Editing HMS Glorious (section)

=== Sinking ===
Unknown to the British, the German Navy had launched [[Operation Juno]]: the German battleships {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}}, the heavy cruiser {{ship|German cruiser|Admiral Hipper||2}}  and four destroyers were ordered to attack the British base at Harstad and support the German advance towards Narvik. Whilst preparing to attack on 7 June, the German commander realized the British were evacuating Norway and instead of attacking Harstad, he choose to intercept the evacuation convoys on 8 June. During the morning of 8 June some ships were intercepted but no convoy was found. The German force then split up. ''Admiral Hipper'' and the four destroyers were sent to Trondheim to refuel and then provide artillery support for the German force ([[Valentin Feurstein|''Gruppe'' Feuerstein]]) advancing to Narvik.

''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' continued to search for convoys in the [[Norwegian Sea]]. At 15:45 a lookout at the highest platform on ''Scharnhorst'' sighted a dust cloud, and then the mast of ''Glorious'' at a distance of {{cvt|46|km|mi}}. The German battleships gave chase immediately and at 16:10 the two escorting destroyers, {{HMS|Acasta|H09|2}} and {{HMS|Ardent|H41|2}} were detected as well.<ref>Bredemeier, pp. 64–69; Busch, pp. 181–183; Bekker, pp. 130–147</ref><ref group=Note>All times used in this section are [[Greenwich Mean Time]].</ref>

The British spotted the German ships shortly after 16:00 and ''Ardent'' was dispatched to investigate. ''Glorious'' did not alter course or increase speed. Five Swordfish were ordered to the flight deck and [[General quarters|Action Stations]] were ordered 16:20. No [[combat air patrol]] was being flown, no aircraft were ready on the deck for quick take-off and there was no lookout in ''Glorious''{{'}}s [[crow's nest]]. ''Scharnhorst'' opened fire on ''Ardent'' at 16:27 at a range of {{convert|16000|yd|km}}, causing the destroyer to withdraw, firing [[torpedo]]es and making a smoke screen. ''Ardent'' scored one hit with her 4.7-inch guns on ''Scharnhorst'' but was hit several times by the German ships' secondary armament and sank at 17:25.<ref name=h52>Howland, p. 52</ref>

[[File:El buque alemán Scharnhorst durante la batalla contra el Glorious.jpg|thumb|''Scharnhorst'' firing on ''Glorious'', 8 June 1940]]
''Scharnhorst'' switched her fire to ''Glorious'' at 16:32 and scored her first hit six minutes later on her third [[salvo]], at a range of {{convert|24000|m|yd|order=flip}}, (or 15 miles), when one {{convert|28.3|cm|in|adj=on}} hit the forward flight deck and burst in the upper hangar, starting a large fire. This hit destroyed two Swordfish being prepared for flight and the hole in the flight deck prevented any other aircraft from taking off.<ref>Haar, p. 336</ref> Splinters penetrated a boiler casing and caused a temporary drop in steam pressure. At 16:58 a second shell hit the homing beacon above the bridge and killed or wounded the captain and most of the personnel stationed there. ''Ardent''{{'}}s smokescreen became effective enough to impair the visibility of the Germans from about 16:58 to 17:20 so they ceased fire on ''Glorious''.<ref name=h52/>
[[File:Glorious sinking.jpg|thumb|''Glorious'' beginning to sink]]
''Glorious'' was hit again in the centre engine room at 17:20 and this caused her to lose speed and commence a slow circle to port. She also developed a [[list (watercraft)|list]] to starboard. The German ships closed to within 16,000 yards and continued to fire at her until 17:40. ''Glorious'' sank at 18:10,<ref name=h52/> approximately at {{Coord|68|38|N|03|50|E|display=title, inline|scale:10000000}},<ref>Howland, p. 51</ref> with 43 survivors.<ref>Rohwer, p. 26</ref>

As the German ships approached ''Glorious'', ''Acasta'', which had been trying to maintain the smokescreen, broke through her own smoke and fired two volleys of torpedoes at ''Scharnhorst''. One of these hit the battleship at 17:34 abreast her rear turret and badly damaged her. ''Acasta'' also managed one hit from her 4.7-inch guns on ''Scharnhorst'', but was riddled by German gunfire and sank at around 18:20.<ref name=h52/>

Survivors estimated that about 900 men abandoned ''Glorious''. With ''Scharnhorst'' damaged by the torpedo hit and unaware that Allied ships were not in contact with ''Glorious'' the German force withdrew and did not try to pick up survivors.<ref>Robertson, Stuart; Dent, Stephen. ''The War at Sea in Photographs''. s. 23.</ref> The Royal Navy meanwhile, knew nothing of the sinking until it was announced on German radio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historytoday.com/hms-glorious-history-controversy|title=HMS ''Glorious'': History of a Controversy |website=History Today}}</ref><ref name="Paul">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hmsglorious.com/|title=The cover up of Churchill's Operation Paul|website=HMSGlorious.com}}</ref> The Norwegian ship ''Borgund'', on passage to the [[Faroe Islands]], arrived late on 10 June and picked up survivors, eventually delivering 37 alive to [[Tórshavn]] of whom two later died. Another Norwegian ship, ''Svalbard II'', also making for the Faeroes, picked up five survivors but was sighted by a German aircraft and forced to return to Norway, where the four still alive became prisoners of war for the next five years. Another survivor from ''Glorious'' was rescued by a German seaplane.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/articles/level1/loss_of_hms_glorious.htm |title=The Loss of HMS ''Glorious'' |publisher=Homepage.ntlworld.com |date=8 June 1940 |access-date=16 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024151709/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/articles/level1/loss_of_hms_glorious.htm |archive-date=24 October 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2021}} Therefore, the total of survivors was 40, including one each from ''Acasta'' and ''Ardent''.<ref>Winton, pp. 191–195</ref> The total killed or missing was 1,207 from ''Glorious'', 160 from ''Acasta'' and 152 from ''Ardent'', a total of 1,519.<ref>Winton, p. 200</ref>

[[File:Commonwealth War Graves gravestone of D. C. Morton in Tromsø.jpg|upright|thumb|The gravestone in [[Tromsø]] of Leading Airman Donald Conrad Morton, who died in the sinking of ''Glorious''<ref>{{cite web|title=Casualty details: Morton, Donald Conrad |url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2186942/MORTON,%20DONALD%20CONRAD |publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commission |access-date=20 September 2013}}</ref>]]
The sinkings and the failure to mount a rescue were embarrassing for the Royal Navy.  All ships encountering enemies had been ordered to broadcast a sighting report, and the lack of such a report from ''Glorious'' was questioned in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].<ref>Winton, p. 209</ref> It emerged that the [[heavy cruiser]] {{HMS|Devonshire|39|2}} had passed within {{convert|30|–|50|mi}} of the battle, flying the flag of [[Vice-Admiral (Royal Navy)|Vice-Admiral]] [[John Cunningham (Royal Navy officer)|John Cunningham]], who was carrying out orders to evacuate the [[Norwegian royal family]] to the UK and maintain radio silence. Some survivors from ''Glorious'' and ''Devonshire'' testified that a sighting report had been correctly sent, and received by ''Devonshire'', but that it had been suppressed by Cunningham, who departed at high speed in accordance with his orders.<ref>Haarr, p. 347</ref> It was also alleged that there was confusion over the use of [[wireless telegraphy]] frequencies on board ''Glorious'' which could have contributed to the failure of any other ship or shore-station to receive a sighting report. The absence of normal airborne patrols over ''Glorious'' and its destroyers, in conditions of maximum visibility, was named as a contributor to the sinkings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.warship.org/no11994.htm |title=Analysis by Howland |publisher=Warship.org |access-date=16 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010522092000/http://www.warship.org/no11994.htm |archive-date=22 May 2001 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The circumstances of the sinking were the subject of a debate in the House of Commons on 28 January 1999.<ref>{{citation |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1999-01-28/debates/cd3ca177-a4d9-4426-a43f-96ed81679929/HmsGlorious |title=HMS Glorious |work= House of Commons Debates |date= 28 January 1999 |volume= 324 |at=cc564-76 |accessdate= 10 September 2020}}</ref> After the existence of the Bletchley Park intelligence activities was made public in the 1970s, it was revealed that Naval Section personnel at Bletchley Park predicted a breakout into the Baltic by German warships based on [[traffic analysis]] but the RN Operational Intelligence Centre did not agree on the interpretation, and did not inform the Home Fleet.<ref>Michael Smith. ''Station X: the Codebreakers of Bletchley Park''. Hull, England: Biteback Publishing, 2000. p63-64</ref>