|
Northern ship sails South
AS Type 42 destroyer HMS Glasgow set off for the South Atlantic
in early November, this ship was returning to the scene of
one of her earliest adventures in her long Naval career.
The destroyer was the first British warship to enter the
Falkland Islands Exclusion Zone on May 1, 1982, as the incursion
of the Argentineans brought down the weight of the British
military in protection of the people of the Falkland Islands.
This period earnt HMS Glasgow her reputation as a lucky ship,
particularly for her miraculous escape when a bomb passed
clear through her engine room without exploding or causing
serious injury.
The destroyer had been operating in company with the frigate
HMS Brilliant when three waves of Argentinian aircraft flew
in to attack. A bomb entered Glasgow’s after-engine
room. It passed over the main machinery and out of the port
side, leaving a three-foot diameter hold on each side.
This potentially lethal event took Glasgow out of the war
zone for only three days for emergency repairs, before she
returned to the front and resumed her air defence role.
This turbulent time also saw Glasgow become the first Type
42 to land a Sea King on her flightdeck. The landing was
an emergency call, and short of fuel and in desperation the
Sea King landed on the destroyer’s tight flightdeck
with only three feet to spare between the helicopter’s
rotor tips and the ship’s hangar.
HMS Glasgow is now returning to the Falklands as part of
her deployment on Atlantic Patrol Task (South), which will
also see her visiting West Africa and South America in the
course of her duties.
As the new Type 45 destroyers begin to take shape in shipbuilding
yards across the UK, HMS Glasgow proves that even in the
twilight of her career she can still keep the White Ensign
flying around the globe.
The current HMS Glasgow is the eighth Royal Naval ship to
bear the name with a history that goes back to the early
1700s.
The first, a sixth rate, was originally named Royal Mary
in 1696 and part of the Scots Navy. But once the union of
England and Scotland was completed, the Scots ships became
part of the Royal Navy and with two Royal Marys on the books,
the Scottish ship was renamed Glasgow in 1707.
The second Glasgow was also a sixth rate, launched in Hull
in 1745 but for some reason her care was neglected and she
was laid up in need of extensive repairs in 1752 and sold
for scrap in 1756.
Hull also saw the birth of the third HMS Glasgow, another
sixth rate, in 1757. She was the first to accumulate battle
honours for the name in action against the French and Americans.
Her downfall was brought about by a steward making a private
raid on the rum store while she was anchored in Montego Bay,
Jamaica. Despite the best efforts of the crew, the third
Glasgow burnt to the waterline and was lost in June 1779.
The fourth ship to bear the name was a frigate built in 1814
to take on the US Navy’s ships and in the course of
the conflict she won a reputation as one of the best gunnery
ships in the Navy. She served her country well until being
broken up in Chatham in 1829.
The fifth Glasgow, a wood-screw frigate, was launched in
1861 but her career was not illustrious and she was sold
on in 1884.
The sixth Glasgow, a second class cruiser, was the first
to be built in Scotland and served through World War I, particularly
winning distinction in battle with Admiral Von Spee off the
Falkland Islands. She was eventually scrapped in 1927, but
her guns were returned to store and all saw service in World
War II.
The seventh Glasgow, a 9,100-ton cruiser commissioned in
1937, saw action in the various arenas of World War II and
continued her career until eventual scrapping in 1958.
(Ship of the Month November 2003)
Join Ship of the Month and receive a new postcard sized photograph
every month!
Each month Navy News looks at a different ship, her compliment,
armoury, propulsion and her recent activities. Join the many
subscribers who have been collecting Ship of the Month since
1969. more>
|
