After covering the “Crazy Y” during the Falklands last week, where she was the oldest of two dozen RN frigates and destroyers in the liberation task force, here is a glimpse back to when she was young, new, and beautiful.
Check out these images of the 6th Frigate Squadron off Malta in November 1961, steaming for a photoex after spending a year deployed to the Med, prior to leaving for home. They include HMS Yarmouth (F 101), HMS Blackpool (F 77), and HMS Llandaff (F 61). At the time, Yarmouth was just 20 months old, commissioned in March 1960, and had spent most of those forward deployed.
IWM A 34560
IWM A 34559
IWM HU 130051
Both Yarmouth and Blackpool were Type 12 anti-submarine frigates, with the latter being a Whitby-class vessel commissioned in 1958. LLandaff was a Salisbury-class radar picket (AD in British parlance), commissioned the same year as Blackpool.
The squadron was commanded at the time by Capt. Henry R. Hewlett aboard Yarmouth, his flagship, before he was appointed Director, Maritime Tactical School. Note the “6” squadron flagship marker on Yarmouth’s funnel. IWM (MH 27578)
Yarmouth would survive them all in RN service, with Llandaff transferred to the Bangladeshi Navy in December 1976 as BNS Umar Farooq (later scrapped in 2016), while Blackpool, leased to the Royal New Zealand Navy, was scrapped in 1978.
The final USMC AV-8B Harrier deployment with a Marine Expeditionary Unit, a det of VMA-223 “Bulldogs” with the 22nd MEU aboard the USS Iwo Jima, earlier this month returned home to Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina.
A U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 263 (Reinforced), 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), prepares to land aboard Wasp-class amphibious assault USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) during flight operations while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Nov. 26, 2025.
U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II aircraft with Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 223, Marine Aircraft Group 14, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, fly over the coast of North Carolina, May 15, 2026. The “sundown” of the AV-8B, an iconic aircraft that has supported joint and Marine Corps operations for over 40 years, also represents the dawn of a new era; it paves the way for 2nd MAW’s full transition to the F-35B and C Lightning II. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. David Ornelas Baeza)
U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II aircraft with Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 223, Marine Aircraft Group 14, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, fly over the coast of North Carolina, May 15, 2026. The “sundown” of the AV-8B, an iconic aircraft that has supported joint and Marine Corps operations for over 40 years, also represents the dawn of a new era; it paves the way for 2nd MAW’s full transition to the F-35B and C Lightning II. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. David Ornelas Baeza)
The first deployed Marine Harriers, 14 AV-8As of VMA-231, went to sea in October 1976 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) for a Mediterranean deployment with the Sixth Fleet, thus bookending an almost perfect 50 years of Devil Dog jump jet operations underway and 55 years, counting the first at-sea evaluations aboard USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) in 1971.
USMC AV-8A Harrier Evaluation Onboard USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7), March 1971. Now that’s a beautiful aircraft
Now, the AV-8B in Marine service will be retired.
VMA-223 will host a Sundown Ceremony at Cherry Point from 2 – 4 June 2026.
That just leaves the navies of Spain (12 EAV-8B Plus and 1 TAV-8B operated by 9. Escuadrilla) and Italy (14 AV-8B Plus and 1 TAV-8B of Gruppo Aerei Imbarcati along with 15 stored airframes) as the keeper of the Harrier flame outside of the U.S. with the Spanish planning on putting the type to bed in 2030 and the Italians doing the same in 2028. Both allies will undoubtedly be inheriting the final couple of pallets of parts from the USMC.
Just 824 Harrier models of all types were produced, making the bird a rare one, with only about 60 airframes preserved worldwide.
So yeah, at this point, there are more jump jets in museums than in active service.
U.S. Air Force Douglas A-1G (AD-5N) four-seat night attack Skyraider (ex-Navy BuNo 132619) nicknamed “Carolyn’s Folly” from the 602nd Fighter Squadron (Commando), call sign Firefly, flying out of Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, seen escorting an HH-3C Jolly Green Giant rescue helicopter during a Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) mission in 1966.
Note the ‘Raiders” jolly roger. VIRIN: 100426-F-1234S-004
This circa 1952 aircraft began service in the Navy and was noted aboard USS Hancock (CV-19) on 21 August 1958 with VA(AW)-35 Det. D before transfer to the USAF. Struck off charge at NAS Alameda on 29 October 1964 after a 12 year Navy career, 132619 was transferred to the USAF– one of 330 Skyraiders to the Air Force including the A-1E, G, H, and J models. After flying with the 602nd and later the 1st ACS/SOS, 132619 was transferred to the South Vietnamese Air Force’s 516th Squadron in February 1971 when the USAF divested themselves of the type.
She was one of the rare ex-USN Raiders that survived USAF service in Southeast Asia, with more than 200 lost across 90,000 combat sorties in their nine-year (1963-72) stint
The aircraft is available as a Scalemates decal set.
The 602nd (designated a Special Operations Squadron in 1968) alone amazingly had 140 different AH-1E/G/H/J Skyraiders pass through their hands during Vietnam between 1964 and December 1970.
Here are a few.
USAF A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-133885) of the 602nd Air Commando Squadron flies over a fortified hamlet in Vietnam, in 1964. In 1964-1965, USAF aircraft in Vietnam often flew with Vietnamese markings due to political reasons. This aircraft was shot down over Laos on 15 February 1966. U.S. Air Force photo scanned from Dana Bell: Air War over Vietnam. Volume IV. (Warbirds Illustrated 26). Arms and Armour Press, London 1984, p. 38, ISBN 0853686351.
USAF A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-132423) of the 602nd Air Commando Squadron escorts a Sikorsky HH-3C Jolly Green Giant, in 1966. 132423 was shot down by small arms fire 40km north-west of Sam Neua, Houaphan Province, Laos on 6 July 1966. The pilot, Capt. J.R. Crane was able to fly about 30km north of Udorn, Thailand, and bailed out. He was rescued by a USAF helicopter. USAF Museum Photo 101117-F-1234S-104
USAF A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-132425) of the 602nd Air Commando Squadron in South Vietnam, January 1966. Note the Douglas C-47 and the Grumman HU-16 Albatross in the background. 132425 was shot down by ground fire near Na Pho, Khammouan Province, Laos, on 19 April 1966. The pilot, Capt. Richard J. Robbins, was killed. National Museum of the U.S. Air Force photo 051123-F-1234P-016
U.S. Air Force “Tropic Moon I” Douglas A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-135195) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron in flight with a Low-Light-Level-Televison (LLLTV) pod on the left wing, 1 June 1968. This aircraft was later shot down on 11 February 1970 while in service with the 22nd SOS. The pilot, Colonel William L. Kieffer, was killed.
A U.S. Air Force Douglas A-1H Skyraider (s/n 52-134555) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron sits on the ramp at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base (“NKP”), Thailand, circa in 1968. This was the first USAF A-1H to be named “The Proud American”. 134555 was operated by the U.S. Navy until 9 January 1968. It was then transferred to the USAF, where it operated with the 602nd, 22nd, and 1st SOS before being transferred to the Vietnam Air Force. Here it operated with the 515th and 518th Fighter Squadrons until it was lost on 3 April 1972. 221109-F-IO108-002
U.S. Air Force “Tropic Moon I” officers and airmen of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base on 1 June 1968, showing the Low-Light-Level-Televison (LLLTV) pod on the wing of one of the four Douglas A-1E Skyraiders that made up the unit (s/n 52-135177, -135187, -135195, -135211).
USAF HC-130P Combat King recovery aircraft refuels a Sikorsky HH-3E Jolly Green Giant of the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron in flight near Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, between 10 and 23 February 1969. Visible are another HH-3E and two Douglas A-1 Skyraider (A-1H 135314, A-1J 142023) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron. The A-1H 135314 was later shot down by ground fire near Ban Na, Laos, on 18 June 1971 while in service with the 1st SOS. The pilot was killed. The A-1J 142023 was shot down by ground fire over Laos on 1 March 1969. The pilot was killed. 342-C-KE-60922
USAF A-1H Skyraider (s/n 52-139778, “Bubbles’n Bust”) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron on final approach before landing at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 15 March 1970. NARA 176246880
The Air Force lost 102 pilots, killed, while flying A-1s in combat with USAF Skyraider drivers earning two Medals of Honor, 14 Air Force Crosses, and many other awards for valor.
The two Skyraiders in the collection the National Museum of the Air Force, Bu Nos. 132649 and 134600 are both former Navy planes that served with the 1st Special Operations Squadron during Vietnam.
Of note, 649 was the aircraft that Major Bernard Fisher earned his MoH in in 1966, having rescued a fellow pilot shot down over South Vietnam by landing in enemy territory under heavy fire and personally flying him to safety.
Douglas A-1E Skyraider Bu No. 132649 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. A 1952 Navy plane, she was struck off at Alameda in April 1964 and transferred to the USAF, serving with the 1st ACS in Vietnam. (U.S. Air Force photo 071030-F-1234S-020)
The aircraft on display represents Captain Ronald Smith’s A-1H The Proud American (Serial Number 52-139738) as it appeared during his SAR mission in June 1972 as part of the 1st Special Operations Squadron, Nakhon Phanom (NKP) Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. Captain Smith was awarded the Air Force Cross for the rescue of a downed F-4 Phantom crewman near a North Vietnamese airfield. The Proud American had a long and storied record in Southeast Asia. Although many pilots flew the plane, it is renowned for three separate episodes: Lt Col William Jones’ Medal of Honor mission in 1968, Capt Ronald Smith’s Air Force Cross mission in June 1972, and for being the last US Air Force A-1 lost in combat in Southeast Asia in September 1972. This aircraft (U.S. Navy BuNo 134600) was modified and painted by the Museum’s Restoration Division to represent Capt Smith’s Air Force Cross aircraft and placed on display at the National Museum of the Air Force in 2022. It was part of OPERATION FARM GATE and flown by the South Vietnamese Air Force from 1965 to 1975. (U.S. Air Force photo 221114-F-AU145-1305 by Ty Greenlees)
The humble 2,800-ton modified Type 12 (Rothesay Class) frigate HMS Yarmouth (F 101) was the oldest of the 24 escorts sent to the South Atlantic to retake the Falklands in 1982.
Laid down in 1957, she entered service in March 1960, and the only surface warship older than her in the 43-vessel task force was the light carrier HMS Hermes, which had commissioned just four months earlier in November 1959.
The Type 12 Frigate HMS Yarmouth (F101), photographed shortly before the Falklands Conflict. IWM (FKD 590)
When the orders came to join Operation Corporate in April 1982, Yarmouth was in the Mediterranean, headed to the Far East, and many of her crew’s wives and families had gone ahead to Singapore to greet them there.
Singapore would have to wait.
HMS Hermes (R12), HMS Broadsword (F88), and HMS Yarmouth (F101) anchored off Ascension Island and conducted VERTREP on April 17th, 1982, while en route to the Falkland Islands.
Nicknamed the “Crazy Y” and “The Rubber Duck,” Yarmouth was seemingly everywhere in the Falklands theatre over the next four months and did everything.
She conducted anti-submarine patrols, naval gunfire support for troops ashore (she fired 1,441 rounds from her twin 4.5″/45 Mark 6 turret at Argentine positions), and anti-air warfare (her Seacat launcher is credited with a kill against A-4C Skyhawk C-319, flown by Teniente Tomás Lucero, over “Bomb Alley” in San Carlos on 25 May).
Yarmouth lobbed 58 warshot Limbo mortar rounds against sonar contacts, including at the ARA San Luis on 1 May
Photo taken from HMS Yarmouth (F101), a Type 12 Frigate, at San Carlos. An Argentine A4 Skyhawk flies by during an attack on the British ships.
She landed SBS and Royal Artillery observers who promptly sneaked ashore to call in fire.
Yarmouth famously came to the assistance of the Exocet-stricken destroyer HMS Sheffield and took her under tow, only to have to cut the line.
HMS Yarmouth attempts to tow the damaged HMS Sheffield to South Georgia for repairs. During the voyage, the weather worsened, and early in the morning of 10th May, Sheffield had to be abandoned – 1982 (IWM)
She also came alongside the bomb-stricken frigate HMS Ardent and the Exocet-damaged Glamorgan.
HMS Yarmouth (right) comes alongside the sinking HMS Ardent to take off her crew. HMS Broadsword is behind HMS Ardent while a Sea King 4 helicopter approaches her starboard side. IWM (FKD 69)
Survivors of HMS Ardent wearing “once-only” survival suits, on the flight deck of HMS Yarmouth after abandoning ship in San Carlos Water on 21 May. HMS Ardent had been damaged in two Argentine air attacks. Note Yarmouth’s Seacat launcher over her hangar, credited with shooting down an Argentine Seahawk four days later. IWM (FKD 145)
Yarmouth also fought a surface action against the Argentine armed coaster ARA Monsunen, engaging the 300-ton vessel with her 4.5-inch guns west of Lively Island until the latter ran aground in the shallows in a failed escape attempt in what is now remembered as the Battle of Seal Cove.
She usually conducted NGFS at night. Among her fire missions were 300 4.5-inch shells in the hills around Port Howard on 27 May, 187 shells into Argentine positions in the mountains and around Stanley and Moody Brook on 7 June, 124 on 8 June, and another 164 the next night. On the final push for Stanley on 13/14 June, she supported the assaults on Mounts Harriet by 42 Commando and Tumbledown by the Scots Guards with 261 rounds of 4.5inch.
She fired the last angry shots of the war, being sent 1,200 miles further south as the “muscle” of Operation Keyhole with the guard ship HMS Endurance, oiler RFA Olmeda, and the tug Salvageman to the South Sandwich Islands, where Argentina had established a small military base in South Thule in 1976, the week after the liberation of the Falklands.
Following a demonstrational bombardment among the icebergs by her 4.5s, the 10-member Argentine naval detachment threw in the towel on 20 June without firing a shot, taken into custody by Royal Marines.
Operation Keyhole 19-20 June 1982, recapture of disputed South Thule Island by RM and SBS, bringing the Falkland campaign to a close
Sea King helicopter from oiler RFA Olmeda, Operation Keyhole 19-20 June 1982, landing Commandos on South Thule Island
June 20th 1982: Lieutenant Enrique Martinez, Argentine Navy, signs the formal act of surrender of South Thule on board HMS Yarmouth.
On the way back, the short-legged Yarmouth was refueled at sea by Olmeda (her 50th of the campaign!) noted as perhaps the most southernly such evolution in Royal Navy history, performed just two days sail from the Antarctic coast.
In the end, she fired more shells than any of the 14 British frigates and destroyers that released their main battery during the conflict.
Yarmouth, “The Fighting 101,” returned to her home port of Rosyth on July 28 after 120 days at sea, a bit rusty but unscathed and with no casualties to report.
The frigate was decommissioned in 1986 and disposed of in a SINKEX the following year.
Her skipper during the epic Falklands deployment, Capt. Antony Morton, DSC, passed recently, aged 84.
Originally a pilot with the Fleet Air Arm, Morton was a Buccaneer driver and c/o of 809 Naval Air Squadron aboard HMS Ark Royal, then went to Yarmouth after his carrier was decommissioned, the Royal Navy out of the Buccaneer game.
Post-Falklands, he went on to be naval attaché in Paris and captained the Broadsword-class frigate HMS Beaver (F93) in the Persian Gulf, where he was remembered as “a calm presence but also demanding in terms of the standards he set and expected from others.”
As noted of his time on Yarmouth in the Falklands, he said it was all a matter of good fortune:
“A lot of ships were hit around us. We had seen quite a lot of disasters, and obviously, people were worried, but generally, morale was amazingly good.”
Pour one out for Capt. Morton, and the ghost of the Crazy Y, an example to frigates and frigatemen eternal.
First Lady Nancy Reagan christening the future USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) at Litton Ingalls’ West Bank Yard, Pascagoula, on Saturday, 16 May 1981. The lead ship of her class and the first warship designed to use the Aegis system from the keel up, was sponsored by Mrs. Reagan at a weekend event attended by approximately 9,000 people, including several former crewmen of the aircraft carrier to carry the same name. .
National Archives Identifier 6368659, Agency-Assigned Identifier DNSC8305355, Local Identifier 330-CFD-DN-SC-83-05355
She would commission 20 months later and give 21 years of hard service.
At 9,800 tons displacement and 567 feet overall length, she compared well to the Omaha-class light cruisers (9,500 tons, 555 feet oal) of 60 years prior, although with a much smaller crew and much more advanced armament and sensors unthought of in 1921.
The future Aegis guided missile cruiser USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) underway on sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico, 6 May 1982 DN-SC-83-10258
The future Aegis guided missile cruiser USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) underway on sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico, 6 May 1982 DN-SC-83-10257
The future Aegis guided missile cruiser USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) underway on sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico, 6 May 1982 DN-SC-83-09476
The future Aegis guided missile cruiser USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) underway on sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico, 6 May 1982 DN-SC-83-10255
The future Aegis guided missile cruiser USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) underway on sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico, 6 May 1982 DN-SC-83-09477
Tico was the first of the country’s final class of cruisers and, although she was decommissioned in 2004 and kept mothballed as a source of spare parts for 16 years before scrapping, seven of her Flight II sisters endure, with USS Lake Erie (CG-70) being the first U.S. Navy warship to successfully shoot down an in-orbit satellite on February 20, 2008.
Meanwhile, the Aegis system, as further installed on the Burke class DDGs that followed, is afloat in 78 hulls today, with another 21 on the schedule. Arguably, the most capable surface combatants afloat.
How about this great assemblage of nine Italian torpedo boats passing the Ponte Girevole in Taranto between the Mar Grande and Mar Piccolo in the spring of 1960?
Leading the parade is the 130-ton, 114-foot Motor Gunboat 485, with other units of the Comando delle motosiluranti (Motor Torpedo Boat Command) following close behind.
If 485 looks immediately like a German WWII E-boat/S-boot, while her consorts look like a mix of Italian and American MTB and PT boats from the same era, you are correct on all accounts.
The former S38-class German Schnellboot S67, 485 was built at Lürssen in 1942 and served with 1st Schnellbootflottille (1. SFltl) in the North Sea. Captured by the British in 1945 and sold as the merchant ship Torüs, she was then purchased and put into service in 1953 with the post-war Italian Navy as MV 621, MS 485, and finally MC 485, before being decommissioned in 1966.
Via the 1960 edition of Jane’s:
She is followed in the above image by two Italian 60-ton 92-foot C.R.D.A. type MTBs modified after the war, followed by two ex-U.S. 78-foot Higgins type PT boats and four ex-U.S. 70-foot Elco (Vosper) PTs.
The Essex-class training carrier USS Antietam (CVS-36) was in the Gulf of Mexico during Project Strato-lab V, in which the first manned balloon carrier landing was made. The 10 million cubic foot balloon shown below was manned by pilot CDR Malcolm D. Ross, USNR, and flight surgeon LCDR Victor A. Prather, USN.
Note the odd combination of Cold War angled deck and WWII Long Hull bow, the latter complete with AAA tubs. The first U.S. carrier with an angled deck conversion, Antietam never received the latter SCB-125 enclosed Hurricane Bow, making her something of an aberration. USN 1054270
USS Antietam (CVS-36) showing the manned balloon just before take off during project Strato-Lab, April 1961. The low altitude flight was manned by Commander Malcolm D. Ross and Lieutenant Commander Victor A. Prather, MC USN. USN 1054272
Ross and Pranther were using the Navy’s new Mark IV full-pressure suit, which was the basis for NASA’s Project Mercury suits, with the flight a proving ground for the gear.
They reached their maximum altitude two hours and 36 minutes after takeoff. Tragedy marred their achievement, however, when Prather fell from the sling of the recovery helicopter and died on board the carrier after being pulled from the water. Furthermore, the mission was consigned to obscurity when Commander Alan Shepard flew into space the very next day.
Commissioned on 28 January 1945 at Philadelphia, after shake downs and transit to the Pacific, when just three days out of Oahu on her way to the front lines, Antietam received word of the Japanese capitulation and the consequent cessation of hostilities.
She went on to earn two battle stars for service in the Korean War. She was used almost exclusively from April 1957 until her decommissioning in 1963 as a training carrier, first off the East Coast and then off Pensacola. After ten years in mothballs, she was scrapped in 1973 as part of the post-Vietnam wind-down, with many of her parts used to keep sister Lexington in operation another two decades.
A Royal Navy patrol from the Battle-class fleet destroyerHMS Barrosa (D68), aboard a perau, on a coastal patrol in Brunei during the defense of that country from neighboring Indonesia.
Official caption: “Navy patrols hunt arms smugglers in Borneo. April 1964, off the coast of Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah. To assist the Royal Navy’s constant search for arms and ammunition smuggling, the sultan of Brunei provided specially built peraus, small craft that are particularly maneuverable in the narrow channels between mango swamps.”
IWM (A 34819)
The rating in the foreground is armed with a Lanchester “machine carbine,” that curious unlicenced British knockoff of the German C.G. Haenel MP28/II submachine gun. That design, attributed to the famous Hugo Schmeisser, was itself an improvement of the Great War-era Bergmann Maschinenpistole 18, a 9mm blowback-action open bolt burp gun that weighed a hefty 11 pounds, sans ammo.
Lanchester Machine Carbine 9mm MK 1 via Royal Armouries, is basically an unlicensed MP28 with some tweaks
In British service, the Lanchester– so named after the supervisor at the Sterling Armaments Company where it was initially produced during WWII– was a bit lighter (“only” 9.5 pounds) and could use either a purpose-made (though almost impossible to fully load) 50-round stick mag or the common 32-round Sten magazine.
Oh yeah, and it also accepted the outlandishly long 22-inch P07 bayonet.
Boatswain of the Royal Australian Navy with a Lanchester during WWII
1943 Devonport Dockyard, Nov 25, 1943, U-536 survivors brought in by crews of HMCS Snowberry, HMS Tweed, and HMCS Calgary. Note the Lanchester SMG
With a whopping 95,469 Lanchesters cranked out by Sterling, Greener (the famous shotgun folks), and Boss (another famous scattergun maker), most went to the Royal Navy and Commonwealth sister services, who kept them in service into the 1970s, when they were phased out in favor of the…Sterling.
A group of 19 Douglas AD Skyraiders forms the letters “LC” as they fly over their home, the recently recommissioned “Long Hull” Essex-class fleet carrier USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39)on 30 April 1956.
U.S. Navy photo from the USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39) 1955-1956 cruise book
The aircraft are from Carrier Air Group 6 (CVG-6), which accompanied “Champ” on a six-month Mediterranean deployment from October 1955 to April 1956, where she carried to AD units (VMA-324 and VA-25) along with a squadron of FJ-3 Fury (VF-33), another of F2H-3 Banshee (VF-62), and one of F9F-8 Cougars (VF-74).
Laid down in drydock by the Norfolk Navy Yard on the Ides of March 1943, the future CV-39 launched on 2 November 1944 and commissioned 3 June 1945, putting her just a skosh too late to the Big Show and had to spend the days immediately after WWII in Magic Carpet duties instead.
Retired to the “Mothball Fleet” by February 1947, Champ was recalled to active duty during Korea and was active off that peninsula with CVG-4 from 11 June to 27 July 1953, averaging 23 helicopter evolutions per day interspersed with as many as 147 combat sorties per day.
Following Korea, she was sent on a series of five different Med cruises and eight shorter Atlantic deployments, and joined in the naval quarantine of Cuba, but her biggest claim to fame was in supporting NASA by recovering Mercury 3 (5 May 1961), Gemini 3 (19 January 1965), and Gemini 5 (29 August 1965).
“Escorting Gemini V to USS Lake Champlain.” USS Dupont was the closest ship for the recovery of Gemini 5. Navy divers from the destroyer recovered the astronauts and transferred them via helicopter to USS Lake Champlain. Painting, Watercolor on Paper; by Luis Llorente; 1965; Unframed Dimensions 30H X 22W Accession #: 88-162-CO
88-162-CT These sketches show the sequence of retrieving the command module – recovery by the UDT team, Gemini 5
Champ was decommissioned in May 1966 and subsequently scrapped in 1972. Although her keel had been laid 29 years prior, she had only spent about 17 of those on active duty.
Her ship’s motto, as befitting her name, was Excelsior.
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Warship Wednesday (on a Thursday) 30 April 2026: 695 Feet of Glory
Official Royal Navy Photograph, from the All-Hands collection at the Naval History and Heritage Command. NH 97044
Above we see a Fleet Air Arm Hawker Sea Fury F.B.11, VR-943, of No.804 Squadron, take to the air of the British Colossus-class light fleet carrier HMS Glory (R62)for a combat mission during the Korean War, circa June 1951. Note the Fury’s invasion stripes to keep UN allies unfamiliar with the type from engaging it, and the “R” tail flash, denoting her as belonging to Glory’s 14th Carrier Air Group.
Completed too late for much combat in WWII, Glory earned her keep off Korea, completing 25 highly active patrols across three tours between April 1951– arriving on station some 75 years ago this week– and May 1953.
The Colossus class
Our girl was one of 16 (planned) “1942 Design Light Fleet Carriers” for the RN. This series, broken up into Colossus and Majestic-class sub-variants, was nifty 19,500-ton, 695-foot-long carriers that the U.S. Navy would have classified at the time as a CVL or light carrier.
They were slower than the fast fleet carriers at just 25 knots with all four 3-drum Admiralty boilers lit and glowing red, but they had long legs (over 14,000 miles at cruising speed), which allowed them to cross the Atlantic escorting convoys, travel to the Pacific to retake lost colonies, or remain on station in the South Atlantic or the Indian Ocean for weeks.
The classes’ 1946 Jane’s entry.
Ditching the full armored decks of the RN’s larger carriers, these light boys only had 10mm mantlets around aircraft torpedo warhead rooms while longitudinal watertight bulkheads covered machinery spaces.
A sort of “pocket” fleet carrier, they could be manned by just 850 crew if needed– not counting their air group personnel and Marine detachment, which could bring her embarked numbers up to 1,300– while still being able to carry 40~ aircraft.
Designed specifically for globetrotting, their 112-foot-wide flight deck and easily dismantled abeam sponsons allowed for passage through the Panama Canal. Meanwhile, special attention was given to operations in tropical conditions, be it Aden or Singapore, with air conditioning standard in many compartments.
Benefitting from late-war sensor technology, they were completed with Type 79B early warning, Type 281B air search, and Type 282 fire control radars, as well as a Type 144 sonar. When it comes to the Type 282, they had as many as six of the UHF-band range-only fire control radar for AAA batteries. Speaking of which, they were designed to carry six quad 40mm/39 2pdr QF Mk VIII pom poms and 32 Oerlikons (11 twin and 10 single).
August 1951. Off Korea. Pom Pom gun action stations in HMS Glory. The gun’s crews closed at instant readiness. A multiple close-range weapon manned by Royal Marines of HMS Glory. Note the Brodie-style helmets, surely quaint even in the early days of the Cold War. IWM (A 31959)
HMS Glory at dock in January 1946, showing public inspection and queues. Note her array of 2-pdr pom poms and 40mm Bofors with Type 282 fire control radars, and her small island with a thin funnel. Photo by Allan Green. State Library Victoria H91.108/2012
This would quickly change, as we shall see.
Meet Glory
Our subject is at least the 13th HMS Glory in the Royal Navy since 1747 and, as such, carried six cherished battle honors forward (Glorious First of June 1794, Calder’s Action 1805, Martinique 1809, Guadeloupe 1810, China 1900, and Dardanelles 1915).
The 12th Glory was formerly the German-built Russian protected cruiser Askold, seized by the British in Kola Bay in May 1918 during the Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War and used as a depot ship in Scotland until she was returned to the Soviet Navy for scrapping in 1922.
Askold had five thin funnels, which gave her a unique silhouette for any vessel in the Imperial Russian Navy. This led British sailors to nickname her “Packet of Woodbines” after the thin cigarettes popular at the time.
Our carrier Glory was laid down at Harland & Wolff at Belfast on 27 August 1942, just as the Japanese were being stopped in the Solomons and the Germans were closing in on Stalingrad. However, our new flattop was a slow build-out and wasn’t launched until after the Avalanche Landings in Italy in late 1943.
HMS Glory began her trials in November 1944 and was accepted, allocated for service with the British Pacific Fleet, commissioning on 2 April 1945, just a month out from VE-Day. Still, Glory beat her sisters Ocean, Theseus, Triumph, Venerable, Vengeance, and Warrior into fleet service. Meanwhile, sisters Perseus and Pioneer were completed as aircraft maintenance ships, not true carriers.
HMS Glory underway in coastal waters circa late 1944-early 1945. IWM (A 28925)
Same as above, IWM (A 28926).
Glory’s first skipper was Capt. Anthony Wass Buzzard, DSO, who picked up the suffix after his name as commander of the destroyer HMS Gurkha in the Norway campaign. A regular who shipped out to fight the Kaiser as a 13-year-old Mid in 1915, Buzzard was later gunnery officer aboard the battleship HMS Rodney during the pursuit and sinking of the Bismarck in 1941, with his guns the first to open fire on the German leviathan in her last surface action.
Last Days of the Big Show
Before heading to the Far East to join the BPF’s 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron, Glory conducted flying trials with her first air wing, a mixture of 18 Barracudas from 837 Naval Air Squadron and 21 Corsairs of 1831 NAS, forming the 16th Carrier Air Group. She also picked up 17 40mm Bofors in place of smaller 20mm cannons.
On 14 May 1945, the ship became operational and departed Portsmouth, bound for Australia by way of the Mediterranean.
Arriving at Fremantle on 16 August 1945, she received word that the Japanese were suing for peace.
HMS Glory arrives at BPF Australia in August 1945 with Barracuda and Corsairs on her deck. IWM (A 30392)
A brand new carrier full of fresh aircraft and crew with nothing to do, Glory achieved a footnote in WWII history by hosting the surrender of 139,000 troops under Japanese Lt. General Imamura and Admiral Jin Icha Kusaka at Rabaul on 6 September (VJ+4), with the surrender party signing the instruments on her deck after a conference in Capt. Buzzard’s cabin. As such, she became the flag of Task Group 111.5, escorted by HM Sloops Hart and Amethyst.
“At sea off Rabaul, New Britain. 6 September 1945. Flight crews prepare Corsair and Barracuda aircraft on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Glory before takeoff. They will circle overhead during the surrender ceremony between Lieutenant General V.A.H. Sturdee, General Officer Commanding First Army, Lt. General H Imamura, commander Eighth Area Army, and Vice Admiral J. Kusaka, commander Southeast Area Fleet.” Note the widespread use of shorts and the general lack of blouses– the tropical uniform of the day. AWM 095778
Same as the above, a Corsair riding the elevator from hangar to flight deck off Rabaul, 6 September 1945, to provide CAP over the surrender. AWM 095740
The conference was held in the captain’s cabin. Left to right: Admiral Jin-Incha Kusaka, Commander Japanese S E Navy; General Imamura, General S E Japanese Army; Lieutenant General V A H Sturdee, GOC First Australian Army; Brigadier E L Sheehan, BGS, First Australian Army; and Captain Wass Buzzard, RN, discussing the immediate occupation of Rabaul by the 11th Australian Division. IWM (A 30501)
The surrender ceremony for 139,000 Japanese in New Britain, New Ireland, the Solomons, and New Guinea, which took place on the flight deck of HMS Glory off Rabaul. The surrender of the Japanese army in the southwest Pacific area was signed by General Imamura, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Army in the region. Here General Imamura is bending over the table reading after Admiral Jin Icha Kusaka signed the treaty for the Japanese Southeastern naval forces. In the background are officers and ratings of HMS GLORY. Note the men stood at ease on either side of the flight deck. Photo by Lt C Trusler, Royal Navy. IWM (A 30499)
Note the RM with the Lancaster SMG ready to the left! General Imamura, Japanese South-Eastern Army Chief, signing the official document for the surrender of 139,000 Japanese in New Britain, New Ireland, the Solomons, and New Guinea. The surrender ceremony took place on the flight deck of HMS GLORY off Rabaul. Lieutenant General Sturdee, GOC First Australian Army, who signed for the Allies, is closely watching the Japanese General from the other side of the table. Admiral Jin Icha Kusaka signed the treaty for the Japanese southeastern naval forces. Photo by Lt C Trusler, Royal Navy. IWM (A 30498)
Lieutenant General Hitoshi Imamura, Commander of the Japanese 8th Area Army, signing the instrument of surrender on board HMS Glory near Rabaul. Vice Admiral Jinichi Kusaka, Commander of the Japanese Southeast Area Fleet, stands by to add his signature to the document. AWM 045213
Gen. Hitoshi Imamura, who surrendered his sword to Sturdee, was tried by an Allied war crimes tribunal and imprisoned until 1954. Finding his punishment to be too light, Imamura built a replica of his prison in his garden and confined himself there until he died in 1968. VADM Kusaka Jinichi died in 1972, aged 83. No war crimes indictments were leveled against him personally, though subordinate officers faced trials at Rabaul for atrocities against Allied prisoners and local populations.
Glory then proceeded to Manila to embark liberated Commonwealth POWs from Japanese camps, with part of the carrier’s hangar turned into a temporary hospital. Many of the men had been captured in Singapore in 1942. She would take these men across the Pacific to Esquimalt/Vancouver in Canada for further repatriation. Over 1,000 men were carried, and the ship made three such trips from October through the end of the year.
9 October 1945, HMS Glory embarks released British and Canadian POWs at Manila. Five members of the RAF who spent three years in captivity in Japan. Left to right: AC1 Melville of Clydebank, Scotland; AC1 Barry of Frindale, Glamorgan; LAC Duncan of Leeds; LAC Parish of Arsett, Essex; and Corporal Painey of Tamworth, Birmingham. Photo by BT Hawk. IWM (A 30943)
British aircraft carrier H.M.S. “Glory” at dock, Vancouver BC, November 1945, sporting Victory Bond signage. Keep in mind that the Crown was broke as a joke for a generation after VJ Day. Photo by James Crookall, Vancouver City Archives. AM640-S1-CVA 260-1539
Same as above, giving a good dockside view, giving a good look at her mast. Note the Canadian Pacific boarding gangway and the building in the Marine Building, a renowned Art Deco skyscraper that was the tallest building in the British Commonwealth when completed in 1930– and had been designed with a zeppelin tower. AM640-S1-: CVA 260-1537
Same as above, photo by William Donn. AM1545-S3-CVA 586-4077
Quiet Interbellum
Her POW Magic Carpet rides completed, Glory remained in the Pacific for the first eight months of 1946 and called on Australia again that January with the larger carriers Indefatigable and Implacable, along with sister Venerable.
HMS Glory (R62) upon her arrival at Melbourne, Australia, on January 23, 1946. Note the dress uniformed RM band on her bow. Photo by Allan Green. State Library Victoria H91.108/2063
Aircraft carriers HMS Implacable (left), HMS Indefatigable (right), and HMS Glory (back right) at Station Pier in Melbourne, Australia, January 1946. Note how well the little 13,000-ton/695-foot light carrier compares to her 32,000-ton/766-foot armored deck big sisters.
Station Pier, Melbourne, Australia, Jan 1946 HMS Indefatigable near opposite Implacable, ahead HMS Glory Victoria State Library
HMS Glory on a visit to Melbourne, 1946. Argus news image. State Library Victoria H98.104/2475
Visit by British aircraft carriers H.M.S. Glory, H.M.S. Indefatigable, H.M.S. Venerable, and H.M.S. Implacable to Melbourne, 1946. State of Victoria Archives
Visit by British aircraft carriers H.M.S. Glory, H.M.S. Indefatigable, H.M.S. Venerable, H.M.S. Implacable to Melbourne, 1946 State of Victoria Archives
HMS Glory leaves Waitematā Harbour with aircraft and vehicles of No. 14 Squadron RNZAF bound for Japan. 8 March 1946. RNZAF Archives
By August 1947, Glory departed for home with her paying off pennant flying via Singapore, Trincomalee, and the Mediterranean, arriving back at Portsmouth in October, where she entered ordinary for the next two years, reactivated in October 1949 and, after a stint at Devonport dockyard, sailed to join the Mediterranean Fleet.
It was in Malta in December 1949 that Princess (future Queen) Elizabeth came aboard Glory on the occasion of the King’s birthday for a visit and inspection.
The parade on the flight deck of HMS Glory was inspected by Princess Elizabeth. IWM (A 31630)
Princess Elizabeth inspects officers and men of the Mediterranean fleet on HMS Glory on the King’s birthday. 14 December 1949, on board the light fleet carrier HMS Glory, at Malta. IWM (A 31626)
In July 1950, she was part of Exercise Bandit, off the island of Skiathos, then went on to receive a very smoky salute from the elderly Turkish battlecruiser Yavuz (ex-SMS Goeben).
July 1950. The cruiser HMS Phoebe entering Marmice Harbor, Turkey, for the Fleet Regatta. HMS Glory in the foreground. Fireflies of 812 on the flight deck of HMS Glory. IWM (A 31691A)
August 1950. HMS Glory, the flagship of the Flag Officer (Air) Mediterranean, Rear Admiral Guy Grantham, CB, CBE, anchored off Tangier during the summer cruise of the Mediterranean Fleet. The bow of the Italian training ship Amerigo Vespucci in the foreground. IWM (A 31716)
War! (of the Korean variety)
One of Glory’s sisters, HMS Triumph (R16),was the first British aircraft carrier deployed to the Korean War, dispatched on 29 June 1950. As part of the Royal Navy’s Far Eastern Fleet, she and her 13th Carrier Air Group—equipped 800 Naval Air Squadron equipped with the Supermarine Seafire F.R Mk. 47 and 827 Naval Air Squadron with the Fairey Firefly F.R.Mk.1—conducted the first British carrier strikes against North Korean targets at Pyongyang and Haeju by 3 July.
Another of Glory’s sisters, HMS Theseus (R64), relieved Triumph, carrying 23 Furies from 807 Squadron and 12 Fireflies from 813 Squadron, 17th Carrier Air Group, beginning strikes on North Korean targets on 9 October 1950. All told, Theseus launched 3,500 sorties on 86 days during its seven-month deployment. During the first six months, Theseus’ air wing dropped 829,000 lbs. of explosives and fired 7,317 rockets and “half a million rounds of 20mm ammunition.”
Then Glory clocked in to relieve Theseus, with the 14th CAG’s 804 Squadron (Sea Fury) and 812 Squadron (Firefly) embarked.
Her first tour, 23rd April to 30th September 1951, would cover nine patrol periods, each of about two weeks, in which her Furies and Fireflies would hammer enemy positions in conjunction with American carriers.
She also picked up a U.S. Navy HO3S-1 (Sikorsky H-5 Dragonfly) C-SAR helicopter det, which would put in yeoman service not only for her downed aviators but also for others.
Glory suffered her first loss in the campaign on Saturday, 28 April 1951, when Lt. EPL Edward, FAA, a Sea Fury pilot of 804 Squadron, crashed into the Yellow Sea while on a patrol near Clifford Island. He was listed MPK (missing, presumed killed) and never recovered, one of 254 British personnel considered MIA during the Korean War.
Korea, 1951. Aircraft positioned on the flight deck of HMS Glory following a strike on Korea during the Korean War. AWM P00320.001
A Sea Fury takes off from HMS Glory circa 1951 off Korea. AWM P00320.010
A war photographer apparently shipped aboard in June 1951 and captured some amazing images.
June 1951. Off Korea. A Sea Fury aircraft of 804 Squadron being maneuvered into position on the flight deck of HMS Glory. The aircraft is already bombed up and ready to fly off on another sortie. Note the deck tractor and 60-pound rockets under wings. IWM (A 31912)
June 1951. Off Korea. A Sea Fury aircraft of 804 Squadron, assisted by rockets, takes off from HMS Glory. IWM (A 31910)
June 1951. Off Korea. A Firefly aircraft of 812 Squadron with rocket-assisted take-off leaving the flight deck of HMS Glory for an anti-submarine patrol in Korean waters. IWM (A 31911)
June 1951. Off Korea. HMS Glory’s U.S. Navy Sikorski Dragonfly helicopter landing on the flight deck. This helicopter has been christened “The Thing”. It has saved several of the Glory’s pilots. IWM (A 31916)
June 1951. Off Korea. A Firefly aircraft (FR 5, 812 Squadron), touching down on HMS Glory. The ‘bats’ are watching his charge safely down. His assistant with binoculars is reporting the next aircraft coming in to land. IWM (A 31914)
June 1951. Off Korea. One of HMS Glory’s Sea Fury aircraft of 804 Squadron goes down on the flight deck lift for servicing in readiness for the next day’s strikes. IWM (A 31909)
August 1951. Off Korea. Cleaning the pilot’s windshield is one of the many essential tasks performed by the Pilot’s Mate before takeoff. Leading Airman R Colebrook, of Mitcham, Surrey, is cleaning the windshield of his Sea Fury aircraft in HMS Glory. IWM (A 31960)
August 1951. Off Korea. Naval Airman J Davies of Birmingham loads the cannon of a Sea Fury aircraft with 20mm shells before the next flight takes off from HMS Glory. Note the airman’s sandals and the Firefly in the background. IWM (A 31957)
On 26 September, Glory handed over her station to the arriving Australian Majestic-class near-sister carrier HMAS Sydney (ex-HMS Terrible) and made for Kure, where she spent four days cross-decking her Fireflies and most of the air stores to the Ozzie flattop.
25 September 1951, on board the light fleet carrier HMS Glory, operating in Korean waters shortly before her relief by HMAS Sydney. Sea Fury aircraft of 804 Squadron flying past the carrier’s island before landing after accomplishing their last strike mission of their first Korean deployment. IWM (A 31982)
September 1951. Two aircraft carriers, HMAS Sydney (left) and HMS Glory, side by side in dock. The flight decks of both carriers are packed with aircraft whose wings are folded up. The Sydney is carrying Hawker Sea Fury and Fairey Firefly aircraft of Nos. 805, 808, and 817 Squadrons, 20th Carrier Air Group, RAN Fleet Air Arm. (Original print housed in P run in AWM Archive Store) AWM P01838.005
Glory then sailed for Hong Kong for a four-month refit and much-needed R&R for her crew and squadrons.
Thus refreshed, Glory relived Sydney and began her second tour off Korea on 27th January 1952, and would continue it until 5 May, conducting five patrols.
April 1952. Off Korea. A Stork perched on the wing of an aircraft in HMS Glory. IWM (A 32115)
Glory left the area on 29 April and headed for Sasebo, where she de-ammunitioned. On 1 May, she sailed for Hong Kong and turned over to her sister HMS Ocean on the 3rd. This wrapped the 14th CAG’s war.
When Glory started her third tour (8 November 1952 to 19 May 1953) for a further 11 patrols, she did so with a new air group as the 14th CAG had been disbanded. She also carried an RN helicopter C-SAR det rather than having to go with a loaner from the USN.
From the Small Wars Journal:
When Glory returned in November 1952 to the Korean theatre, she had embarked two independent squadrons, in place of 14th CAG, these being No.801 squadron, flying Sea Furies, and No.821 Squadron flying Fireflies. She rendezvoused with Ocean on 4th November, and participated in exercise Taipan, the defense of Hong Kong, at the end of which, she embarked five Sea Furies, three Fireflies, and two Dragonfly helicopters from Ocean, along with some pilots. The Fireflies were modified for operational work by having HF radio and ASH radar removed, and a fuel tank fitted in place of the radar nacelle. A map box was fitted in place of the pilot’s PPI mounting. A Sten gun was carried, in case of an emergency landing in enemy territory, and the observer had an R/T press-to-transmit switch fitted in the rear cockpit, so he could warn of approaching hostile aircraft. The white spinners were painted grey.
On 6th November, Glory sailed for Sasebo and arrived on the 9th, embarking stores and fuel, before leaving for the operational area the next day.
HMS Glory with Sea Fury FB.IIs of 801 NAS and Firefly AS.5s of 821 NAS (Firefly AS.5) embarked Korea, winter of 1952-53.
HMS Glory and a Town-class cruiser, probably HMS Birmingham, during the Korean War, circa winter 1952-53. A Dragonfly helicopter is approaching the cruiser’s stern. IWM (A 31911)
Across her three tours, Glory lost 22 aircraft destroyed or damaged beyond repair. These included one of the ship’s SAR Dragonfly helicopter and crew on 16 December 1952, when it was caught in a crosswind on the flight deck and, despite a snatch takeoff, it toppled into the sea, taking its two-man crew to the bottom.
She suffered no fewer than 20 Air Crew Casualties during the war:
Lieutenant E.P.L. Stephenson, 26 April, 1951.(804 Squadron)
Aircrewman G.B. Wells, 28 June 1951 (812 Squadron)
Lieutenant R. Williams, 16 July 1951 (812 Squadron)
Sub-Lieutenant I.R. Shepley, 16 July 1951 (812 Squadron)
Commissioned Pilot T. Sparke, 18 July 1951 (804 Squadron)
Sub-Lieutenant R.G.A. Davey, 22 July 1951 (812 Squadron)
Lieutenant R.J. Overton, 15 March 1952 (804 Squadron)
Lieutenant R. Neville-Jones, 18 November, 1952 (801 Squadra)
Lieutenant A.P. Daniels, 16 December 1952, SAR helicopter crew
Aircrewman E.R. Ripley, 16 December 1952, SAR helicopter crew
Lieutenant P.G. Fogden, 20 December 1952 (821 Squadron)
Lieutenant R.E. Barrett, 25 December 1952 (821 Squadron)
Sub-Lieutenant B.E. Rayner, 5 January 1953 (801 Squadron)
Sub-Lieutenant J.M. Simmonds, 5 January 1953 (801 Squadron)
Lieutenant C.A. MacPherson, 11 February 1953 (801 Squadron)
Sub-Lieutenant R.D. Bradley, 11 February 1953 (801 Squadron)
Lieutenant J.T. McGregor, 25 April 1953 (801 Squadron)
Sub-Lieutenant W.J.B. Keates, 25 April 1953 (801 Squadron)
Glory also had one of her aircrew captured, 801 Squadron’s Lieutenant (E)(A/E/)(P) Derek Graham Mather, shot down during an attack on the bridges near Chaeyoung on 5 January 1953.
“We had some secondary targets, one of which was another bridge. I led the second attack in — they were waiting for us. It was a flak trap. I released my bombs, and suddenly there was a bang from a 76mm shell,” noted Mather, who managed to escape his shattered Sea Fury only to be met in the snow by a waiting Chinese patrol.
During her three tours in Korean waters, Glory had spent 530 days at sea and had steamed 157,000 miles. The period included 15 months of war service and 316 days in Korean waters. An impressive 9,064 operational sorties (7,388 offensive and 1,676 defensive) had been flown with 13,070 flights made in total when non-combat missions were logged.
Across those three tours, Glory and her squadrons had expanded:
278 1,000-pound bombs
7,080 500-pound bombs
24,238 60-pound rockets
20 depth charges
1,441,000 20mm shells
Targets destroyed included 712 buildings, 33 road bridges, 37 rail bridges, and 162 railway lines cut.
In recognition of her service, Glory was authorized the battle honor “Korea 1950-53” while her crew and CAG accumulated six DSOs, 20 DSCs, two CBEs, two OBEs, three MBEs, eight BEMs, a Queen’s Commendation (PoW), and 33 Mentions in Despatches.
July 1953. A Sikorsky Dragonfly helicopter, operating from Malta, hovers over HMS Glory when she called in at Malta on her way to the UK. The broken plate gives a pleasing frog skin camo effect. IWM (A 32604)
Throughout the war, Commonwealth-manned Colossus and Majestic-class light carriers endured off the coast– the Admiralty tasking them rather than larger flattops to save money– with Glory being replaced by HMS Ocean and HMAS Sydney, while the Canadian-manned HMCS Warrior transported replacement aircraft from Britain.
In all, FAA and RAN pilots flew at least 25,366 combat sorties from these budget light carriers during the Korean conflict– with Glory alone accounting for 36 percent of these by herself.
Continued Cold War service
By 1954, the Royal Navy had been reduced to 139,000 billets, down from 153,000 seen at the end of the Korean War the year prior, and was targeted to be reduced to just 133,000 by 1955. The signs of things to come!
The number of Glory’s sisters in RN service had greatly decreased. Venerable, renamed Karel Doorman, had been sold to the Netherlands in 1948. Colossus, renamed Arromanches, was sold to France in 1951. Vengeance was lent to the Australians in early 1953. Half-sister ferry carriers Perseus and Pioneer were on the bubble, with the latter slated to be scrapped that year.
This just left Glory, Ocean, Theseus, Triumph, and Warrior in RN service, as listed in Jane’s 1954-55 volume, as seen below.
The Brits still had a very significant carrier force headed into the rest of the Cold War, with the 46,000-ton sisters HMS Ark Royal and Eagle, the twin 33,000-ton armored carriers Implacable and Indefatigable of WWII fame, the 29,000-ton Indomitable, the 32,000-ton Illustrious, the 30,000-ton Victorious (then being refit with an angled flight deck), the four 20,000-ton Hermes class sisters (Hermes, Albion, Bulwark, and Centaur), the 19,000-ton Hercules and Leviathan, plus our five Glory and two ferry carriers (Perseus and Unicorn).
That’s 20 flattops, which are a lot of flattops by any standard!
Taken in hand with Britain’s last battlewagon, HMS Vanguard, still in service as flagship of the Home Fleet, her four mothballed KGVs (Anson, Howe, Duke of York, and King George V), and two laid up monitors (Abercrombie and Roberts), and you could mistake the RN as the world’s second largest fleet in the world at the time.
Silhouettes as per the 1954 Jane’s:
Of course, all was subject to change, and many of the above were laid up or pending disposal or transfer.
Following a post-Korea refit in Rosyth, Glory went back to the Med for another round of flying exercises and flag-showing visits before returning to Portsmouth in February 1954.
Glory in the Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta, in January 1954
That saw the end of the Glory’s flying as she now became a ferry carrier, making a trip out to the Far East, again dropping off and picking up men and supplies en route, spending a few hours on a mud bank in the Great Bitter Lake on her way out there.
Shortly after her return, she took part in delivering relief supplies in Scotland during the blizzards of January 1955. The remainder of that year was spent in Rosyth before, in May 1956, leaving for Plymouth for a few weeks before she returned to Rosyth in June and was finally Paid Off.
In 1957, all preservation work was stopped, then after being on the disposal list for a time, the tugs arrived on 23 August 1961 to tow her to Inverkeithing to be broken up.
Tugs pulling HMS Glory, Colossus aircraft carrier, to the breakers in Inverkeithing, August 23 1961
By 1960, the RN had drawn down to 102,000 officers and men and had no battleships or monitors and just nine carriers of all types (Ark Royal, Eagle, Hermes, Albion, Bulwark, Centaur, Magnificent, Victorious, and Leviathan), with only about half considered active fleet carriers.
The last of her Glory’s sisters in the Royal Navy, Triumph, was kept around as a repair ship until 1975, then scrapped.
The final vessel of her class sent to the breakers, the third-hand ex-HMS/HMAS Vengeance/ex-NAeL Minas Gerais, was sold for scrap by the Brazilian owners in 2004, torched to man-portable pieces on the beach at Alang.
Of Glory’s WWII and Korean War squadrons, 837 NAS disbanded in 1947, 1831 NAS in 1982, 804 NAS in 1961, 812 NAS in 1956, 821 NAS in 1953, and 801 NAS in 2007, the latter flying Harriers in the Falklands.
In the early 1960s, when Glory was being decommissioned, Lord Mountbatten, Chief of the British Defence Forces and Admiral of the Fleet, allowed the ship’s 1944-marked brass bell to be taken by Mr. F C Wilkins CB, a retiree of the RN who had served for 47 years. It, along with its clapper, marlinspike bell rope, plaque, and a WWII flown ensign, now resides in the collection of the Australian War Memorial.
The IWM contains a collection of interviews with past members of Glory’s crew, of which at least 21 are available to listen to online.
Her WWII skipper, RADM Anthony Wass Buzzard DSO, OBE, RN, retired in 1951, capping a 29-year career. He passed away in 1972, at age 69.
The aviator lost as a POW during Korea, Sea Fury driver Derek Graham “Pug” Mather, underwent brutal mistreatment over nine months as a Chinese prisoner, including attempted brainwashing, but was eventually released post-cease fire and returned to service, on Glory— welcomed back aboard by a Royal Marines band– in January 1954. Converting to helicopters, he did an exchange tour with the USN, served aboard the commando carrier HMS Albion, and retired as a captain in 1969 with his last post as Director of the Air Engineering School at HMS Daedalus in RNAS Lee-on-Solent. On retirement, he spent 10 years with Marconi Underwater Systems, then assumed charitable work as a hospital driver and domestic governor of the King William IV Naval Foundation Cottages. Pug passed in 2007, aged 79, leaving two daughters and two sons.
Sadly, the Admiralty’s naval list has not been graced with a “Glory” since 1961.
Thanks for reading!
Meminisse est ad Vivificandum – To Remember is to Keep Alive
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