HMS Glorious

Glorious after her conversion into an aircraft carrier
History
United Kingdom
NameGlorious
Ordered14 March 1915
BuilderHarland and Wolff, Belfast
Cost£1,967,223
Yard number482–484
Laid down1 May 1915
Launched20 April 1916
Completed31 December 1916
CommissionedJanuary 1917
ReclassifiedConverted to aircraft carrier, 1924–1930
IdentificationPennant number: 77
Nickname(s)Laborious
FateSunk by Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, 8 June 1940
General characteristics (as battlecruiser)
Class and typeCourageous-class battlecruiser
Displacement
Length786 ft 9 in (239.8 m) (o/a)
Beam81 ft (24.7 m)
Draught25 ft 10 in (7.9 m)
Installed power
Propulsion4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbines
Speed32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement842 officers and men
Armament
Armour
General characteristics (as aircraft carrier)
Class and typeCourageous-class aircraft carrier
Displacement
  • 24,970 long tons (25,370 t) (normal)
  • 27,419 long tons (27,859 t) (deep load)
Length
  • 735 ft 1.5 in (224.1 m) (p/p)
  • 786 ft 9 in (239.8 m) (o/a)
Beam90 ft 6 in (27.6 m) (at waterline)
Draught27.75 ft (8.5 m)
Speed30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range5,860 nmi (10,850 km; 6,740 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement793 + 490 air group (1931)
Armament16 × single 4.7 in (120 mm) DP guns
Armour
  • Belt: 2–3 in (51–76 mm)
  • Decks: .75–1 in (19–25 mm)
  • Bulkhead: 2–3 in (51–76 mm)
Aircraft carried48

HMS Glorious was the second of the three Courageous-class battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by the First Sea Lord, Lord Fisher, they were relatively lightly armed and armoured. Glorious was completed in late 1916 and spent the war patrolling the North Sea. She participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917 and was present when the German High Seas Fleet surrendered a year later.

Glorious was paid off after the war, but was rebuilt as an aircraft carrier during the late 1920s. She could carry 30 per cent more aircraft than her half-sister Furious which had a similar tonnage. After re-commissioning in 1930, she spent most of her career operating in the Mediterranean Sea. After the start of the Second World War in 1939, Glorious spent the rest of the year unsuccessfully hunting for the commerce-raiding German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in the Indian Ocean before returning to the Mediterranean. She was recalled home in April 1940 to support operations in Norway. While evacuating British aircraft from Norway in June, the ship was sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the North Sea with the loss of over 1,200 lives.