HMS Glorious seen from one of her planes in 1935.
The aircraft carrier Glorious met an ending worthy of her name. She was assigned to oppose the Nazi invasion of Norway beginning in April 1940. Her Skua and Gladiator planes attacked German positions in concert with aircraft from the Ark Royal. Part way into her second tour in Norway, the Germans smashed through at Narvik and an emergency evacuation of Allied forces (known as Operation Alphabet) began on June 5. Glorious was fully involved, in particular receiving 18 British aircraft flown from land bases in Norway to avoid capture.
During these operations, Glorious operated without her customary destroyer screen because the destroyers were needed in the evacuation. She had her escort back as she headed for Scapa Flow, fully loaded with troops and war matériel. At her own request she was operating independently because of her extra (31.4-knot) turn of speed. The main evacuation convoy, escorted by the Ark Royal, had departed at virtually the same time and was following behind Glorious' little group. The destroyers were no help when the group ran into the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The two battlecruisers together with 4 destroyers in German Operation Juno were tasked with disrupting the Allied forces still fighting in Norway, under the fleet command of Admiral Wilhelm Marschall. In a 2-hour running fight the Germans sank the carrier and both destroyers, HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent. British casualties were 1,519 killed; there were 45 survivors. The single survivor of the Acasta had at least the comfort of knowing that a torpedo from his ship had mauled the Scharnhorst. Both German ships suffered a number of 4.7" hits from the Glorious as well. Because of their battle damage, the German ships diverted to Trondheim, Norway for repairs and did not pursue the main convoy, escorted by the Ark Royal, coming up astern of Glorious. Article
This German language propaganda newsreel has some live battle footage, including sinking of merchant ships at a different time. There is plenty of footage of the chase, and one notes the overt influence of Battleship Potemkin in the pre-battle montage. It should not in any way be construed as an endorsement of that Nazi cause to express admiration for their propaganda operation; the footage they shot has its value for maritime historians nowadays, especially with the sound turned off. The sinking of the Glorious occurred at the very zenith of German power, when its hobnailed armies seemed unstoppable and the flush of success seemed to favor every fresh campaign. Whether there were cameramen aboard three years later when the Scharnhorst sortied to her death, history does not tell.
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