HMS Glowworm (H92)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | G class destroyer |
| Name: | HMS Glowworm |
| Ordered: | 5 March 1934 |
| Builder: | John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston, Hampshire |
| Laid down: | 15 August 1934 |
| Launched: | 22 July 1935 |
| Commissioned: | 22 January 1936 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 8 April 1940 in an engagement with the German cruiser Admiral Hipper |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,350 tons (1,376 tonnes) standard 1,854 tons (1,883 tonnes) full load |
| Length: | 323 ft (98 m) (overall) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draught: | 12.4 ft (3.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | Three x Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers Parsons geared steam turbines 34,000 shp on two shafts |
| Speed: | 36 kt |
| Range: | 5,530 nmi at 15 kt |
| Complement: | 145 |
| Armament: |
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| Motto: | Ex tenebris lux : 'Out of darkness light'. |
| Notes: | Badge: On a Field Blue, a lantern Black with rays issuing Silver |
HMS Glowworm (H92) was a G-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She entered service in the interwar period and initially served in the Mediterranean. She had a brief but distinguished career in the Second World War. She was an early war loss when she fought an unequal engagement with the German cruiser Admiral Hipper on 8 April 1940, being heavily damaged before ramming the Admiral Hipper, and then sinking.
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[edit] Construction and commissioning
Glowworm was ordered from the yards of John I. Thornycroft and Company, at Woolston, Hampshire on 5 March 1934 under the 1933 Build Programme. She was laid down on 15 August 1934 and launched on 22 July 1935. She was commissioned on 22 January 1936 at a total cost of £248,785.
[edit] Career
Glowworm served in the Mediterranean Fleet until the outbreak of war in September 1939. She was initially deployed with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla at Alexandria and tasked with intercepting enemy merchant ships. In October the Flotilla was transferred to the Western Approaches Command, and Glowworm sailed for the UK on 19 October, with her sisters HMS Gallant, HMS Grafton and HMS Greyhound. They arrived at Plymouth on 22 October and were deployed in the South Western Approaches. Glowworm carried out convoy escort duties and anti-submarine patrols until 12 November when she was transferred to the 22nd Destroyer Flotilla based at Harwich, for North Sea patrol and escort duties, which she carried out throughout December and into January and February 1940.
On 22 February she was hit by the Swedish ship Rex whilst at anchor in fog off Outer Dowsing. Glowworm suffered significant structural damage and was under repair at a commercial dockyard in Hull until late March. On completion of the repairs, she was transferred back to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet, rejoining it at its base at Scapa Flow on 20 March. Two days later she was deployed to screen major fleet units in the North Sea and the North Western Approaches.
On 5 April Glowworm was part of the escort of the battlecruiser HMS Renown, along with the destroyers HMS Greyhound, HMS Hero and HMS Hyperion. The ships were part of the cover for the minelaying operation, Operation Wilfred. On 7 April, Glowworm was detached from the taskforce to search for a man lost overboard.
[edit] Final battle
On the morning of 8 April 1940 Glowworm was on her way to rejoin the Renown when she encountered the German destroyers Z 11 Bernd von Arnim and then the Z 18 Hans Lüdemann in the heavy fog around 08:00. The destroyers were part of a German naval detachment, led by the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, on its way to land invasion troops at Trondheim as part of the German invasion of Norway (Operation Weserübung). A skirmish broke out and the German destroyers fled, signalling for help. The request was soon answered by the Admiral Hipper. Although hopelessly outgunned, Glowworm accepted the fight and, while receiving several heavy hits, fired torpedoes at the German cruiser. They missed, and in a final desperate effort to sink or at least seriously damage her opponent, Glowworm then attempted to ram Admiral Hipper. One of the Hipper’s shells hit the Glowworm’s mast. As this crashed down, it caused a short circuit of the wiring, causing the ship's siren to start a banshee wail which nobody was able to stop. As the ships collided, Admiral Hipper suffered major damage, with a large underwater gash in her bow. Glowworm was pushed under the cruiser's bow and her entire forecastle up to the bridge was sheared off. For several minutes she drifted, on fire, alongside Admiral Hipper, then capsized and sank north-west of Trondheim. 111 of the ship's company were killed and 39 were taken prisoner.
During the engagement Glowworm had broken radio silence and informed the Admiralty of her situation. She was not able to complete her transmission though, and all the Admiralty knew was that the Glowworm had been confronted by a large German ship, shots were fired, and contact with the destroyer could not be reestablished. In response, the Admiralty ordered the Renown and her single destroyer escort (the other two had gone to friendly ports for fuel) to abandon its post at the Vestfjords and head to the Glowworm's last known location. At 10:45, the remaining eight destroyers of the minelaying force were ordered to join as well. The Admiral Hipper had meanwhile departed the scene damaged, and made her way to Trondheim.
The Glowworm’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope, killed when she sank, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, thus becoming the first VC recipient of the Second World War. He received this honour in part due to the recommendation of his opponent, Captain Hellmuth Heye of the Admiral Hipper, who wrote to the British authorities via the Red Cross, giving a statement of the valiant courage Lt Cdr Roope had shown when engaging a much superior ship in close battle.
[edit] References
- Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy, Rev. ed., London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- Allied Warships: Destroyer HMS Glowworm of the G class. Retrieved on 17 December 2007.
- Lt Cdr Geoffrey B Mason RN (Rtd) (2002). HMS GLOWWORM - G-class Destroyer. Retrieved on 17 December 2007.
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