Glowworm

[kfz]

Never heard this story before and with so much posts around jingostic willy waving, atrocities and horrors I found this story of courage, sacrifice and honour (on both sides) inspiring.

Whats wrong with the modern world when the freaks on Big brother are celebrities and these men are forgotten....


HMS Glowworm 8 April 1940

was a G-class destroyer laid down by John I. Thornycroft and Company at Woolston in Southampton on 15 August 1934, launched on 22 July 1935 and completed on 22 January 1936.
On the morning of 8 April 1940 Glowworm encountered a German naval detachment, led by the Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper, on its way to landing invasion troops at Trondheim as part of the German occupation of Norway (Operation Weserübung). 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. As the ships collided, Admiral Hipper suffered major damage to her bow. Glowworm was pushed under the cruiser's bow and her entire foreship up to the bridge was sheered off. For several minutes she drifted, on fire, alongside Admiral Hipper, then capsized and sank north-west of Trondheim. Only 31 of her crew survived.
Her commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope, killed when Glowworm sank, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, thus becoming the first VC winner of the Second World War. It is noteworthy that he received this honor in part due to the recommendation of his opponent, Captain Hellmuth Heye of the Admiral Hipper, who wrote via the Red Cross to the British authorities giving a statement of the valiant courage LtCdr Roope had shown when engaging a much superior ship in close battle.
HMS Glowworm (H92) was a G-class destroyer laid down by John I. Thornycroft and Company at Woolston in Southampton on 15 August 1934, launched on 22 July 1935 and completed on 22 January 1936.
On the morning of 8 April 1940 Glowworm encountered a German naval detachment, led by the Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper, on its way to landing invasion troops at Trondheim as part of the German occupation of Norway (Operation Weserübung). 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. As the ships collided, Admiral Hipper suffered major damage to her bow. Glowworm was pushed under the cruiser's bow and her entire foreship up to the bridge was sheered off. For several minutes she drifted, on fire, alongside Admiral Hipper, then capsized and sank north-west of Trondheim. Only 31 of her crew survived.
Her commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope, killed when Glowworm sank, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, thus becoming the first VC winner of the Second World War. It is noteworthy that he received this honor in part due to the recommendation of his opponent, Captain Hellmuth Heye of the Admiral Hipper, who wrote via the Red Cross to the British authorities giving a statement of the valiant courage LtCdr Roope had shown when engaging a much superior ship in close battle.


stolen from WIKAPEDIA here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Glowworm_%28H92%29 where there is a link to fantastic webpage with a lot more info.

[Owen]

Whats wrong with the modern world when the freaks on Big brother are celebrities and these men are forgotten....

Totally and completly agree with you.
The cult of celebritiy worship pees me off big time.
Thanks for posting the above info.

[spidge]

Totally agree. A very brave ship.

Only ever watched one episode of Big Brother.......the first!

I may not be on my own however I do not go for any of those reality shows.

They only seem to show the worst and none of the best of human nature.

[Peter Clare]

In the true tradition of the Royal Navy.

[Kitty]

What a courageous little ship. Thank you for posting that. Renews your belief in human nature.

[Glider]

It should also be noted that before the Gloworm attacked the Hipper she took on two German destroyers who ran into the snow showers to get away from her.

Also when she hit the Hipper, she tore off over 100ft of the Hippers Armour which obviously took her out of action for a while.

A brave ship with a brave crew

[Owen]

Make a model of her herehttp://www.cardmodelers.org/online/f...irstlooks.html

[Owen]

http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4394.html

[adrian roberts]

Thanks KFZ for posting this - as you say, these men are the real heroes.

Roope was awarded his VC primarily on the testimony of the enemy. But there was one man who was awarded a VC entirely on the enemy's testimony. Flying Officer Lloyd Trigg, RNZAF, was flying a Coastal Command Liberator from Bathurst, West Africa on 11th August 1943, when he encountered a U-boat (U468) that stayed on the surface to fight, rather than dive. He made two attempts to get into a bombing position; his aircraft was hit each time, and was on fire. To have a chance of survival, he needed to ditch immediately, but he attacked again in his burning aircraft. He dropped his bombs, the U-boat started to sink, and the Liberator crashed into the sea a quarter of a mile away, sinking immediately with no survivors. One of the U-boat crew saw that the aircraft's dinghy was floating (it was designed to automatically detach and inflate if it was immersed in water) and he swam across to get it. Seven U-boat survivors including the Captain eventually got into it (many others had been attacked by sharks), and after four days were picked up by a British corvette. Their account led to the award of the VC to Trigg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Alan_Trigg

Adrian

[lancesergeant]

Originally Posted by Glider

It should also be noted that before the Gloworm attacked the Hipper she took on two German destroyers who ran into the snow showers to get away from her.

Also when she hit the Hipper, she tore off over 100ft of the Hippers Armour which obviously took her out of action for a while.

A brave ship with a brave crew

Glowworm's actions have a parellel in the case of the Merchant ship - Jervis Bay when it attacked the Admiral Scheer.