HMS Gloucester (C62)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom, svg
HMS Gloucester.jpg
HMS Gloucester (C62)
Ship data
Keel laying : September 22, 1936
Launching ( ship christening ): October 19, 1937
Commissioning: January 31, 1939
Builder: Devonport Dockyard , Plymouth
Crew: 800 men
Technical specifications
Displacement : Type displacement: 9,400  ts
Maximum displacement: 11,600 t
length Length over all: 179 m
Width: 19 m
Draft : 6.30 m
Machinery: 4 Admirality 3-drum boilers
4 Parsons steam turbines with single gear
82,000 PSw on 4 shafts
Top speed: 32 kn (59 km / h)
Driving range: 7320 nm at 13 kn
Fuel supply: 2000 t of heating oil
Armament
artillery
Planes 2 Supermarine Walrus planes
Armor
Sides (belt) 76-102 mm
deck 51 mm
Towers 25-51 mm
Whereabouts
Sunk by air raid off Crete on May 22, 1941

The HMS Gloucester (C62) was a light cruiser of the Town class of the Royal Navy during the Second World War . She was the namesake for the Gloucester lower class.

construction

Construction began on September 22, 1936 at the Devonport Naval Shipyard in Plymouth . After the ship was launched on October 19, 1937, it was put into service on January 31, 1939.

Calls

The Gloucester was in the early years of World War II in the Indian Ocean and in South Africa often applied before she was assigned in 1940 to the Mediterranean fleet, and earned her nickname as The Fighting G . In May 1941 she was lost in the airborne battle for Crete , where the majority of the crew was killed.

Operations in the Indian Ocean

The Gloucester left Malta on April 7, 1939 to serve in the Indian Ocean as the flagship of the 4th cruiser flotilla under Rear Admiral Ralph Leathem. She spent most of the year patrolling the Indian Ocean. In December 1939 she was relocated to Simonstown , South Africa . There it was used against German attacks, but was unsuccessful.

Operations in the Mediterranean

In May 1940 the Gloucester was relocated again, this time to the Mediterranean. On July 7, 1940, she left with the rest of the fleet under Admiral Andrew Cunningham Alexandria heading for Malta to take over accompanying duties for the convoys departing from there. The very next day, an Italian air strike hit the bridge, killing eighteen crew members, including the commanding officer and three other command officers. Due to the loss of the bridge crew, the ship was rudderless for some time and could only be brought under control again when Lieutenant Commander Reginald P. Tanner took over command from the stern steering system. Despite the inoperable navigating bridge, the Gloucester remained with the fleet and took part in the naval battle at Punta Stilo on July 9, 1940 . After the battle, the fleet joined the Allied convoys in Malta and returned to Alexandria on July 13, 1940.

The damage to the navigating bridge was repaired during the layover in Alexandria . A new commanding officer took over and Lt Cdr Tanner was promoted to commander .

The Gloucester spent the second half of 1940 in the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea . On January 11, 1941, while escorting an empty convoy on its way back to Alexandria as part of Operation Excess , the Gloucester was damaged by a bomb, but it did not explode. Her sister ship HMS Southampton was less fortunate and was so badly damaged by bombs that she had to be self-scuttled. In March 1941, the Gloucester took part in the Battle of Cape Matapan and took several enemy positions on the North African coast under fire in April. One of these missions took place on April 21, 1941. Under the command of Admiral Cunningham, a combat group consisting of the Gloucester and the battleships Warspite , Valiant , and Barham and several destroyers attacked the port of Tripoli . In the course of the action, the Gloucester received a bomb hit, which caused only minor damage.

Downfall

Thereafter, the Gloucester was part of a naval task force that proceeded with some success against the German military transports to Crete . On 22 May 1941 she was in port of Antikythira , in position 35 ° 50 '  N , 23 ° 0'  O about 26 km north of Crete by German Ju-87 - and Ju-88 - dive bombers attacked and sank after Had suffered at least four serious direct hits and three near hits. One of the German pilots who was credited with a direct hit was Ernst Kupfer . Of the 807 crew members on board, only 85 survived the sinking. The sinking of the Gloucester is considered to be one of the Royal Navy's greatest wartime disasters .

Photo of the sinking of HMS Gloucester off the coast of Crete , May 22, 1941, taken by a German aviator

The circumstances of the sinking were the subject of a BBC report. After that, putting the Gloucester in such a dangerous situation , alone and with greatly reduced supplies of fuel and anti-aircraft ammunition (less than 20%), was a "serious mistake". Furthermore, the renouncement of attempts to save the survivors after dark was "contrary to the usual practice in the Navy". Commenting on this, one survivor said: “It is a naval tradition that when a ship is sunk, a vehicle is sent back to rescue survivors under cover of darkness. That didn't happen, and we don't know why. We were caught by the Germans "(" The tradition in the Navy is that when a ship has sunk, a vessel is sent back to pick up survivors under cover of darkness. That did not happen and we do not know why. We were picked up by Germans ”).

Another report on the sinking deviates in parts from the BBC report and at the same time confirms it. Accordingly, the Gloucester and HMS Fiji , although their ammunition stocks were already reduced, were seconded to support the rescue of survivors of the destroyer HMS Greyhound .

Heavy air strikes further decimated the ammunition supplies, and so they were allowed to rejoin the main fleet. During this retreat, the Gloucester was sunk. The Fiji was sunk later that day.

The wreck is protected by the Protection of Military Remains Act .

literature

  • JJ Colledge, Ben Warlow: Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy . Rev. ed. Chatham, London 2006 [1969], ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8 .
  • Roger (ed.) Chesneau: Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946 . Conway Maritime Press, London 1980, ISBN 0-85177-146-7 .
  • MJ Whitley: Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia . Arms and Armor Press, London 1995, ISBN 1-85409-225-1 , pp. 104 & 109.

Web links

Commons : HMS Gloucester (C62)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ken Otter [1999]: HMS Gloucester The Untold Story , 2nd edition, GAM Books, Durham 2001, ISBN 0-9522194-2-5 , pp. 31-36.
  2. ↑ Ken Otter [1999]: HMS Gloucester The Untold Story , 2nd edition, GAM Books, Durham 2001, ISBN 0-9522194-2-5 , pp. 37-39.
  3. ^ Winston S. Churchill : The Grand Alliance . P. 241.
  4. ↑ Ken Otter [1999]: HMS Gloucester The Untold Story , 2nd edition, GAM Books, Durham 2001, ISBN 0-9522194-2-5 , p. 1.
  5. ↑ WWII battleship 'sunk by blunder' . BBC News UK
  6. ↑ Gloucester . home.freeuk.com/johndillon