Early career Glowworm was ordered from the yards of
John I. Thornycroft and Company, at
Woolston, Hampshire on 5 March 1934 under the 1933 Construction Programme. She was laid down on 15 August 1934 and launched on 22 July 1935. She was completed on 22 January 1936 at a total cost of £248,785, excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament. Upon commissioning she was assigned to the
1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet. Between 10 August and 9 September 1936, together with , she escorted the
yacht Nahlin as
King Edward VIII cruised the eastern Mediterranean.
Glowworm patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War, enforcing the edicts of the
Non-Intervention Committee until she had a refit at
Portsmouth between 27 May and 8 June 1937. The ship returned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean after her brief refit.
Glowworm returned to Portsmouth for a longer overhaul between 7 June and 25 July 1938 and escorted the
ocean liner SS
Strathnaver between Malta and Alexandria during the
Munich Crisis in September 1938. She then escorted the on her voyage to
Aden later that month. During night exercises on 16 May 1939,
Glowworm collided with her
sister, and was forced to put into
Alexandria for temporary repairs. She received permanent repairs in Malta between 23 May and 24 June.
Glowworm was in Alexandria when the
Second World War began in September 1939. In October the flotilla was transferred to the
Western Approaches Command and
Glowworm sailed for Britain on 19 October with her sisters ,
Grafton, and . They arrived at
Plymouth on 22 October and were deployed in the
South Western Approaches.
Glowworm carried out convoy escort duties and anti-submarine patrols until 12 November when she was transferred to the 22nd Destroyer Flotilla, based at
Harwich, for
North Sea patrol and escort duties. On 22 February 1940 she was hit by the Swedish ship
Rex in fog whilst at anchor off Outer Dowsing.
Glowworm suffered significant structural damage and was under repair at a commercial dockyard in
Hull until late March. On completion of the repairs, she was transferred back to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla of the
Home Fleet, rejoining the flotilla at its base at
Scapa Flow on 20 March. On 5 April
Glowworm was part of the escort of the
battlecruiser , along with the destroyers
Greyhound, , and . The ships covered the mine laying operation in Norwegian waters,
Operation Wilfred. On 7 April,
Glowworm was detached from the task force to search for a man lost overboard.
Admiral Hipper On the morning of 8 April 1940
Glowworm was on her way to rejoin
Renown when she encountered the German destroyers and in the thick fog before 8:00 a.m. The destroyers were part of a German naval detachment, led by the heavy cruiser , on its way to land troops at
Trondheim as part of
Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of
Norway.
Glowworm opened fire and the German destroyers attempted to disengage, signalling for help. The request was soon answered by
Admiral Hipper and
Glowworm was spotted at 09:50.
Hipper had difficulty in distinguishing
Glowworm from
von Arnim but opened fire eight minutes later at a range of with the main armament.
Glowworm was hit by
Hippers fourth
salvo and she made
smoke and turned into it but the cruiser's radar-directed guns were not affected by the smoke. When the destroyer emerged from the smoke the range was short enough for the cruiser's guns to open fire.
Glowworms radio room,
bridge, and forward 4.7-inch gun were destroyed and she received more hits in the engine room, the captain's day cabin and the mast. As the mast fell it caused a short circuit of the wiring and the ship's siren turned on. At 10:10,
Lieutenant Commander Gerard Roope fired five torpedoes from one mounting at a range of . The torpedoes missed because Captain
Hellmuth Heye had kept
Hippers bow pointed at
Glowworm to minimize the risk from torpedoes. The destroyer fell back through her smokescreen to buy time to get her second torpedo mount working but Heye followed
Glowworm to finish her off before she could fire the rest of her torpedoes. The two ships were very close when
Hipper emerged from the smoke, and Roope ordered a hard turn to starboard to ram the cruiser.
Hipper was slow to answer her
helm and
Glowworm struck the cruiser just abaft of the anchor. The collision broke off
Glowworms bow and the rest of the ship scraped along
Hippers side, gouging several holes in the cruiser's hull, destroying her forward starboard torpedo mounting, and one of her sailors was lost overboard.
Hipper took on some of water before the leaks could be isolated but was not seriously damaged.
Glowworm was on fire when she drifted clear and her boilers exploded at 10:24, taking 109 of her crew with her.
Rescue Admiral Hipper hove to and began to rescue survivors. The German sailor was not found but forty British sailors were recovered, although at least six later died of their wounds. The senior surviving officer, Lieutenant Ramsay, told his rescuers that neither the helm nor the emergency
steering was manned when the ships collided. German accounts only mention four torpedoes fired by
Glowworm but British accounts say all ten were fired. This was confirmed by photographic evidence taken after the collision showing empty torpedo tubes. Roope drowned when he could no longer hang on to a rope whilst being pulled up the side of the cruiser. ==Victoria Cross==