H.M.S. Glorious

Hi Owen,

Does his Service Number have any relevance to his trade?
D/J 72661? D= Devonport, J= Seamen, Signalmen and Telegraphists.

Regards
Arthur

 

Interesting article Owen.

Not sure that the fact that Glorious and her escorts where ovepowered comes as a great surprise. Once you take the carrier out of it two destroyers wont stand much of a chance against 2 modern battlecrusiers/ships.

Why was the carrier so close to known Enemy forces without a sizeable main gun warship for protection? no mention of Churchill either who I understand had big part to play in why she was there.

Kev

 

Just happened to be trawling through older threads in this Navy section when I saw this little bit on HMS Glorious. Seeing that I have just acquired a very nice photo of the old girl I think it would be churlish not to show it off here!

 

Owen, as to comment by Doyly-Hughes that `no submarine has been sunk by aircraft' - correct ? - if you do not consider an AIRSHIP to be an A/c.
HMS/m D3 was bombed and sunk by a French Airship off Fecamp, France, 12 March, 1918 !!

Sadsac

 

I know a RN Veteran who was serving on the Victorious at the time it was in the convoy with Glorious.
We were talking one day and the subject came up of the Norwegian campaign and the loss of Glorious and the two destroyer escorts.

When I mentioned that it should never have happened he was amazed to learn that the reason the Carrier Glorious broke away from the Convoy with here two escorts. This was due to the Captain of the Glorious, requesting to make immediately to Scapa Flow to start Court martial proceedings against the Air Crew Commander who he had recently put ashore at Norway.

Once permission was granted to leave the safety of the larger convoy and failing to fly off reconnaissance flights, they were a target waiting to be sunk by the two German Battle Cruisers.

Regards
Tom

 

Owen, as to comment by Doyly-Hughes that `no submarine has been sunk by aircraft' - correct ? - if you do not consider an AIRSHIP to be an A/c.
HMS/m D3 was bombed and sunk by a French Airship off Fecamp, France, 12 March, 1918 !!

Sadsac

First sinking of a submarine by aircraft. Taken from my proposed history of 120 Squadron RAF.


It was during WW1 that the first submarine was sunk from the air; this honour fell to the Austrian Air Service. On 16 August 1916 the British boat B-10 was moored in the harbour of Venice when Austrian aircraft raided the port; one of their bombs scored a direct hit on B-10 and she sank. A submarine on the surface at her moorings can hardly be thought of in the same terms as the elusive craft she is when in the open sea; however, the Austrians were to prove some five weeks later they could sink a submarine there as well.

On 15 September two Lohner flying boats, L-132 and L-135 located the French submarine Foucault, cruising thirty-five feet beneath the waters of the Adriatic. They aimed four bombs at the dark silhouette beneath them. The unexpected explosions shook the French submarine badly. She lost her trim, there was some flooding, and her damaged batteries no longer gave sufficient current to drive the electric motors. As Foucault plunged out of control, her crew imagined that she had struck a mine. The captain ordered the ballast tanks to be blown, and the submarine floated up to the surface where she immediately came under further attack from the two flying boats. When the French captain found that the diesel motors could not be started, he realised that the leaking Foucault was in a hopeless position. He ordered his men to open the seacocks, and then abandon the boat. The attacking aircraft alighted on the water, took the survivors on board and waited for a torpedo boat to arrive. It had now been proved that aircraft could find and inflict mortal damage on a submarine in open water.

French Submarine Foucault and Lohner flying boat No.135.