Carrier Glorious: The Life and Death of an Aircraft Carrier

John Winton

Apr 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Alex Wyndham

About this audiobook

The engrossing but tragic history of the Royal Navy's worst loss of World War Two. Ideal for fans of Jonathan Dimbleby, Max Hastings, and Craig L. Symonds. On 8th June 1940, the British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and her two destroyer escorts HMS Ardent and Acasta were sighted by the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst and her sister ship Gneisenau. In a brutal gun battle that lasted over an hour, all British ships were sunk and more than 1500 men lost their lives. Why had Glorious left the main troop convoy to proceed independently? Why was she so lightly protected? Why did British Intelligence give no warning that the German battlecruisers were close by? And why were the survivors left in freezing Arctic waters for three days before being picked up? Official documents do not answer these questions and so John Winton has drawn testimonies from men who served on Glorious in the pre-war days as well as her very few survivors to understand how this ship functioned both before and during the war, what happened on that fateful day, and why is there still so much secrecy surrounding this heart-rending event.

About the author

John Winton joined the Royal Navy in 1949 as a cadet and retired in 1963 as a Lieutenant-Commander. He is widely known as a novelist and historian of the sea. He died in 2001.

An Oxford University and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art graduate, Alex Wyndham has voiced everything from Apple iPad campaigns to fertilizer instructions. He's also starred in several BBC and HBO shows, including the Emmy Award-winning Little Dorrit and Rome, and in various films.