Gurkha's loss and the problem of air-attack tactics

Gurkha entered the Norwegian campaign after patrol work that included sinking U-53 in company with the French destroyer Le Fantasque. During an attack off Norway, she altered course to improve her gun bearing and became isolated from the screen. A bomb hit aft, opened a large hole, flooded a magazine, and eventually led to her loss despite continued anti-aircraft fire. The captain made his decision amid the uncertainty of April 1940, when neither exercises nor previous convoy attacks had established a dependable response to massed bombing. Thirteen days later senior officers were already describing concentration and mutual support as the better defense, showing how quickly combat experience changed doctrine. Hindsight should not assign a ship's survival entirely to one captain's choice when evasive manoeuvres still depended heavily on chance.