HMS Glorious

Glorious after her conversion into an aircraft carrier
History
United Kingdom
Name	Glorious
Ordered	14 March 1915
Builder	Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Cost	£1,967,223
Yard number	482–484
Laid down	1 May 1915
Launched	20 April 1916
Completed	31 December 1916
Commissioned	January 1917
Reclassified	Converted to aircraft carrier, 1924–1930
Identification	Pennant number: 77
Nickname(s)	Laborious
Fate	Sunk by Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, 8 June 1940
General characteristics (as battlecruiser)
Class and type	Courageous-class battlecruiser
Displacement	19,180 long tons (19,488 t) normal 22,360 long tons (22,719 t) (deep load)
Length	786 ft 9 in (239.8 m) (o/a)
Beam	81 ft (24.7 m)
Draught	25 ft 10 in (7.9 m)
Installed power	18 Yarrow boilers 90,000 shp (67,113 kW)
Propulsion	4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbines
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	842 officers and men
Armament	2 × twin 15 in (381 mm) guns 6 × triple 4 in (102 mm) guns 2 × single 3 in (76 mm) AA guns 2 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 2–3 in (51–76 mm) Decks: .75–3 in (19–76 mm) Barbettes: 3–7 in (76–178 mm) Turrets: 7–9 in (178–229 mm) Conning tower: 10 in (254 mm)
General characteristics (as aircraft carrier)
Class and type	Courageous-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	24,970 long tons (25,370 t) (normal) 27,419 long tons (27,859 t) (deep load)
Length	735 ft 1.5 in (224.1 m) (p/p) 786 ft 9 in (239.8 m) (o/a)
Beam	90 ft 6 in (27.6 m) (at waterline)
Draught	27.75 ft (8.5 m)
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	5,860 nmi (10,850 km; 6,740 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	793 + 490 air group (1931)
Armament	16 × single 4.7 in (120 mm) DP guns
Armour	Belt: 2–3 in (51–76 mm) Decks: .75–1 in (19–25 mm) Bulkhead: 2–3 in (51–76 mm)
Aircraft carried	48

HMS Glorious was the second of the three Courageous-class battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by the First Sea Lord, Lord Fisher, they were relatively lightly armed and armoured. Glorious was completed in late 1916 and spent the war patrolling the North Sea. She participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917 and was present when the German High Seas Fleet surrendered a year later.

Glorious was paid off after the war, but was rebuilt as an aircraft carrier during the late 1920s. She could carry 30 per cent more aircraft than her half-sister Furious which had a similar tonnage. After re-commissioning in 1930, she spent most of her career operating in the Mediterranean Sea. After the start of the Second World War in 1939, Glorious spent the rest of the year unsuccessfully hunting for the commerce-raiding German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in the Indian Ocean before returning to the Mediterranean. She was recalled home in April 1940 to support operations in Norway. While evacuating British aircraft from Norway in June, the ship was sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the North Sea with the loss of over 1,200 lives.