HMS Gloucester ( 62 ) HMS " Gloucester " was one of the second group of three ships of the " Town " class of light cruiser s . She was launched on 19 October 1937 prior to commissioning on 31 January 1939 . " Gloucester " was nicknamed " The Fighting G " and saw heavy service in the early years of World War II . The ship was deployed initially to the Indian Ocean and later South Africa before joining Vice Admiral Cunningham ' s Mediterranean fleet in 1940 . She was sunk on 22 May 1941 during the Battle of Crete with the loss of 722 men out of a crew of 807 . Service in the Indian Ocean and South Africa . On 7 April 1939 , " Gloucester " left Malta to take over the East Indies station as flagship of the 4th Cruiser Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Ralph Leathem . She spent much of that year patrolling the Indian Ocean . In December , she was moved to Simonstown , South Africa where she was used , unsuccessfully , against German raiders . Service in the Mediterranean . She was transferred again in May 1940 , this time to the Mediterranean , where she experienced plenty of action . On 7 July , she sailed from Alexandria bound for Malta with the rest of Vice Admiral Cunningham ' s fleet to take up convoy duty . The next day , an Italian air attack hit the ship ' s bridge killing 18 crew members instantly , including the Captain , F R Garside CBE , Commander J R D ' Aeth and Lieutenant Commanders Churchill and Lindsay . As a result of the attack , the ship could not be steered from the bridge and was uncontrolled for a time before Lieutenant Commander Reginald P Tanner took charge from the aft steering position . Despite an inoperable bridge , the ship remained with the fleet and saw action on 9 July in the Battle of Calabria . After the battle , the fleet joined up with the Allied convoys in Malta , before arriving back in Alexandria on 13 July . While repairs were carried out to the bridge in Alexandria the crew was introduced to their new Captain , Henry Aubrey Rowley DSO , and Lieutenant Commander Tanner was promoted to Commander . The second half of 1940 was spent in the eastern Mediterranean and in the Aegean . On 11 January 1941 , while supporting Operation Excess ( several coordinated convoys ) , " Gloucester " and leaving Malta . She and Southampton came under attack from Stuka dive bombers . " Gloucester " was hit by a bomb which failed to explode . " Southampton " was hit by at least two bombs south - east of Malta and caught fire ; the resulting blaze spread from stem to stern and trapped a number of men below decks . 81 men were killed with the survivors being picked up by " Gloucester " and . Heavily damaged and without power , " Southampton " was sunk by one torpedo from " Gloucester " and four from . In March , she was at the Battle of Matapan and , in April , performed several bombardments along the north African coast . One such mission took place on 21 April 1941 . Under the command of Admiral Cunningham , " Gloucester " , along with battleships , , and , and various destroyers , attacked Tripoli harbour . A second bomb hit caused minor damage . Sinking . " Gloucester " formed part of a naval force acting against German military transports to Crete , with some success . On 22 May 1941 , while in the Kithera Channel , about 14 miles ( 26 km ) north of Crete , she was attacked by German " Stuka " dive bomber s and sank , having sustained at least four heavy bomb hits and three near - misses . Of the 807 men aboard at the time of her sinking , only 85 survived . Her sinking is considered to be one of Britain ' s worst wartime naval disasters . The circumstances of the sinking were featured by a BBC programme . According to this , the despatch of " Gloucester " , alone and low on fuel and anti - aircraft ammunition ( less than 20 % remaining ) , into danger was a " grievous error " . Furthermore , the failure to attempt to rescue survivors after dark was " contrary to usual Navy practice " . A survivor commented " " The tradition in the Navy is that when a ship has sunk , a vessel is sent back to pick up survivors under cover of darkness . That did not happen and we do not know why . We were picked up by Germans . " " Another account of the sinking differs from , and adds to , the BBC report . In this , " Gloucester " and , both already low on ammunition , had been sent to support the rescue of survivors from the destroyer . Fierce air attacks further depleted their ammunition and they were given permission to rejoin the main fleet . It was during their return that " Gloucester " was sunk . " Fiji " was sunk later the same day . On 30 May 1941 , in a letter to the First Sea Lord , Sir Dudley Pound , Admiral Cunningham wrote , " The sending back of " Gloucester " and " Fiji " to the " Greyhound " was another grave error and cost us those two ships . They were practically out of ammunition but even had they been full up I think they would have gone . The Commanding Officer of " Fiji " told me that the air over " Gloucester " was black with planes . " The wrecksite is a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act . Amongst the crew was the former Southampton footballer Norman Catlin .