History
of the Ship
Le "Gloire" is
the 5th of six light cruisers of the Class of the same name. Their
construction is close to that of their recent predecessor: Emile
Bertin. The construction of the first of these new cruisers began
only two months after Emile Bertin. However, the new ship show a
clear improvement over Emile Bertin, and they will be, for foreign
navies, a fine example of French excellence. Thus, the square prow,
favorable to the drag and their truncated stern will be found in
foreign naval constructions. The launch of the cruisers La Galissonnière,
Jean de Vienne, La Marseillaise, Glory, Montcalm and Georges Leygues
spread between 1933 and 1936 with launches between 1935 and 1937.
Compared with Emile Bertin, the protection and robustness of these
6 new ships was improved as well as stability. The anti-aircraft
artillery consisted of excellent 90mm guns, completed after 1941
by the addition of 7 pieces of smaller caliber. They had, moreover,
of a consequent aeronautical equipment with the boarding of two
loire 130 in vast hangars in the back of the ship. They were slower,
however, and had reliability problems with their Parsons turbines.
The cruiser Gloire was launched
September 28, 1935, and after tests, he returned to active service
November 15, 1937 in Brest. His first assignment was Indochina,
from where he returned on April 16, 1938. In January 1939, he joined
the 4th Cruise Divisions of the Atlantic Wing based in Brest. In
this unit, he finds two of his "brothers" Le Montcalm"
and "Georges-Leygues." He carries out missions in the
Atlantic then accompanies, December 13, 1939, the battleship "Dunkerque"
when it carries 100 tons of gold of the Bank of France to shelter
him in Halifax, Canada, and on his return, he will transport Canadian
troops, after which he will conduct patrols in the Raid Force, under
the command of the Vice - Admiral Marcel Gensoul.
The Armistice will surprise
the cruiser "Gloire" in the port of Algiers. The ship
will reach the port of Toulon with the force of Raid, early July.
The Government of Vichy sends,
in August 1940, the 4th Divisions of Crusaders in Dakar in order
to oppose the "attacks" of the Free French Frenzies. This
squadron joins the port of Dakar on September 14th after crossing
the Strait of Gibraltar. September 18th, the "Gloire"
is moving towards Libreville, in French Equatorial Africa which
joined the French Free Forces since August 26th. But two heavy British
cruisers intercept it, and "Gloire", probably a victim
of reliability problems of its boilers, fails to escape. He is forced
to follow his pursuers to the port of Casablanca. After having suffered
in this port, he will participate, in September 1942, in the rescue
of the survivors of the liner Laconia sunk by a German submarine.
After the Allies landed in
North Africa in November 1942, "Gloire" joined the Free
French Forces. With the 4th cruiser division, he left in February
1943, in the United States, Philadelphia to be modernized .. Until
January 1944, he patrols the Atlantic, then supports in February,
the landing troops in Italy. It enters fairing until June and participates
in the landing in Provence in August 1944. It will end the War by
attacking terrestrial objectives on the French and Italian coasts.
After the German capitulation,
he will carry out three campaigns in Indochina before being disarmed
in February 1955. He will finally be scrapped in January 1958.
