Title:HMS GLORIOUS: SCENES TAKEN DURING THE PRESENT COMMISSION JULY 1935 - MAY 1937 [Main Title]
Film Number:MGH 1471
Other titles:
Summary: Amateur film showing life on board HMS Glorious in the mid-1930s, after her conversion from a battlecruiser to an aircraft carrier; during this period, she was host to 802 Naval Air Squadron flying Hawker Nimrod and Hawker Osprey aircraft.
Description: HMS Glorious sets sail from Portsmouth, crew lined up on deck. Signalling. Aircraft landing on (caught by arrester wire). Bridge scenes (the bridge is open air). Sailors on deck during rough seas. HMS Glorious comes into harbour at Malta. Scenes on deck, including aircraft and deck elevator. Miscellaneous activities. Aftermath of deck accident: aircraft on deck with its nose pointing down and its tail in the air. Debris from an aircraft is lowered overboard into the sea. Another accident, this time to a floatplane stranded in the water; crewmen row out to assist the recovery (second large vessel also assists. Test firing of Glorious' guns: black bursts of smoke in the air. Loading of (practice) torpedo onto aircraft, followed by slow motion footage of the aircraft in flight launching the torpedo into the sea. Men row out to retrieve the torpedo, which is craned back on board. Preparation of further torpedos. Slow motion footage of aircarft take-offs; one aircraft plummets into the sea. Further take-offs, this time featuring the hydraulic deck catapults. More crash scenes: aircraft accident on deck, second aircraft retrieved from the sea. Brief shot of burning ship being doused with jets of water from small craft. Deck landings: two scenes showing landings in which the aircraft's undercarriage crumples. Views of fleet at sea (some shots here are poor quality). On board during a rough sea; water spills over deck. Pilots' briefing on deck. Large scale take-off of numerous aircraft; others are prepared. Views of ships alongside, including one which is discharging a large amount of smoke from its funnel. Diver climbs out of water in his diving suit with brass helmet. Ship's crew on deck giving "three cheers" and waving their caps. Scenes im Mediterranean port (Malta ?) - other warships visible. Out at sea; fast patrol craft passes. A large formation of aircraft fly past. Ship's wake. Ship's boat comes alongside and is winched aboard with its oarsmen. Rescue drills in the water; pilot (?) climbs apoard a doughnut-shaped life raft. In a hangar below deck, the sprinkler system is tested. Ship enters port. Final caption: "The End. Refreshments may be obtained outside".
Appended to the end is a short Felix the Cat cartoon, "Felix Follows the Swallows", made in 1925.
