World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

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.

Light Cruiser Gloire Interactive Map

Photographs

Gloire Operational Timeline