HMS Gloucester (62)

The ship was transferred to the 7th Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria, Egypt, in May 1940.[13] A few days after Italy joined the war on 10 June, Gloucester and her sister ship, Liverpool, bombarded Tobruk, Libya, sinking a small auxiliary minesweeper on the 12th. Several weeks later, the 7th CS was covering several convoys to and from Malta when British Short Sunderland flying boats spotted an Italian convoy on the 28th. The squadron was ordered to intercept and sank the destroyer Espero with a prodigious expenditure of ammunition.[15]

On 7 July, the Mediterranean Fleet sortied to cover more Malta convoys, but they were spotted by the Italians that evening. The next day, a bomb dropped by Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers struck the ship's bridge, killing 18 crew members instantly, including the captain.[16] As a result of the attack, the ship could not be steered from the bridge and was uncontrolled for a time before the aft steering position could take over. Despite an inoperable bridge, the ship remained with the fleet and participated in the Battle of Calabria on the 9th, although she was ordered away from the battleline to escort the aircraft carrier Eagle.[17] Repairs were completed by the end of August when Gloucester, now assigned to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron, participated in Operation Hats. At the end of September, the ship ferried 1,200 troops to Malta, together with Liverpool. Gloucester spent most of the rest of the year escorting convoys to and from Greece and Malta, although she escorted the aircraft carrier Illustrious during the Battle of Taranto on 11 November and ferried troops to Piraeus, Greece, on the 17th.[18]

On 11 January 1941, while supporting Operation Excess (several coordinated convoys), Gloucester and sister ship Southampton came under attack from Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers from StG 2 while leaving Malta. Gloucester was hit by a 250-kilogram (550 lb) bomb which failed to explode after penetrating through five decks. Southampton was hit by at least two bombs and caught fire; heavily damaged and without power, the ship was scuttled by torpedoes from the light cruiser Orion.[19]

On 27 March, Gloucester, now reassigned to the 7th CS, departed Piraeus bound for Souda Bay, Crete as part of Vice-Admiral Andrew Cunningham's plan to trap and destroy a large portion of the Italian Fleet which was at sea in an attempt to intercept British convoys operating between Greece and Egypt. British signals intelligence had revealed the Italian plan and Cunningham attempted to consolidate his ships, but was delayed and missed his rendezvous with the 7th CS scheduled for the following morning. The Italians located the squadron first and the 3rd Cruiser Division with three heavy cruisers, escorted by three destroyers, opened fire at 08:12 at very long range. Only Gloucester returned fire as the British attempted to disengage, but the Italians followed, against orders, when Admiral Angelo Iachino recalled them at 08:55. The 7th CS turned around to observe the Italian manoeuvre and Iachino attempted to pincer the British cruisers between his 3rd Cruiser Division and his flagship, the battleship Vittorio Veneto. Although Vice-Admiral Henry Pridham-Wippell knew that the Italians had a battleship at sea, he was still caught by surprise when Vittorio Veneto opened fire at 10:55 at Orion. The 3rd Cruiser Division joined in shortly afterwards, but gunnery problems plagued the Italians and they scored no hits against their primary targets, Gloucester and Orion. The British ships laid smoke screens and turned south towards the main body of the Mediterranean Fleet. An unsuccessful attack by torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier Formidable persuaded Iachino to turn back at 11:40. The 7th CS was able to keep up the pursuit that afternoon after another torpedo bomber attack damaged the Vittorio Veneto at 15:20 and reduced her speed. A subsequent attack crippled the heavy cruiser Pola and Orion's radar picked up Pola, and the two other heavy cruisers that had been sent to her assistance, at 20:15. Cunningham's three battleships quickly sank all three heavy cruisers at point-blank range later that night.[20]

Photograph taken by a German airman recording the sinking of Gloucester off the coast of Crete, 22 May 1941

Gloucester repeatedly bombarded targets in Libya during April. After covering another convoy to Malta, the ship, together with the battleships Warspite, Valiant, and Barham, and various destroyers, attacked Tripoli harbour on the night of 20/21 April with some success. At the end of the month, the ship was briefly transferred to Force H at Gibraltar before escorting a convoy eastward to Malta and rejoining the Mediterranean Fleet in Operation Tiger in early May.[21]

To counter the German invasion of Crete, Cunningham split his fleet into several forces, which would act independently to intercept German sea transports. After German paratroopers landed on Crete on 20 May, Gloucester was assigned as the command ship of Force B and tasked with interdicting any efforts to reinforce the German forces on the island. Force B was ordered on a night patrol between Cape Elephonsi and Cape Matapan but encountered no enemies and joined up with Rear Admiral Rawlings' Force A1 on the morning of 21 May. A German and Italian convoy was sighted by allied reconnaissance later that day and Forces B, C and D were ordered to intercept and engage, with Force D making contact at 23:30.[22]

Force B again encountered no enemy naval vessels but came under attack from fifty "Stuka"s of VIII. Fliegerkorps at 06:30 on 22 May, as they returned westwards to rejoin Rawlings and Force A1. Gloucester and the light cruiser Fiji took damage from near misses. Force B made the rendezvous with Force A1 and Force D (Rear Admiral Irvine Glennie) at about 08:30 and the combined force was ordered to report on their levels of high-angle anti-aircraft ammunition at 09:30. Of the cruisers, Ajax had 40%, Orion 38%, Fiji 30%, Dido 25% and Gloucester only 18%. Ajax, Orion and Dido were ordered to return to Alexandria with Glennie's Force D to rearm but Gloucester and Fiji remained with Rawlings' Force A1.[23][24]

At 12:25 Force A1, stationed 20 to 30 miles west of Antikythera, received a request from Rear Admiral Edward Leigh Stuart King to support the damaged Naiad and the rest of his Force C. Force A1 headed east into the Kythira Strait, rendezvousing with Force C between 13:30 and 14:00. As the more senior admiral, King took command, with air attacks now inflicting damage on both forces. At 14:02 and 14:07 respectively, Fiji and Gloucester were detached to provide anti-aircraft support for the destroyers Kandahar and Kingston. The two destroyers having already been ordered to rescue the survivors of the destroyer Greyhound, which had been sunk at 13:50. Writing in despatches after the battle, Cunningham stated that King was unaware of the shortage of anti-aircraft ammunition in Fiji and Gloucester. At 14:13 King and Rawlings exchanged messages about the shortage of ammunition within both Force C and Force A1, with Rawlings expressing concern about the orders given to Gloucester and Fiji. Following this communication, King issued an order to recall both Gloucester and Fiji at 14:57.[23][25]

While in the Kythira Strait, about 14 miles (12 nmi; 23 km) north of Crete, Gloucester and Fiji were attacked by "Stuka"s of StG 2. Between 15:30 and 15:50, while attempting to rejoin Force A1, Gloucester was hit by several bombs and the decision was taken to leave her behind due to the air attacks.[23][26] Fiji, under heavy fire, dropped rafts as she passed Gloucester but was unable to stop and was herself sunk within a few hours.[27][28]

The 5th Destroyer Flotilla, led by Kelly, was dispatched to search for survivors of both the Gloucester and the Fiji in the evening but was diverted to bombard the Germans at Maleme airfield before reaching the search area.[29] Eventually the Germans picked up the survivors and brought them to Kythira. Of the 807 men aboard at the time of her sinking, only 85 survived to reach shore; two more subsequently died after being taken into captivity, one in 1941 and another in 1945.[30][31][note 2]

The circumstances of the sinking were featured by a BBC programme. According to this, the despatch of Gloucester, alone and low on fuel and anti-aircraft ammunition (less than 20% remaining), into danger was a "grievous error". Furthermore, the failure to attempt to rescue survivors after dark was "contrary to usual Navy practice". A survivor commented "The tradition in the Navy is that when a ship has sunk, a vessel is sent back to pick up survivors under cover of darkness. That did not happen and we do not know why. We were picked up by Germans."[1] On 30 May 1941, in a letter to the First Sea Lord, Sir Dudley Pound, Cunningham wrote, "The sending back of Gloucester and Fiji to the Greyhound was another grave error and cost us those two ships. They were practically out of ammunition but even had they been full up I think they would have gone. The Commanding Officer of Fiji told me that the air over Gloucester was black with planes."[32]

Following the loss of both Gloucester and Fiji to air attacks after their anti-aircraft ammunition was exhausted, all British cruisers were instructed not to allow their anti-aircraft ammunition reserves to fall below 40%.[33]

The ship's wreck is a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.[34] Amongst the crewmen lost was the former Southampton footballer Norman Catlin.[35][36]