| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Light cruiser |
| Class | Southampton |
| Pennant | 21 |
| Built by | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 16 Apr, 1935 |
| Launched | 20 Jun, 1936 |
| Commissioned | 9 Sep, 1937 |
| End service | |
| Loss position | |
| History | In September 1939 Glasgow was part of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron Home Fleet. In November she was operating off the coast of Norway, accompanied by two destroyers in the hope that the German passenger ship Bremen would pass there from Murmansk.
In February 1940 Glasgow captured the German trawler Herrlichkeit off Tromso. On April 9th, she was attacked by JU 88s and HE 111s and was damaged by near misses near the vicinity of Bergen. On the 11th, in company with the cruiser HMS Sheffield and six destroyers of the Tribal-class, they landed troops near Harstad. On the 23rd HMS Glasgow, HMS Sheffield, HMS Galatea and six destroyers landed the first part of the 15th Infantry Brigade in Andalsnes. On the 29th, she received the Norwegian King Haakon and Crown Prince Olaf onboard, at Molde, and took them to Tromso. On July 16th, the destroyer HMS Imogen was sunk in thick fog off Duncansby Head after being rammed by Glasgow. By November Glasgow was in the Mediterranean where she became a reinforcement of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron based on Alexandria. On the 14th in company with cruisers HMS Berwick, HMAS Sydney and HMS York, they were responsible for the safe delivery of 3,400 troops from Alexandria to Piraeus. On the 26th, Glasgow with the cruisers HMS Gloucester and HMS York put to sea from Alexandria tasked to escort a supply convoy to Malta. On 3 December Glasgow was attacked by Italian aircraft while anchored at Suda Bay Crete, she received two torpedo hits and although badly damaged made it back safely to Alexandria, where temporary repairs were carried out. The cruiser HMS Southampton was redisposed from Indian Ocean convoy work to replace the damaged Glasgow. In Janaury 1941 Glasgow left for Singapore, to join the East Indies Fleet where more repairs were carried out to her damaged hull. In February while in the Indian Ocean the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer sank the freighter Canadian Cruiser, however before sinking, the freighter managed to transmit a distress signal which was received by Glasgow, stationed in that area, she also received a signal from the Dutch steamer Rantaupandjang which was also sunk by the Scheer. On the 22nd, the German was sighted by the spotter aircraft from Glasgow, the British C in C East Indies deployed his Task Force to the reported area. On arrival the force searched in vain for the German, who had outwitted them by turning away to the south east. In March Glasgow accompanied by the old cruiser HMS Caledon and two auxiliary cruisers, two destroyers and two anti submarine trawlers of the Indian navy, escorted two troop transport vessels containing two Indian Battalions and one Somali commando detachment, who were landed both sides of Berber Somaliland. The town was taken against only slight Italian resistance, which was soon broken by naval gunfire. On 19 March 1942, convoy WS-16 arrived in South Africa from the U.K. with reinforcements. The convoy consisted of 14 ships, Glasgow was one of the units responsible for escorting this convoy on the final leg of the passage. In April Glasgow was docked in the Selborne dry dock at Simonstown, South Africa for temporary repairs, prior to leaving for the USA for permanent repairs. In August, after completion of her repairs she left for the U.K. to join the 10th Cruiser Squadron at Scapa Flow, where she was involved as a covering force for the Arctic convoys. During January – February 1943 Glasgow was part of the Covering Force for Arctic convoys. In March the German blockade runner Regensburg (8086 BRT) coming from the Far East was intercepted by Glasgow while she was operating in the Denmark Strait. Her crew managed to scuttle the ship and the cruiser recovered six survivors. During June – July Glasgow was in the Bay of Biscay where she supplied cover for escort groups operating in that area. After this she joined the Plymouth Command. In December she was back in the North Atlantic following the report about the break through of the first blockade runner through the Natal Freetown narrows, the C in C Plymouth, Admiral Leatham, initiated operation "Stone Wall", Glasgow and the Royal New Zealand cruiser HMNZS Gambia left Plymouth and transferred to Horta in the Azores, from where they established a continuos patrol, relieving each other for refuelling from a tanker at Horta. On the 26-28th, the Germans brought their 8th DD Flotilla and their 4th E Boat Flotilla into the Bay of Biscay to escort the blockade runner Alsterufer into the Gironde. Early on the 27th, a Sunderland flying boat sighted the blockade runner 500 miles north west of Cape Finisterre, proceeding south east, the "stone wall” cruisers as they were nicknamed, were then deployed from east of the position, the German was sighted by a Liberator bomber from a Czechoslovakian squadron, it was then bombed and set on fire. The German Naval Group West only learnt of the loss of the vessel the following morning, with the result that before the German DD Flotilla could return, they were located by Glasgow. In the action which followed Glasgow and another cruiser HMS Enterprise sank the German torpedo boats T-25 and T-26 and the destroyer Z-27. The other German ships managed to escape. Four reached Brest two reached the Gironde and two retired to the South of St Jean de Luz. After this engagement Glasgow returned to Plymouth in spite of several air raids by glider bombs. On June 6th 1944 Glasgow was involved in operation "Neptune” the amphibious phase of operation "Overlord", she made up the Gunfire Bombardment Support Force C for "Omaha” Rear Admiral Bryant, in company with the United States battleships USS Texas and USS Arkansas, the French cruisers Montcalm, Georges Leygues, nine U.S. destroyers and three Hunt-class destroyers. On the 25-26th of this month, in support of the attack by the 7th US Corps on Cherbourg, she shelled the German batteries in the town near Querqueville. Glasgow was damaged during this incident. In August 1945 she set sail for the East Indies. In 1946 Glasgow was docked in the Selborne dry dock at Simonstown, South Africa. In 1948 Glasgow was transferred to the West Indies. In 1950 Glasgow returned to the U.K. In 1951 Glasgow joined the Mediterranean Fleet based on Malta. In August 1954 Glasgow in company with the cruiser Gambia helped with the withdrawal of the Royal Marine Commandos. In 1955 Glasgow returned to the U.K. where she joined the Home Fleet as Flag Officer D. In 1956 because of the Suez crisis Glasgow was temporally recommissioned, and later that year paid off once more. It was then decided that the cruiser was surplus to requirements and was placed on the disposal list in November 1956. In July 1958 Glasgow was broken up at Blyth by Hughes Bolckow. Commanding Officers: Capt. Harold Hickling, RN A/Capt. John William Cuthbert, RN Capt. Harold Hickling, RN Capt. John William Cuthbert, RN Capt. Edward Malcolm Evans-Lombe, RN Capt. Charles Philip Clarke, RN Cdr. Cromwell Felix Justin Lloyd-Davies, RN Capt. Charles Philip Clarke, DSO, RN |
| Noteable events involving Glasgow include: 23 Nov, 1939 Around midday on 21 November 1939 the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, escorted by the light cruisers Köln and Leipzig and the destroyers Z 11 / Bernd von Arnim, Z 12 / Erich Giese and Z 20 / Karl Galster, departed Wilhelmshaven for a raid into the North Atlantic, this was to relieve the pressure of the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee operating in the South Atlantic. Late on the 21st the escorts left the battlecruisers. Just after 1500 hours on 23 November the British armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi (Capt. E.C. Kennedy, (retired), RN) sighted the Scharnhorst. Rawalpindi was part of the British Northern Patrol and was stationed south-east of Iceland in the Iceland-Faroer gap. Captain Kennedy tried to outrun the German ship and reported to the Admiralty that he sighted the German pocket battleship Deutschland, still believed to be operating in the North Atlantic. Just after 1600 hours, Rawalpindi came within range of the Scharnhorst and was quickly reduced to a flaming wreck. During this engagement Scharnhorst was hit by a 6” shell from Rawalpindi causing only light damage. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau together picked up 27 survivors from Rawalpindi. Rawalpindi finally sank around 2000 hours. The British light cruiser HMS Newcastle (Capt J. Figgins, RN), that was also part of the Northern Patrol, picked up Rawalpindi’s signal and closed the scene. She sighted the Gneisenau but the Germans managed to escape in the fog. The Admiralty also thought the ship sighted by Rawalpindi and Newcastle was the Deutschland that was trying to return to Germany. In response to the sighting and destruction of the Rawalpindi the Admiralty took immediate action; The battleships HMS Nelson (Capt. G.J.A. Miles, RN with Admiral Forbes aboard) HMS Rodney (Capt. F.H.G. Dalrymple-Hamilton, RN) and the heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire (Capt. J.M. Mansfield, DSC, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Faulknor (Capt. C.S. Daniel, RN), HMS Fame (Cdr. P.N. Walter, RN), HMS Firedrake (Lt.Cdr. S.H. Norris, RN), HMS Foresight (Lt.Cdr. G.T. Lambert, RN), HMS Forester (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Tancock, RN), HMS Fortune (Cdr. E.A. Gibbs, RN) and HMS Fury (Cdr. G.F. Burghard, RN) departed the Clyde to patrol of Norway to cut of the way to Germany for the Deutschland. The light cruisers HMS Southampton (Capt. F.W.H. Jeans, CVO, RN), HMS Edinburgh (Capt. F.C. Bradley, RN) and HMS Aurora (Capt. G.B. Middleton, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Afridi (Capt. G.H. Creswell, DSC, RN), HMS Gurkha (Cdr. F.R. Parham, RN), HMS Bedouin (Cdr. J.A. McCoy, RN), HMS Kingston (Lt.Cdr. P. Somerville, RN) and HMS Isis (Cdr. J.C. Clouston, RN) departed Rosyth to patrol between the Orkney and Shetland islands. Light cruiser HMS Sheffield (Capt. E. de F. Renouf, CVO, RN) was sent from Loch Ewe to the last known position of the German ship(s). On northern patrol, south of the Faroers were the light cruisers HMS Caledon (Capt. C.P. Clark, RN), HMS Cardiff (Capt. P.K. Enright, RN) and HMS Colombo (Capt. R.J.R. Scott, RN). These were joined by HMS Dunedin (Capt. C.E. Lambe, CVO, RN) and HMS Diomede (Capt. E.B.C. Dicken, RN). Of the ships of the Denmark strait patrol, the heavy cruisers HMS Suffolk (Capt. J.W. Durnford, RN) and HMS Norfolk (Capt. A.G.B. Wilson, MVO, DSO, RN) were ordered to proceed to the Bill Bailey Bank (to the south-west of the Faroers) The light cruiser HMS Glasgow (Capt. F.H. Pegram, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Maori (Cdr. G.N. Brewer, RN) and HMS Zulu (Cdr. J.S. Crawford,RN) were already at sea patrolling north-east of the Shetlands were to be joined by the destroyers HMS Inglefield (Capt. P. Todd, RN), HMS Imperial (Lt.Cdr. C.A.de W. Kitcat, RN), HMS Impulsive (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Thomas, RN) and HMS Imogen (Cdr. E.B.K. Stevens, RN) . Dispite the British effort to intercept the German ships, both German battlecruisers returned to Wilhelmshaven on the 27th. 12 Feb, 1940 9 Dec, 1941 |