauser]

Nice looking carrier! Always intrigued by other navies designs.

[morriganravenchild]

My uncle was lost on the GLORIOUS. Usual practice in those days was to launch recce. flights at dawn to scout ahead. Scharnhorst and her sister were known to be at sea somewhere in the region. D'OLy - Hughes refused this action. Clearly he was unfit to command.

[franblacon]

Ardent and Acasta captain/crews should of been decorated maybe even some VC’s awarded as the actions they had taken had no self preservation or lets save ourselves about it. Both destroyers hopelessly out gunned still attempted to give HMS Glorious a chance to escape.

[Korlash]

Aside from the many, many mistakes made by Glorious's captain, the fact that the Royal Navy's carrier doctrine allowed for a bloody *fleet carrier* to venture into contested waters with an escort of only two destroyers (less than many minor convoys got) is really shocking. Did the Royal Navy put more effort into protecting its carriers after Glorious's loss?

[richardsmith]

It would be very interesting to read the Royal Navy's official account/inquiry into the loss. A good many of the official papers related to her loss were caught up under a 75 year not to be released rule (as was my understanding). There was a whole litany of errors that should see the light of day. There is always so much conjecture as to why Wells allowed Glorious to proceed ahead with such a small escort. I have always been surprised that the answer could not be found in the official enquiry. Keeping the official file closed for so long only added fuel to the fire in my opinion. It was one of the worst naval disasters of the war and one of the highest death tolls for any Royal Navy action. I have read the book seen the documentary but have would like to see the primary documents.

[winlee]

Interestingly enough the HMS Glorious was built at Harland & Wolff, the same shipyard that build the Titanic and her two sisters the Olympic and the Britannic.

[BrockRuby]

1500+ sailors lost. Unbelievable. Never knew that. Thank you for another fact filled vid.

[sol]

You have to praise the kriegsmarine surface fleet on their gunnery at the very least. They seem to hit some rather impressive shots at times, and 26kyd is certainly impressive to say the least.

[davidrowley]

@ 1:54 the Conversion of the Glorious to an Aircraft Carrier began in February of 1924 and she was recommissioned as an aircraft carrier in March of 1930 (not 1950, she and most of her crew RIP were in Neptune's arms by then).

[McRocket]

From wikipedia HMS Glorious page:
'The circumstances of the sinking were the subject of a debate in the House of Commons on 28 January 1999.[55] After the existence of the Bletchley Park decoding of German transmissions was made public in the 1970s, Bletchley Park personnel revealed that they had told the Royal Navy of the German breakout. However, the Royal Navy refused to believe the codebreakers partly because they were for the most part civilians, and despite begging from the codebreakers, never notified the Glorious squadron of the German advance.'
☮

[andyknight]

My Great Uncle was one of those lost with Glorious . Strange the files on this tragic loss of life are sealed for 100 years . One wonders whats to hide.

[chrishopwood]

I'm sorry did he say conversion began in 1924 and finished in 1950

[iconoclastwar]

When Hms acasta was in her smoke screen and ardent had been sunk, commander Charles glasfurd said "it may look like we are running away we are not, our chummy ship has sunk and the glorious is sinking, the least we can do is make a show of it." The hit on the scharnhorst forced the Germans back for repair and prevented them from getting at the withdrawing troops and saved many lives.
In one battle you seen the worst and the best in the royal navy.

[smc]

Over 1500 men lost on these 3 ships. That's tragic! As a USN Vet, I can tell you, the vast majority of a ships crew is under 23 year's old. Roughly 70% or more! Remember that when thinking about all these ships!
(I include ALL nation's ships in this comment!)

[keenanmcbreen]

If a BB gets into firing range of a CV, MASSIVE errors have occurred.

[ChristianMcAngus]

The Scharnhorst hit the Glorious at 26k yards (about 24 km). Even with the aid of radar (I'm not sure if the Scharnhorst had radar) that seems like quite an extraordinary shot.

[christophercripps]

"...and one 50 Cal. machine gun." HMS Glorious would've been under gunned without that 50 cal. Nice attention to detail. One wonders if the RN considered reusing the 15"/42 turrets of HMS Glorious & Courageous to refund HMS Tiger (even if that would've been cheating). I suspect the turret ring diameter of the 15" twin would've been too large.