Action of 8 April 1940

8 April 1940, Norwegian Sea, north-west of Trondheim

German victory; Glowworm sunk after ramming Admiral Hipper

The day before the invasion of Norway, the destroyer Glowworm had dropped behind Renown's force in a gale to look for a man washed overboard. In the morning she ran into German destroyers carrying troops for Trondheim and fought Bernd von Arnim, then Admiral Hipper came up. Lieutenant-Commander Gerard Roope laid smoke, fired his torpedoes, missed, and with his ship on fire turned and rammed the cruiser, tearing away 40 metres of her armour belt and her starboard torpedo tubes. Glowworm blew up soon after. Hipper stopped to pick up 40 survivors; Roope drowned as he was being hauled aboard. Her report was one of the first signs that a German invasion force was at sea. Roope's Victoria Cross was given after the war on the recommendation of Hipper's captain.