Naval Database

Gloucester, 1909
Type: Light Cruiser ; Armament 2 x 6" (M. XI) ; 10 x 4" (M VIII) ; 4 x 3 pdr ; 2 x 18 " TT
Launched : Oct 1909 ; Disposal date or year : 1921
Displacement: 4800 tons
Propulsion: 4 screws Complement: 411
Machinery notes: Machinery: Turbine, Parsons in all, 4 screws; except Curtis in Bristol, 2 screws. Boilers: 12 Yarrow, small tube. Designed H.P. 22,000 = 25 kts. Coal: normal 600 tons; maximum 1353 tons + 260 tons oil. ; Speed ; 25 knots ;
Notes:
30 Jan 1913 Re-commissioned at Devonport Aug 1914 Mediterrranean Station The First Gloucester was a Third Rate built as part of the great Commonwealth naval programme. She took part in an expedition against the Spanish in the West Indies early in her commission and was heavily involved in the Dutch Wars, gaining six battle honours. After an exceptional career, her end was equally spectacular.She was wrecked off Yarmouth in 1682 on the way to Leith, running aground due to a navigational error. Many of the crew were drowned, but among the survivors were His Royal Highness The Duke of York (laterKing James II) and John Churchill (later the Duke of Marlborough). The Fifth HMS Gloucester Launched: 1737 Built at: Sheerness Tonnage: 866 Armament: 50 Guns In1740, Captain Anson led a squadron of ships on a circumnavigation of the globe. One of the ships in the squadron was the fifth Gloucester. Having rounded Cape Horn and crossed the Pacific the ship was damaged in a storm near the island of Tinian off China in 1742, consequently Anson was forced to order the destruction of the ship by fire. The Sixth HMS Gloucester Launched: 1745 Built at: Rotherhithe Tonnage: 986 Armament: 50 Guns The sixth Gloucester had, within the first two years of her career, captured a Spanish and French vessel. On the 14th October 1747, as part of Admiral Hawkes squadron, she took part in the action against the French off Ushant. The Seventh HMS Gloucester Launched: 1812 Built at: Northfleet Tonnage: 1770 Armament: 74 Guns The high point of the seventh Gloucester’s career was to convey the Duke of Devonshire to St Petersburg in 1826 as Ambassador Extraordinary for the coronation of Czar Nicholas I. 8th HMS Gloucester Launched: 1909 Built at: Dalmuir Tonnage: 4,800 Armament: 2 x 6" & 10 x 4" The eighth Gloucester was one of a new generation of cruisers, well armed and with steam turbines producing a speed of 25 knots. She quickly established links with the City of Gloucester, displaying the city arms prominently on deck and having many natives of the city and county serving in her Ship’s Company. She was commissioned in October 1910 and paid her first visit to her adopted city in January 1911. A notorious gift of a pugnacious bull terrier by the name of Bounce was presented to the ship. At the outbreak of the First World War, 7 Aug 1914, Gloucester was in the Eastern Mediterranean and was sent to intercept the Breslau, a German light cruiser, and the Goeben, a battle cruiser. Gloucester achieved instant fame for her high speed pursuit although both the German ships managed to escape. At the end of 1914 she was transferred to the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow where she remained for the rest of the war and was amongst the fleet at the Battle of Jutland. The 9th HMS Gloucester The ninth Gloucester was launched by the Duchess of Gloucester and completed in January 1939. The ship was made Flagship of the 4th Cruiser Squadron attached to the East Indies Company. At the outbreak of war the ship was stationed in Simonstown until May 1940 when she joined the 7th Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean fleet based at Alexandria. In July 1940, soon after Italy declared war, Gloucester was damaged by an Italian air attack and her Commanding Officer, Captain F R Garside CBE, was killed. Between August 1940 and May 1941 the ship was involved in many actions and her battle honours bear witness to the achievements of the ship and explain the nickname, The Fighting ‘G’. In May 1941 the Royal Navy prevented any German sea-borne landing in force on the island of Crete. Immense losses were imposed upon the German transports which sailed from the overrun mainland of Greece itself, but the modern menace of the dive-bomber exacted a heavy toll from our ships, which in those days had little of the all-important air support. Dive-bombers destroyed both the Gloucester and the new cruiser Fiji on the same day – 22 May 1941. The RAF having been withdrawn, doubtless for good reasons, leaving our ships with only their own guns to defend themselves. Both fought fiercely until the end. In less than a year’s service in the Mediterranean, HMS Gloucester had won five battle honours and lost over 700 men, including two Commanding Officers. The Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham observed, "Thus went the gallant Gloucester. She had endured all things, and no ship had worked harder or had had more risky tasks. She had been hit by bombs more times than any other vessel, and had always come up smiling." Source: MOD