The third Acasta (H09), launched in 1929, was an A-class destroyer. She served in World War II and was sunk on 8 June 1940 in action against the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, while escorting the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious. Glorious and her other escort, HMS Ardent, were also sunk. Gerhard von Scharnhorst was a Prussian general. ... August von Gneisenau was a Prussian general. ... HMS Glorious was a warship of the Royal Navy. ... The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Ardent was launched on 26th June, 1929. ...

Acasta prooved to be a tough opponent for the larger German ships, laying smoke to hide Glorious and making repeated torpedo and gun attacks. She scored several gun hits and one torpedo hit on Scharnhorst, causing severe damage to the much larger German vessel. Acasta was finally sunk after roughly two hours of fighting; the battle flag of the Gneiseau was lowered to half mast and her crew brought to attention to honour the brave fight of the Acasta and her crew. The damage to the German vessels caused by Ardent and Acasta caused them to retire to Trondheim, allowing the safe passage of convoys carrying Allied troops from Norway. A torpedo in Rail terminology refers to a small explosive device strapped to the top of the rail to alert an approaching train of immediate danger ahead. ... USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a full broadside of nine 16/50 and six 5/38 guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 1 July 1984. ... County Sør-Trøndelag District Municipality NO-1601 Administrative centre Trondheim Mayor (2005) Rita Ottervik (A) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 258 342 km² 322 km² 0. ... Operation Alphabet was the evacuation, authorized on May 24, 1940, of British troops from the harbour of Narvik in northernmost Norway marking the success of Nazi Germanys Operation Weserübung of April 6 and the end of the British campaign in Norway during World War II. The evacuation was completed...

Although many of her crew survived to abandon the ship, due to communication errors the British were initially unaware of the sinking. In the end there was only a single survivor from Acasta; estimates place the number of sailors from Ardent, Acasta and Glorious lost to exposure at up to 800.

For other Royal Navy ships named HMS Ardent, see the disambiguation page. HMS Acasta was a 40 gun, 18 pounder frigate of the napolionic wars. ...

External Links

• An excellent summary of the battle leading to Acasta's sinking
• Technical specs and pictures of HMS Acasta