HMS Glorious | Bloody Shambles (Part 2 of 2)

[@DonaldHoneywill]

Well I thought we had seen all the footage of my Grandfather's Aircraft Carrier the HMS Glorious sinking . Here is more and on Nov 11,.2020 we in Canada find more . William Henry Honeywill died that day but his only son, my father joined the RAF and married in 1952 then in 1956 Dad transfered to the RCAF we followed Mum and myself and two younger sisters and met up with Dad in our new home Vancouver Canada in Oct 1956 .We lucked out getting transfered to one of the most beautiful city's in the world. Mom and Dad got busy and had 4 more kids making us a family of nine. I guess if there is a rainbow in this story it would be how proud my Grandfather would be in knowing that there's 34 or more Canadians with his blood running through our viens. His sacrifice was not a total loss for his Country and Family ...in my books he's done very well and we're all so very proud of him on this Remembrence day some 81 years since he perished off the Coast of Norway on his Aircraft Carrier the HMS Glorius , hopefully we live in this better world, better educated and not allow another World War to happen again.

[@paulmac8639]

A few recollections from my father, another of the Glorious survivors. He jumped into the ocean, coming up surrounded by corpses. Some seamen had put their life jackets on upside down and were consequently drowning upside down in the ocean. He swam to one of two Carley floats, along with 62 others. Most had to cling on to the ropes. Over the next 48 hours, the numbers dwindled until just 6 we’re still alive. These remaining few had managed to drag one float on top of the other, lashing them together to get them out of the seawater. They were picked up by a Norwegian vessel, MV Borgund, but 3 of the 6 died later of their exposure anyway. War is hell, compounded by bad luck, bad decisions and the whole range of human inadequacies. About 40 survivors out of 1580 men and records sealed until 2041.

[@Strebmal1]

Plaudits to you for this personal account from the few survivors. It is humbling. More plaudits to those who both perished and survived the terrible carnage of WW2, 'We will remember them'. Brought me to tears.

[@benlaskowski357]

The Germans had nothing but praise for the Ardent and Acasta for what they saw as great courage in turning to trade blows with them in a clearly hopeless fight. They said they'd never seen anything like it before or since.

[@roybennett9284]

British naval tradition .. where the enermy is engaged with all efforts and ferocity.

[@benlaskowski357]

@Israel Hands Because they'd been damaged and figured British reinforcements were coming.

[@richardbanker3910]

The Germans gave generous credit to the crews of the two little destroyers who were hopelessly outgunned one of which put a torpedo into the Scharnhorst. This is Navy ethics which crosses countries. They should never have been put into that situation thanks to the Captain of the Glorious. Providing no air cover was negligent verging on the criminal.

[@lunaticfringe8066]

Love the first hand accounts of the battle, thanks!

[@andyknight7285]

My Great Uncle , William " John " Andrew from Illogan Cornwall , was engineer on the Glorious . RIP Brave souls .

[@tonnywildweasel8138]

You make fantastic vids! Realy appreciate it, thanks a lot! Greets from the Netherlands, T.

[@jerryallen34]

Phenomenal stories your uploads tell and important ones to. Thank you. Cheers Jerry

[@ArmouredCarriers]

Thank you. Glad you find them as interesting as I do.

[@moreheff]

My word. This is harrowing. The guy who swam for two hours before finding a float must have been incredibly tough to do that in the freezing water. Not one man mentioned how cold it was. Incredible bravery and will to live. The telling of the destroyers basically sacrificing themselves is desperate to hear.

[@stevehartley621]

Read "The man who hit the Scharnhorst" by Nick Carter, for a personal account of this battle from the only survivor of HMS Acasta, along with the roles of Glorious, Ardent and Acasta, and their sinking, and how those who survived kept alive in the water and were rescued.

[@Caratacus1]

HMS Ardent and HMS Acasta were absolute heroes. They could have run but they charged at two battlecruisers and even managed to torpedo one. Incredible.

[@thebedknobs]

Totally agree the destroyers were very brave such a pity one couldn’t have survived to pick up survivors but they had such limited options against the German battleships..Howe that torpedo hit was a nail in there coffin

[@khutt19]

I am not certain,but they may have been better of picking up survivers. The German ships may have stopped shelling once they realised what they were doing had they done this. They,the Germans were not out to kill sailors,yes, they were out to sink ships,and a carrier was a good days work,I dont however think that 2 ancient destroyers would have been anything to celebrate. Also the Captains of both destroyers must have knew their chances of doing major damage was slight,even though a torpedo did hit,but at what cost. Extremely brave, but,well,, only my opinion,as an ex Royal Navy killick stoker, this lost another 2 ships crews.

[@majorbloodnok6659]

How sad, thank you for this

[@Sonofdonald2024]

Excellent as always

[@geordiedog1749]

I live by the North Sea and even in the height of summer it’s absolutely freezing cold. Bitterly cold it is - and that’s only in the North East of England and not up to the artic circle. I cannot imagine being in that water for long and surviving. It’s so sad and so bloody avoidable in this case. The responsibility you have as a captain of a big ship …….. thousands of men!

[@TrickiVicBB71]

Your videos past 3 months been popping up in my recommendations. Watched a few. Finally decided to subscribe. You make good content

[@ArmouredCarriers]

Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

[@lmyrski8385]

Wow! You got on that fix fast! Great video!

[@ArmouredCarriers]

Thanks 👍

[@mikem6251]

The British Navy learned from their carrier losses in the early part of WWII, and, although it cut down on the ship's payloads and altered the centers of gravity, ordered the remaining carriers to be armored.....something that was never done to American carriers and their wooden flight decks during the war. The armored flight decks really paid off for the Brits in the Okinawa Campaign in early 1945.....when the Japanese Kamikazes came out in force, the Brit carriers were much more resistant to damage from those suicide-plane hits than ours were.

[@heyfitzpablum]

It's a tradeoff. Armored flight decks give you better protection, but they also limit the number of aircraft you can carry. Less aircraft means a less effective Combat Air Patrol. The USA optimized their ships to carry more aircraft and to focus on offense. I don't believe the USA lost any Essex Class Carriers during the war, thought the Franklin was damaged severely.

[@redskindan78]

@@heyfitzpablum You are right. And Franklin was hit by a Kamikaze. The US carriers were built for fighting across the Pacific, where land-based aircraft would not, designers thought, have so much influence. For the same reason, the Japanese built carriers to hold the largest possible air groups. The RN carriers, with such small air groups, would have had a hard time in the 1942 carrier-carrier battles. Further, the Japanese used their fine torpedoes to inflict the most damage on US carriers. An armored flight deck would have help against dive-bombers, but not torpedoes.

[@thehoff1793]

It’s back… good job… look forward to this…

[@chrispinkney8182]

Thanks ...

[@clazy8]

Great again!

[@jaybee9269]

Very visceral & tragic. Well done. Wondering if some of the footage is from a reproduction? I love the British gift for understatement; not picking up survivors “was a bit mean!”

[@ArmouredCarriers]

Most of the interior footage is from wartime training films and postwar dramas. Most of the external footage is from the time's newsreels. The footage of the carrier burning and being fired upon was taken from the German warships.

[@jaybee9269]

@@ArmouredCarriers >> Very cool, thanks.

[@JGCR59]

Thing is if Acasta hadn't torpedoed Scharnhorst the Germans might have recovered survivors, but after the hit all they were interested in was bringing Scharnhorst home, which stood a good chance of being sunk herself. Especially as the whole operation was considered semi suicidal by much of the Kriegsmarine staff.

[@pennymaxted1330]

If only they had realised all they had to do was stop fighting or run away and everything would have been better.

[@laurenklair]

The Glorious could have outrun the German ships, but D'Olyly Hughes must have been out of his mind! The Germans could and should have still picked up survivors on Gneisenau and the destroyers.

[@roybennett9284]

Two small destroyer's which came at the two battle ships like terriers actually damaged the battle ship, and layed up for extended period..one v.c handed...poor rewards for a bad navel mistake.

[@crusader5989]

One of my top 3 channels on youtube. Can you make a vid about the Firefly and the Seafury???😍 Thanks!

[@ArmouredCarriers]

They are both on my list. Exactly when I'll get to them ... I dunno.

[@gordonwiessner6327]

Unfortunately in the early war years the British lost a heck of a lot of good men due to bad decisions made by pompous asshats in command. Many, many episodes resulted in massive loss of life. Norway, Dunkirk, Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma, etc...etc... US had the same problem...Gen. Short, Pearl Harbor and Dugout Doug, Philippines both caught napping. The biggest clusterf*** was France...so many French soldiers lost because the commanders were totally inept.

[@johnhanson5943]

The British class / establishment system doesn’t encourage meritocracy. A big problem to this day. Look at Charles. I’m from Sheffield. Steel city in Yorkshire.

[@oceanhome2023]

What is the name of the movie they are using for this Video as it follows the story very well ?

[@ArmouredCarriers]

I use mostly newsreel footage, but am often forced to pick bits and pieces out of movies like In Which We Serve, Cruel Sea, Battle of River Plate, Sailor of the King, Yangtze Incident for the scenes involving crew.

[@oceanhome2023]

Well done !

[@Strebmal1]

ps: Do we know who/what/when etc picked up the survivors?

[@ArmouredCarriers]

Thanks. Yes. I have a third episode in the works. It's just proving harder to find relevant footage / pictures of liferafts etc. That will cover the three days in the water and the eventual rescue.

[@barker262]

Is there a part 3? Doesn’t seem to be any on the channel.

[@ArmouredCarriers]

My apologies. I don't know why I put the "To Be Continued" on that episode. There are only two.

[@barker262]

Cheers mate. You know I think it could have a prequel part; the captain, and architect of his own demise, Hughes, could have an episode all his own. Sounds like a right piece of work.

[@moosifer3321]

The biggest villain in this was D`orly Hughes, almost a WWI VC, sorry, that went to the Captain of E14(?) Nasmith for his exploits in the Sea of Marmara, and putting an ASSISTANT Sub Driver in command of a Carrier = old school tie? The Commander(flying) dumped in Scapa, awaiting the return of GOD must have wept for so many lost shipmates. I note that Arseholes still exist but, hopefully, not in OUR Navy.Can you have a posthumous Court Martial for an arrogant martinet? I`ve seen interviews by relatives, seen trying to deflect the blame onto the Cruiser carrying the Norwegian Royal Familly for not assisting - that don`t fly, just like the CAP that DH refused to allow launched. In hindsight, maybe it was all for the best, imagine that twat as an Admiral! Nice try, box of Cigars to Ardent and Acasta.

[@researchvesselservices2202]

Wow you almost make it like he gave himself permission to retun to Scapa flow.....not the Admiral who was with him. His Commander flying had refused orders that his pilots thought he should have carried out....those orders had come from Lord Cook via Admiral Wells.......The court martial won't happen because someone in the Admiralty almost killed 15,000 troops that day and digging into the case of Glorious will reveal a lot more blunders. Since the end of May 1940, The glorious had been fully under the control of the Admiralty......

[@tvgerbil1984]

@@researchvesselservices2202 Although a series of mishaps cumulated to the sinking of HMS Glorious, it was Captain Guy D'Oyly-Hughes' decision not to have air patrol on the returning trip which robbed the carrier's last chance to escape. He should but obviously did not know the importance of air patrol to the security of the carrier.

[@laurenklair]

@@researchvesselservices2202 He did! He was preoccupied with J.B Heath's refusal of his orders, which he was completely in the right to refuse (and his airmen agreed with him) - It was D'Olyly-Hughes' decision to have the crew on a 10 minute turn around, no birds in the sky and no lookouts. He is massively to blame for the outcome of this incident, his arrogance got the better of him.

[@researchvesselservices2202]

@@laurenklair a Captain who is serving under the Vice admiral Carriers and with the ship directly under control of the Admiralty (First Sea Lord) cannot act independently. The Carriers were placed under direct control of the admiralty’s senior officers at the end of May due to the issues in France and the prospect of invasion. ODH was returning to Scapa because the Glorious has been reallocated with Hood and Ark Royak to Scapa although she had been originally destined for Devonport. This is in CnCs diary titled “redisposition of the fleet”. Devonport was within range of German aircraft in France. The lack of air cover is not unique and Furious and Ark Royal all made this passage with no aircraft aloft as shown in the diary. Non Usage of aircraft North of the Faeroes was observed - this was probably set by Wells and no carriers, even those with an Admiral observed flight ops north of the Faeroes. This is not one man’s mistake but an endemic Royal Navy problem and a misunderstanding of carrier warfare. Also Glorious is a great distraction from the .15,000 who were nearly killed in convoy group I that day….single escort for Severn troopships. We believe what the Admiralty want us to believe unfortunately….ODH with his marmite personality was a good cover for the giant cluster that the navy and Churchill nearly made

[@rayw3294]

Thank you. So much better. Can I help a bit?

[@TrickiVicBB71]

I am reading a book of 200 personal WW2 accounts. One is a sailor aboard HMS Glorious when it happened. 900 jumped in the water. 30 others in a lifeboat with him. They either went mad, died of injuries, or died of the cold over those 3 days.

[@ArmouredCarriers]

Yes ... that's been decidedly the hardest part of this whole series. Part 3 will cover their accounts. Not at all easy to listen to, yet alone edit and illustrate. It may take a while ...

[@csnocke5]

The British are amazing

[@geordiedog1749]

Lions led by donkeys- that’s us.

[@ffffffffffffffs]

@@geordiedog1749 ain't that the truth.

[@jimmyndumba40]

War is terrible

[@robertdoak5223]

captain cluster ffs

[@iatsd]

I don't understand: there's a video there and it plays

[@PaulfromChicago]

What a g-d shambles.

[@johngalt6929]

Horrible audio.

[@MattVF]

Just be glad we have the accounts.