President Eddie Fenech Adami yesterday presided over a memorial service and the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the Maritime Museum, in Vittoriosa, in remembrance of those who perished in the sinking of HMS Glorious and the escort destroyers Ardent and Acasta. The carrier and the two destroyers were surprised and sunk by two German battle cruisers - the Gneisnau and the Scharnhorst - in the early hours of June 8, 1940 as they left from Scapa Flow off the northeast coast of Scotland. A total of 1,531 sailors died, making it one of the major naval tragedies of World War II.

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