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Gloire file photo [27934]

Gloire

CountryFrance
Ship ClassLa Galissonnière-class Light Cruiser
BuilderForges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Lormont, France
Laid Down13 Nov 1933
Launched28 Sep 1935
Commissioned15 Nov 1937
Displacement7,600 tons standard; 9,120 tons full
Length587 feet
Beam57 feet
Draft17 feet
Machinery2-shaft Parsons single reduction geared turbines, 4 Indret boilers
Power Output84,000 shaft horsepower
Speed31 knots
Range7,000nm at 12 knots
Crew540
Armament3x3x155mm/55 guns, 4x2x90mm AA guns, 6x4x40mm guns, 2x2x550mm torpedo tubes
Armor105mm main belt, 30mm end bulkheads, 120mm sides, 38mm deck, 100mm turrets, 95mm conning tower
Aircraft2 Loire 130 flying boats
Catapult1

Contributor:

ww2dbaseGloire was commissioned into service in 1937. After a trip to French Indochina, she was made a member of 4th Cruiser Division in Jan 1939. She was refitted between Oct and Dec 1939. In Dec 1939, after the start of the European War, she escorted battleship Dunkerque as Dunkerque carried Banque de France's gold reserve to Canada. She escorted a Canadian troop convoy on the way back to France. She then conducted patrols in the Atlantic Ocean as a part of Vice Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul's Force de Raid squadron. When France surrendered to Germany in Jun 1940, she was at Algiers, French Algeria. In Jul 1940, she arrived in Toulon, France along with the rest of the 4th Cruiser Division to join the bulk of the French Navy. In Sep 1940, she departed Toulon for Libreville, French Equatorial Africa; en route, as British forces neared, while the rest of the division sped up to out run the British raiders, Gloire turned around due to machinery problems, sailing to Casablanca, Morocco instead. Between Apr and Jul 1941, she underwent a refit. In Nov 1942, when Germany moved into and occupied southern France (ie. Vichy France), Gloire joined the Allied forces. She was refitted at Philadelphia Navy Yard in Pennsylvania, United States starting in Feb 1943, removing aircraft installations and adding light anti-aircraft weapons. Once completed, she patrolled the Atlantic Ocean, based out of Dakar, French West Africa. In Jan 1944, she re-entered the Mediterranean Sea. In Feb 1944, she provided naval gunfire support in the Bay of Gaete area for the Allied landings at Anzio, Italy, firing 604 rounds. After refitting in Algiers, she supported the Operation Dragoon landings in southern France in Aug 1944, firing nearly 2,000 rounds. She would operated off the southern coast of France and off the Italian Riviera region for the remainder of the European War. After the war, she was deployed to French Indochina three times. She was decommissioned in 1955 and was scrapped in 1958.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: Oct 2018

Light Cruiser Gloire Interactive Map

Photographs

French cruiser Gloire, late 1930sGloire, Naples, Italy, 1944; her sailors were saluting King George VI as the vessel he was aboard passed by

Gloire Operational Timeline

13 Nov 1933 The keel of Gloire was laid down by Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde in Lormont, Aquitaine, France.
28 Sep 1935 Gloire was launched at the Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde shipyard in Lormont, Aquitaine, France.
15 Nov 1937 Gloire was commissioned into service.
18 Nov 1937 Gloire arrived in Brest, France.
1 Dec 1937 Gloire departed Brest, France.
16 Apr 1938 Gloire arrived in Brest, France.
4 Jul 1940 Gloire arrived in Toulon, France.
18 Sep 1940 HMS Cumberland deployed in pursuit of French warships Gloire, Georges Leygues and Montcalm with HM Australian Cruiser Australia (Note: These ships sailed from Dakar without detection. French ships were later intercepted by HM Cruisers Cornwall and Delhi. The cruiser Gloire was persuaded to go into Casablanca but the other ships went back to Dakar).
18 Sep 1940 Gloire departed Toulon, France for Libreville, French Equatorial Africa.
17 Sep 1942 The same Ascension Island-based US B-24 Liberator bomber that had attacked German submarines rescued survivors of sunken British troopship Laconia on the previous day attacked the submarines again, forcing U-506 to dive while 142 survivors were still on the deck; later in the day, French cruiser Gloire, sloop Annamite, and sloop Dumont d'Urville arrived to take on 415 Italian and 668 Allied survivors from the German submarines.
16 Jan 1944 Gloire entered the Mediterranean Sea.
27 Apr 1944 Gloire began a period of refitting at Algiers, Algeria.
17 Jun 1944 Gloire completed refitting at Algiers, Algeria.
15 Aug 1944 Gloire arrived off southern France in support of Operation Dragoon.
28 Aug 1944 Gloire completed its mission as a part of Operation Dragoon off southern France.
1 Feb 1955 Gloire was placed in reserve.
2 Jan 1958 Gloire was condemned for disposal.




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Event(s) Participated:
» Battle of Anzio
» Invasion of Southern France

Light Cruiser Gloire Photo Gallery
French cruiser Gloire, late 1930sGloire, Naples, Italy, 1944; her sailors were saluting King George VI as the vessel he was aboard passed by


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