80th Anniversary of VE Day
- DW25
- May 7
- 2 min read
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of VE Day, we wish to pay our own tribute to the bravery of so many in all the military services.
We particularly remember those who built, maintained and served on the ships and shore station whose names are proudly carried by our locomotives.
Ark Royal, Exeter, Hood, Glorious, Defiance and Hercules.
The four ships pictured all fought in the Second World War.
Lest We Forget
HMS Exeter
Fought along side HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles in the Battle of The River Plate in December 1939.
Her involvement in the Battle of the Java Sea resulted in severe damage causing her to retire from the battle.
Two days later, on the 1st March 1942, whilst attempting to escape the fast approaching Imperial Japanese Navy, she was sunk during the Second Battle of the Java sea, of the coast of Indonesia.
54 crew were killed during the sinking with the rescued crew being taken prisoner of war, where a quarter died in prisoner of war camps.
HMS Glorious
By early June 1940, a full evacuation, (Operation Alphabet) was ordered of British forces from Norway.
On the 8th June 1940,Glorious and her destroyer escorts, HMS Ardent and HMS Acasta were ambushed in the Norwegian sea.A fierce battle raged with the German destroyers, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the 3 British ships.
But numerous direct hits on Glorious caused catastrophic damage, resulting in her sinking.
Ardent and Acasta who stood strong, continuing to attack the German battleships after Glorious’s sinking, also were over powered and sunk.
The total loss of life from the 3 ships was 1519 men
HMS Ark Royal
On the 26th May 1941, a lone aircraft from Ark Royal located the Bismarck and kept watch, while the fleet,which included HMS Rodney, was mobilised to track her down and attack.
The battleship that had played a part in sinking of HMS Hood was sunk itself, on the morning of the 27th May.
Ark Royal was returning to Gilbrater when the suspected threat of German U-Boats attacks became reality, as the aircraft carrier was torpedoed,causing considerable damage to her hull, causing her to list.
Despite a sterling attempt to save the ship, Ark Royal capsized and sunk the next day on 14th November 1941, off the coast of Gilbrater, with the loss of one crew member.
HMS Hood
For 20 years after her commissioning in 1920, Hood was the largest battleship in the world, earning her the nickname “The Mighty Hood”.
In May 1941, Hood along with HMS Prince of Wales, was tasked with interception of the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugan,as they made their way to attack Atlantic convoys.
Hood came under concentrated attacks from both German ships, suffering immense damage from numerous direct strikes with fires and explosions, engulfing the decks
A final devastating explosion broke the back of Hood and she sank in just under 3 minutes, with the loss of 1415 crew and only 3 survivors.
