Operation Juno / Operation Alphabet - June 8th 1940
June 8th 1940 would see the Royal navy suffer a grievous defeat and the single largest great loss of life from enemy action in World War 2.
The Royal Navy Squadron had already turned their bows towards Scapa Flow and were well on their way back to the base of the Royal Navy. HMS Ark Royal, Glorious, Ardent, Acasta, Diana Acheron and Highlander. Making steady speed for around 12-14kts. The Carrier group had been operating around Andenes Point near Loften while the rearguard of the British Expeditionary Force was collected and brought back home. During the course of this day Glorious had 8 Hawker Hurricane’s of 46 Squadron on board. The Pilots were pleased with themselves as no one had thought they could land on an Aircraft Carrier. However a 15lb sand bag placed behind the Pilot had allowed the extra ballast needed to make sure they could land ok.
Early in the Morning of June 8th Glorious made a signal to her Flag Officer onboard Ark Royal that would change the course of her story forever. “request Permission to proceed independently to Scapa Flow to make preparations for Courts Martial?” The Request was approved and at around 0253 Glorious, escorted by Ardent and Acasta detached from the squadron and increased speed to 18kts and started making their way home.
Meanwhile, the German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, along with the heavy cruiser Hipper and four destroyers had sailed from Kiel on 4 June with orders to bombard the British base at Harstadt near Narvik. On the 7 June news reached the German force that the British were attempting to withdraw and the commander of the group, Admiral Wilhelm Marschall decided to attack the southern most of the two convoys. In the morning of the 8 June, the German force encountered four british ships, the oil tanker, Oil Pioneer, the empty troopship Orama, the escort trawler Juniper and the hospital ship Atlantis. Only the hospital ship was spared. This engagement however minor, had cost the Germans time and fuel, and so the Hipper was ordered back to Trondheim to refuel with the destroyer escort while the two battle cruisers carried on the search.
On Glorious, Captain D’Oyly-Hughes made a series of questionable decisions that are controversial even to this day. He had failed to put sufficient lookouts in the crow’s nest. Not all the ships boilers were lit and ready to produce steam, and all of Glorious’ aircraft were being kept below decks, with deck crew and air crew at 30 minutes readiness for action. The Official Story from the Admiralty was that Glorious was low on fuel and so that was why she was proceeding on her own.
over the course of the afternoon of June 8th, the small squadron proceeded without much trouble, however on their way through the Norwegian Sea, their funnel smoke was spotted by the German Battleship’s. The time was around 15:46.
The British spotted the smoke of the German ships around 15 minutes later, and shortly after 16:00 Ardent was dispatched to investigate.
Around 16:27 Scharnhorst opened fire on Ardent at a range of 16’000 yards causing the destroyer to withdraw under a smoke screen firing off torpedoes and her 4.7” guns in the process. However Ardent had taken several 11” and 5.9” hits and was in a serious condition.
Captain D’Oyly-Hugh’s ordered 5 Swordfish brought up from the main hanger and prepared for launch, however Glorious still did not have any Air patrols in the air.
Scharnhorst switched her fir to Glorious, and after deliberate and sustained fire scored her first hit with her third salvo. The range was 26’400 yards. The hit landed smack on the Carrier’s flight deck, destroying two Swordfish being prepared for takeoff, and exploding in her Upper Hanger causing a large fire. The hole the shell made in Glorious’ flight deck meant that no more aircraft could fly off. Glorious was totally defenceless. Shell splinters to penetrate her boiler rooms piercing the casings on several of her boilers causing a temporary drop in steam pressure and speed. A second hit to Glorious at 16:58 hit the ships homing beacon on the bridge. This hit killed Captain D’Oyly-Hugh’s and his command staff.
On the German ships, the smoke screen laid by Ardent was becoming really effective at hiding the stricken carrier, and so at around 16:58 the German ships switched fire from Glorious to Ardent. After another savage pummelling form 11” and 5.9” shells Ardent sank at 17:25.
At 17:20 Scharnhorst switched target’s again having regained visual contact with Glorious. Scharnhorst put the killer blow to Glorious managing to put an 11” shell into the British ship’s centre engine room this caused serious damage , extensive flooding and jammed the Carrier’s rudder in a gentle turn to port. Glorious developed a serious list to Starboard around this time.
Admiral Marschall scented blood and closed in on Glorious bringing the range down to 16’000 yards, and continued to fire until 17:40.
During the German Ships approach the destroyer Acasta broke through her own smoke screen and charged the two German Battleships, hopelessly outclassed Acasta went in guns blazing and launched all of her Torpedoes at the German ships scoring 1 hit on Scharnhorst abreast C Turret knocking that turret out of action and causing serious damage to the German ship, Scharnhorst was also hit by a 4.7” shell. Acasta by contrast was riddled with shell fire from both German battleships and quickly foundered, finally sinking around 18:20, whilst this action was going on Glorious finally capsized and sank around 18:10.
Survivors on Glorious estimate that around three quarters of her crew managed to get off their ship, around 900 men. The German ship showever had suffered extensive damage, and Admiral Marschall was wary of further British forces being in the area broke off contact with the sunken ships and did not try and pick up survivors. The Royal Navy however remained in ignorance of the sinking until it was announced on German Radio. However in one of the more controversial aspects of the sinking Radio Operators on HMS Devonshire, which was around 40-50 miles away picked up what they said was a loud and clear signal from Glorious stating she was being engaged by German warships. Devonshire was on her way back to Scapa with the Norwegian Royal Family and was under orders to keep strict radio silence.
Two days after the sinking the Norwegian Ship Borguns whilst on passage to the Faroe Islands passed through the battle site, and spotting survivors managed to pick some of the crew up, eventually 37 made their way alive to the town of Thorshavn, who of whom later died. Another Norwegian Steamer Svalbard II also en route to the Faroe’s picked up a further 5 men but having been sighted by German Aircraft was forced to turn sail away before more could be rescued.
All told from a total crew of 1245 on Glorious, 161 on Acasta and 153 on Ardent only 40 Survivors made it. 38 from Glorious, and one each from Ardent and Acasta. A total of 1519 men were lost.
The news was a shock to the Royal Navy, and a major embarrassment at a time when the Allies were hard pushed. The loss of Glorious represented a serious blow. The sinking was subject to an Admiralty Enquiry, however the findings of the Enquiry have been sealed up and marked top Secret, and will not be revealed until 2041.
The Royal Navy Squadron had already turned their bows towards Scapa Flow and were well on their way back to the base of the Royal Navy. HMS Ark Royal, Glorious, Ardent, Acasta, Diana Acheron and Highlander. Making steady speed for around 12-14kts. The Carrier group had been operating around Andenes Point near Loften while the rearguard of the British Expeditionary Force was collected and brought back home. During the course of this day Glorious had 8 Hawker Hurricane’s of 46 Squadron on board. The Pilots were pleased with themselves as no one had thought they could land on an Aircraft Carrier. However a 15lb sand bag placed behind the Pilot had allowed the extra ballast needed to make sure they could land ok.
Early in the Morning of June 8th Glorious made a signal to her Flag Officer onboard Ark Royal that would change the course of her story forever. “request Permission to proceed independently to Scapa Flow to make preparations for Courts Martial?” The Request was approved and at around 0253 Glorious, escorted by Ardent and Acasta detached from the squadron and increased speed to 18kts and started making their way home.
Meanwhile, the German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, along with the heavy cruiser Hipper and four destroyers had sailed from Kiel on 4 June with orders to bombard the British base at Harstadt near Narvik. On the 7 June news reached the German force that the British were attempting to withdraw and the commander of the group, Admiral Wilhelm Marschall decided to attack the southern most of the two convoys. In the morning of the 8 June, the German force encountered four british ships, the oil tanker, Oil Pioneer, the empty troopship Orama, the escort trawler Juniper and the hospital ship Atlantis. Only the hospital ship was spared. This engagement however minor, had cost the Germans time and fuel, and so the Hipper was ordered back to Trondheim to refuel with the destroyer escort while the two battle cruisers carried on the search.
On Glorious, Captain D’Oyly-Hughes made a series of questionable decisions that are controversial even to this day. He had failed to put sufficient lookouts in the crow’s nest. Not all the ships boilers were lit and ready to produce steam, and all of Glorious’ aircraft were being kept below decks, with deck crew and air crew at 30 minutes readiness for action. The Official Story from the Admiralty was that Glorious was low on fuel and so that was why she was proceeding on her own.
over the course of the afternoon of June 8th, the small squadron proceeded without much trouble, however on their way through the Norwegian Sea, their funnel smoke was spotted by the German Battleship’s. The time was around 15:46.
The British spotted the smoke of the German ships around 15 minutes later, and shortly after 16:00 Ardent was dispatched to investigate.
Around 16:27 Scharnhorst opened fire on Ardent at a range of 16’000 yards causing the destroyer to withdraw under a smoke screen firing off torpedoes and her 4.7” guns in the process. However Ardent had taken several 11” and 5.9” hits and was in a serious condition.
Captain D’Oyly-Hugh’s ordered 5 Swordfish brought up from the main hanger and prepared for launch, however Glorious still did not have any Air patrols in the air.
Scharnhorst switched her fir to Glorious, and after deliberate and sustained fire scored her first hit with her third salvo. The range was 26’400 yards. The hit landed smack on the Carrier’s flight deck, destroying two Swordfish being prepared for takeoff, and exploding in her Upper Hanger causing a large fire. The hole the shell made in Glorious’ flight deck meant that no more aircraft could fly off. Glorious was totally defenceless. Shell splinters to penetrate her boiler rooms piercing the casings on several of her boilers causing a temporary drop in steam pressure and speed. A second hit to Glorious at 16:58 hit the ships homing beacon on the bridge. This hit killed Captain D’Oyly-Hugh’s and his command staff.
On the German ships, the smoke screen laid by Ardent was becoming really effective at hiding the stricken carrier, and so at around 16:58 the German ships switched fire from Glorious to Ardent. After another savage pummelling form 11” and 5.9” shells Ardent sank at 17:25.
At 17:20 Scharnhorst switched target’s again having regained visual contact with Glorious. Scharnhorst put the killer blow to Glorious managing to put an 11” shell into the British ship’s centre engine room this caused serious damage , extensive flooding and jammed the Carrier’s rudder in a gentle turn to port. Glorious developed a serious list to Starboard around this time.
Admiral Marschall scented blood and closed in on Glorious bringing the range down to 16’000 yards, and continued to fire until 17:40.
During the German Ships approach the destroyer Acasta broke through her own smoke screen and charged the two German Battleships, hopelessly outclassed Acasta went in guns blazing and launched all of her Torpedoes at the German ships scoring 1 hit on Scharnhorst abreast C Turret knocking that turret out of action and causing serious damage to the German ship, Scharnhorst was also hit by a 4.7” shell. Acasta by contrast was riddled with shell fire from both German battleships and quickly foundered, finally sinking around 18:20, whilst this action was going on Glorious finally capsized and sank around 18:10.
Survivors on Glorious estimate that around three quarters of her crew managed to get off their ship, around 900 men. The German ship showever had suffered extensive damage, and Admiral Marschall was wary of further British forces being in the area broke off contact with the sunken ships and did not try and pick up survivors. The Royal Navy however remained in ignorance of the sinking until it was announced on German Radio. However in one of the more controversial aspects of the sinking Radio Operators on HMS Devonshire, which was around 40-50 miles away picked up what they said was a loud and clear signal from Glorious stating she was being engaged by German warships. Devonshire was on her way back to Scapa with the Norwegian Royal Family and was under orders to keep strict radio silence.
Two days after the sinking the Norwegian Ship Borguns whilst on passage to the Faroe Islands passed through the battle site, and spotting survivors managed to pick some of the crew up, eventually 37 made their way alive to the town of Thorshavn, who of whom later died. Another Norwegian Steamer Svalbard II also en route to the Faroe’s picked up a further 5 men but having been sighted by German Aircraft was forced to turn sail away before more could be rescued.
All told from a total crew of 1245 on Glorious, 161 on Acasta and 153 on Ardent only 40 Survivors made it. 38 from Glorious, and one each from Ardent and Acasta. A total of 1519 men were lost.
The news was a shock to the Royal Navy, and a major embarrassment at a time when the Allies were hard pushed. The loss of Glorious represented a serious blow. The sinking was subject to an Admiralty Enquiry, however the findings of the Enquiry have been sealed up and marked top Secret, and will not be revealed until 2041.
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