COLOSSUS Class Light Fleet Aircraft Carrier ordered on
14th March 1942
from Harland and Wolff at
Belfast and laid down on 28th August that year. The ship was
launched on 27th November 1943 as
the 13th RN ship to carry the name, introduced in 1747 for a French Prize (GLOIRE) and last
used for
the Russian cruiser ASKOLD seized in 1918 and returned in 1920.Build was completed
on
27
November
1944. The
record of adoptions held in the Naval Historical Branch, Ministry of Defence shows the
ship to have been
associated with the Employees
War Appeals Fund, but no
other details of date are
given.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
GLORIOUS
FIRST OF JUNE 1794 - CALDER'S ACTION 1805 - GUADELOUPE
1810 - MARTINIQUE
1809 -
CHINA
1900 - DARDANELLES 1915 - KOREA
1950-53*
(*Awarded for service with UN).
H e r a l d i c D a
t a
Badge: On a Field Blue, a demi-lion erased Gold
holding between the paws a sun in splendour
also gold.
M o t t o
Per concordiam
Glory: 'Glory through unity'.
D e t a i l s o
f W a r Service
1 9 4 4
November Commissioned for trials.
17th Build completion date and commenced
Acceptance Trials.
December Acceptance
Trials.
Allocated for service with British Pacific Fleet.
1 9 4 5
January On completion commissioned for
service.
to Worked-up in Home
waters with the Home Fleet.
April Embarked 829 Squadron of
BARRACUDA and 1815 Squadron of CORSAIR aircraft.
April Flying
trials.
May On completion of work-up
took passage to Australia to join British warships under
to USN command in Task
Force 37.
July During passage in
Mediterranean took part in exercises with Mediterranean Fleet.
(Note:
See WAR WITH JAPAN (HMSO), TASK FORCE 57 by P
Smith, OPERATION
PACIFIC by E. Gray and THE FORGOTTEN
FLEET by J Winton. for details of
deployment of RN ships under USN overall command.)
August Passage
in Indian Ocean to Sydney.
15th Joined BPF in Sydney.
Nominated for service in Task Group 111.5 with HM Sloops HART and
AMETHYST.
At
request of Australian Government BPF assistance requested to assist with the
surrender and containment of Japanese personnel.
September Passage
to Solomon Islands.
6th Surrender of Japanese forces in Bismarck Archipelago and
New Guinea was
formally accepted on board by the Australian General Sturdee at Rabaul.
S u m m a r y o f
P o s t W a r S e r v i c e
HMS GLORY was then deployed on trooping duties and took
passage to
Manila to embark
Prisoners of War
for passage to Esquimalt in
Canada where they were to return to UK.
Over 1,000 men were carried and
the ship made three such trips, the first of which was
completed in November 1945. The ship remained
in the BPF based at
Hong Kong
until returning to UK in 1947 when she Paid-off
and was reduced to
Reserve status. She was
brought forward from Reserve and recommisioned
in November 1950 for service
in the
Far East with
the British and Commonwealth ships allocated for service with the UN off
Korea. Apart from a refit in
Australia in 1951 the ship remained in the Far East
until May 1952
when she
returned to
UK. Whilst on
foreign service the
ship completed 12 periods
with the UN during which her
aircraft made over 4,000 sorties in
support of military
operations. After
arrival in UK she joined
the Home Fleet. Between 1953 and 1954
she visited Barcelona in September 1954 and
in January 1955
carried fuel to Loch
Eriboll for
use
by naval helicopters providing relief
supplies to isolated communities in
Scotland.
This ship was Paid Off in 1956 and laid up at
Rosyth before being placed on
the
Disposal List in 1956. A proposal that she be retained in service for use as
a troop transport
was
not adopted and the ship remained at Rosyth until put
on the
Disposal List in
1961. After sale to TW Ward the
ship was towed to the breaker's yard at
Inverkeithing for
demolition
on
23rd August 1961.
