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Here at LSOZI, we take a break every Wednesday to explore the old steam/diesel navies from 1833 to 1954, profiling a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places.- Christopher Eger.

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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)
• Pilot 3 S.W.E. Ford, 5 June, 1951 (812 Squadron)
• Lieutenant J.H. Sharp, 28 June, 1951 (812 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.

Epilogue

The HMS Glory Association continues the ship’s legacy. 

Little remains of our subject.

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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