FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: HMS Glowworm ~ 08 April 2024

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[Kathy in Alaska]

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

HMS Glowworm
All info and photos from this website.

           

HMS Glowworm, (H92)  a 'G' class destroyer was launched on 22nd  July 1935. She weighed 1,345 tons. She was armed with four 4.7 inch guns; seven anti-aircraft/machine guns; ten 21 inch torpedo tubes and depth charges. She cost £300,000 to build and had a complement of 145. (Picture: Glowworm in 1936)

 

Her first peacetime duties were in the Mediterranean which included escort work at the time of the Spanish Civil War and the Munich Crisis. It seemed that  Glowworm was developing a habit of colliding with things in an uncanny similarity to her destiny, after she hit HMS Grenade, her sister ship, in May 1939, whilst on night exercises and the Swedish Ship Rex in February 1940. Both collisions resulting in her undertaking extensive damage repair.      (Picture: Glowworm at Alexandria after colliding with Grenade  in May 1939. Note the extensive damage.)

 

On 22nd July 1938 Lieutenant Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope was appointed in command of Glowworm. A competent career naval officer, well liked  and respected by his men. His ship's company called him 'Old Ardover', for his habit of altering course at a moment's notice and 'Rammer Roope' as a result of the events described above. At the Outbreak of World War Two, Glowworm was based at Harwich. On 5th April 1940 She left for the stormy waters of Norway as one of the escorts for the Battle Cruiser Renown, dispatched to intercept the expected German invasion force. (Picture: Glowworm in heavy seas)

On 6th April whilst screening a minelaying operation (Operation Wilfrid) off the coast of Norway, Glowworm, in heavy weather conditions, lost a man overboard. After seeking permission from the Renown, Lt Cdr Roope turned her around to look for him. After spending the day fruitlessly searching they gave up and attempted to rejoin the group. On the morning of  8th April Glowworm, still on her own, sighted a destroyer who when challenged, initially identified itself as Swedish. The destroyer was in fact German: Bernd Von Arnim, which began firing. The Glowworm promptly returned fire. Another German destroyer soon appeared: Paul Jakobi. Glowworm's fight against the odds had begun. Picture:  destroyer in the distance: Glowworm as photographed from the Hipper.

 

In the ensuing exchange Bernd Von Arnim, packed with invasion troops and Paul Jakobi, both turned and fled into a rain squall. Lt Cdr Roope guessed that they were trying to lead him on to their main force, but gave chase in an attempt to find the main German Invasion fleet, so he could report their position to the Admiralty. After emerging on the other side of the squall, Glowworm came face to face with the 10,000 ton German Heavy Cruiser Admiral Von Hipper, armed with eight 8 inch and twelve 4 inch guns. 

Picture (above) The Heavy Cruiser Admiral Von Hipper

 

Roope immediately ordered that the Glowworm make smoke and  for an enemy sighting signal to be sent. Using the cover of her smoke screen the Glowworm made two torpedo attacks. Firing a total of ten torpedoes. One missed the Hipper by yards but none found their mark. All this time Glowworm was taking crippling hits from the Hipper's big guns. Lt Cdr Roope then ordered a sharp turn to starboard and headed straight for the Hipper giving the famous order "Stand by to ram".

 

The Hipper, realising too late what was happening tried to turn and ram the Glowworm but was much too slow. Glowworm, all guns firing and siren wailing like a banshee, tore into the Hipper's starboard side. Striking her amidships, She tore away 100 feet of Hipper's armoured plating, damaging the starboard side torpedo tubes, killing one man at his gun and puncturing two fresh water tanks. Picture: (left) Glowworm on fire but still fighting

 

After ramming the Hipper, Glowworm drew clear. Although her decks were swept by a storm of fire from Hipper's 4.1 inch and close range weapons, she still managed to get off another salvo hitting Hipper at a range of 400 yards. The salvo came from the only gun on Glowworm still firing, commanded by Petty Officer Walter Scott. She was by then starting to sink. Her bows wrecked, a major fire raging amidships and all steam pressure lost, Roope gave the order to abandon ship. 

Picture: (above) Admiralty Artists Impression of Glowworm ramming the Hipper.

 

Lt Cdr Roope was seen on her keel talking to a Petty Officer, Townsend, about the fact that they wouldn't play cricket for a while again. He then went to open the sea cocks to sink her. As the Glowworm went down, men climbed onto her bow or dived into the stormy, freezing, oil covered water. As she slipped under, her siren which had been going all through the action, abruptly stopped causing a momentary eerie silence. Until her depth charges blew up, killing yet more men.    The Captain of the Hipper, Helmuth Heye, chivalrously stayed for over an hour picking up survivors. Picture: (left) Glowworm sinking  as  seen  through Hipper's gun sights

 

Heye positioned Hipper so that the current in the sea would bring the drifting survivors to him. All the personnel on deck, including the soldiers, helped to pull in the exhausted, oil covered survivors. Many grabbed ropes but were too exhausted to hold on to them and slipped to their deaths. Lt Cdr Roope was in the water helping his men to the ropes and to get life jackets on. Finally he took hold of a rope himself and was pulled some distance up the side. But with a combination of the huge waves and his exhaustion, he let go and slipped beneath the waves.

Out of a total crew of 149, only 31 survived. The only officer was Torpedo Control officer Lt. Robert Ramsey. The Germans congratulated the survivors on a good fight and treated them as equals. Captain Heye told the survivors that their Captain was a very brave man. Later Heye sent a message through the International Red cross, recommending Lt Cdr Roope for the Victoria Cross. The only time in British History that the VC was recommended by the enemy.

 

Picture: (above)  Survivors are pulled aboard the Hipper. The man in the water is believed to be Bert Harris. Below: Oil covered survivors board the Hipper from a Carley float.	Picture (above) German Sailors and soldiers haul survivors aboard. Note the oil blackened face of the survivor on the far left. Below: Captain Heye oversees the rescue on board the Hipper.

 

 

The Survivors spent the rest of the war as POWs. It was only after the war when they returned and Lt Ramsey told the story, that the events of that fateful day in April 1940 came to light. As a result of the gallant action Lt Cdr Roope was awarded the Victoria Cross; Lt Ramsey the Distinguished Service Order; and three other ratings got the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal; Engine Room Artificer Henry Gregg; Petty Officer Walter Scott and Able Seaman Reginald Merritt.
 

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission!

[radu]

I’m voting twice!! LOL I’m looking forward to seeing everything turn green up there and watching the seaplanes take off and land on water, not ice.

[The Mayor]

Yes Ma’am, we are in the path of the eclipse 3.5 minutes of dark, it should be fun for the kids.

Son is leaving on his move to North Carolina and my camper will be behind him soon.
Going down this trip to haul things and look around for a good spot.

Hope all is well with you, God Bless my friend

[radu]

I’m so jealous of all you folks who’ll be in the path of this one. You’ll have totality about twice as long as we did here seven years ago. It’s an incredible experience.

Be sure to lay a white or light-colored sheet underneath a tree where the sun casts the shadow on the ground. It’s pretty cool watching the shadow crescents change as the moon covers the sun. The kids should enjoy that as they wait for totality.

[radu]

Howdy, luvie.

How did your alarm fare this morning? LOL
Did the wind die down today?
It kicked up over here.

[Kathy in Alaska]

The views are stunning, and ever changing.

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant Eclipse Day morning and ((HUGS)) to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country.

Our neck of the woods I think is closest to the path of totality than anyone else here. It's going to be a fun day that's for sure. We also have a severe weather outlook later today for our area.

Yesterday at Comanche Lake:

And here is the severe weather outlook for today.

How's everyone doing today?

[radu]

They certainly are ever-changing. You never know what you’ll see. I check the cam several times every day.

[luvie]

Hey there, radu!

It was quite breezy but not blow-the-hair-off-your-head wild. It was somewhat cooler today until late afternoon, when it got up to 83; and now it’s 57. Not bad for early April.

So you had wind, too? How much “fun”. Did it get wild and crazy? Did you get that freeze last night and how are your flowering trees today?

[luvie]

Maybe?

[luvie]

Maybe?

[radu]

Howdy, E.G.C. ((HUGZ))

Wouldn’t it be great if the day ahead was going to be as pretty as yesterday? Crystal clear sky.
It doesn’t sound too promising for eclipse viewing. It won’t be great here, either, but we might catch views through breaks in the clouds.

I hope you and Gizmo get lucky again and don’t have anything worse than some lightning and thunder to contend with.

[radu]

It sounds like our wind was about the same. It had the trees swaying pretty much but it wasn’t too bad.
It was 78 when I woke up but clouds moved in a little later and backed it off to 74. A very pleasant day overall. I even opened a couple of windows a little, pollen be d***ed. LOL

The frost/freeze was night before and we did get a little frost. The blossoms survived pretty well though there’s a little frostbite on the petals. We’re in the clear now, at least for the next week.

[luvie]

Sometimes ya just need real air. Maybe the pollen has backed off a bit so it didn’t cause you to suffer to much?

I’ve been coughing all day. I’m sure it’s the result of the wind from this whole past week.

[radu]

I didn’t say I didn’t suffer. LOL I’m still blowing my nose quite a bit. But the pollen isn’t quite as bad as it’s been. Not nearly as much on the car these days but it’s still there, and it’ll be there the next several months.

As wet as it’s going to be this week, the pollen count will drop a lot.

[E.G.C.]

Yep, we’ll see what happens.

[radu]

Keeping all appendages crossed for luck for you and Giz.

[luvie]

What ever it takes to reduce the pollen, then it’s all good. Especially rain. Rain is nearly always a good thing.

I guess I’d better go. I am soooo sleepy. My alarm did survive, but I didn’t sleep well in anticipation of it going off, so I’m more that ready to close my eyes. See ya tomorrow!

[radu]

Rain in moderation is good. A LOT of rain is expected this week and that’s not so good. The ground is pretty saturated already. Tuesday and Wednesday will be washouts so I get a couple of things done tomorrow afternoon, in the dry.

So there’ll be a trade-off for less pollen.

No alarm in the morning to anticipate. :-) Sleep well. Catch ya tomorrow.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning, E...((HUGS))...Gizmo looks like he had a grand time yesterday at Comanche Lake. Lots of things to do and see.

My look at the eclipse is only a partial starting at 9:58a and ending 12:06pm.Today was sunny, so hoping the morning is too, so I can see a little of it.

You boys enjoy your day stay safe from any severe weather.

[beachn4fun]

Good morning, Canteen.

Good morning to our

Military, our Allies, and their families.

Thank you, Ma for preparing
the Canteen for today's activities.

Just a drive-by good morning too all.
and to read the interesting Glowworm history.

Come in and sit for a while.
There's always plenty of coffee, tea,
pancakes, conversation, silliness,
and plain old BS

REMEMBER THEM ~ DEFENDERS OF FREEDOM

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT

Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before.