HMS Glowworm (H92)

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HMS Glowworm (H92) was a G-class destroyer laid down by John I. Thornycroft and Company at Woolston in Southampton on 15 August 1934, launched on 22 July 1935 and completed on 22 January 1936.

On the morning of 8 April 1940 Glowworm encountered a German naval detachment, led by the Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper, on its way to landing invasion troops at Trondheim as part of the German occupation of Norway (Operation Weserübung). Although hopelessly outgunned, Glowworm accepted the fight and, while receiving several heavy hits, fired torpedos at the German cruiser. They missed, and in a final desperate effort to sink or at least seriously damage her opponent, Glowworm then attempted to ram Admiral Hipper. As the ships collided, Admiral Hipper suffered major damage to her bow. Glowworm was pushed under the cruiser's bow and her entire foreship up to the bridge was sheered off. For several minutes she drifted, on fire, alongside Admiral Hipper, then capsized and sank north-west of Trondheim. Only 31 of her crew survived.

Her commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope, killed when Glowworm sank, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, thus becoming the first VC winner of the Second World War. It is noteworthy that he received this honor in part due to the recommendation of his opponent, Captain Hellmuth Heye of the Admiral Hipper, who wrote via the Red Cross to the British authorities giving a statement of the valiant courage LtCdr Roope had shown when engaging a much superior ship in close battle.

See HMS Glowworm for other ships of this name.de:HMS Glowworm (H92)