COLOSSUS
Class Light Fleet Aircraft Carrier
ordered on
14th
March 1942
from Harland and Wolff at
Belfast
and laid down on 28th August that year.
The ship was
launched on 27th November 1943 as
the 13th RN ship to carry the name,
introduced in 1747 for a French
Prize (GLOIRE) and last
used for
the
Russian cruiser ASKOLD seized in 1918
and returned in 1920.Build was
completed
on
27
November
1944.
The
record of adoptions held in the Naval
Historical Branch, Ministry of Defence
shows the
ship
to have been
associated with the Employees
War Appeals Fund, but no
other
details of date are
given.
B
a t t l
e H o n o u r s
GLORIOUS
FIRST
OF JUNE 1794 - CALDER'S ACTION 1805
- GUADELOUPE
1810 - MARTINIQUE
1809 -
CHINA
1900 - DARDANELLES 1915
- KOREA
1950-53*
(*Awarded for
service with UN).
H
e r a l d i c D a
t a
Badge:
On a Field Blue, a demi-lion
erased Gold
holding
between the paws a sun in splendour
also
gold.
M
o t t o
Per
concordiam
Glory: 'Glory through unity'.
D e
t a i l s o
f W a r Service
1 9 4 4
November
Commissioned for trials.
17th
Build completion date and commenced
Acceptance Trials.
December
Acceptance
Trials.
Allocated for service
with British Pacific Fleet.
1
9 4 5
January
On completion commissioned for
service.
to
Worked-up in Home
waters with the Home Fleet.
April
Embarked 829 Squadron of
BARRACUDA and 1815 Squadron of CORSAIR
aircraft.
April
Flying
trials.
May
On completion of work-up
took passage to Australia to join British
warships under
to
USN command in Task
Force 37.
July
During passage in
Mediterranean took part in exercises with
Mediterranean Fleet.
(Note:
See WAR WITH JAPAN (HMSO), TASK
FORCE 57 by P
Smith, OPERATION
PACIFIC by E. Gray and
THE FORGOTTEN
FLEET by J Winton. for
details of
deployment of
RN ships under USN overall command.)
August
Passage
in Indian Ocean to Sydney.
15th
Joined BPF in Sydney.
Nominated for service
in Task Group 111.5 with HM Sloops HART
and
AMETHYST.
At
request of Australian Government BPF
assistance requested to assist with the
surrender and
containment of Japanese personnel.
September
Passage
to Solomon Islands.
6th
Surrender of Japanese forces in Bismarck
Archipelago and
New Guinea was
formally
accepted on board by the Australian
General Sturdee
at Rabaul.
S
u m m a r
y o f
P o s t W a r S e r
v i c e
HMS
GLORY was then deployed on trooping
duties and took
passage to
Manila
to embark
Prisoners
of War
for
passage to Esquimalt
in
Canada
where they were to return to UK.
Over
1,000 men were carried and
the
ship made three such trips, the first of
which was
completed
in November 1945. The ship remained
in
the BPF based at
Hong Kong
until returning
to UK
in 1947 when she Paid-off
and was reduced to
Reserve
status. She was
brought
forward from Reserve and recommisioned
in November 1950 for service
in the
Far
East
with
the British and Commonwealth ships
allocated for service with the UN off
Korea.
Apart
from a refit in
Australia in
1951 the ship remained in the Far East
until May 1952
when
she
returned
to
UK.
Whilst on foreign
service the
ship completed 12 periods
with the UN during which her
aircraft
made over 4,000 sorties in
support of military
operations.
After
arrival in UK
she joined
the
Home Fleet. Between 1953 and 1954
she visited
Barcelona
in September 1954 and
in January 1955
carried
fuel to Loch Eriboll
for
use
by naval helicopters
providing relief
supplies to isolated
communities
in
Scotland.
This
ship was Paid Off in 1956 and laid up at
Rosyth
before being placed on
the
Disposal List
in 1956.
A proposal that she be retained in service
for use as a
troop transport
was
not adopted and the ship remained at Rosyth
until put
on the
Disposal List in
1961.
After sale to TW Ward the ship
was towed to the breaker's yard
at Inverkeithing
for
demolition
on
23rd August 1961.