HMS Glory (R62)

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Career

Laid down:	8 November 1942
Launched:	27 November 1943
Commissioned:	2 April 1945
Fate:	Scrapped 1961
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement:	13,400 tons
Length:	695 ft (211.8 m)
Beam:	80 ft (24.4 m)
Draught:	23.5 ft (7.2 m)
Propulsion:	Steam Turbines 4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, Parsons geared turbines
Speed:	25 knots
Complement:	1,300 (including air group)
Aircraft:	48

HMS Glory (R62) was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy laid down on 8 November 1942 by Stephen s at Govan. It was launched on 27 November 1943 by Lady Cynthia Brookes, wife of the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. The ship was commissioned on 2 April 1945, and left for the Pacific with an airwing of Barracudas and Corsairs. At Sydney, it joined the 11th Aircraft Carrier Squadron of the British Pacific Fleet as the war was ending. Glory came to Rabaul shortly thereafter on 6 September 1945 to accept the surrender of the Japanese garrison there.

After the surrender at Rabaul, Glory assisted in the retaking of Hong Kong, and then went to Australia and Canada in the British equivalent of Operation Magic Carpet. The ship returned to the United Kingdom in 1947 and was then placed in reserve. In November 1949, the ship was taken out of reserve and fully returned to service just over a year later in December 1950.

Glory then deployed to Korea in April 1951 for the first of three wartime deployments. The first deployment ended in September of that year, but Glory was back on station from January to May of 1952 and November 1952 to May 1953. After the very active service of the Korean War, Glory saw out 1954 as a ferry, troop carrier and helicopter base. 1956 saw the end of the ship's active career, as it was placed in reserve. In 1961, Glory was sold to an Inverkeithing scrap merchant.

See HMS Glory for other ships of this name.