Unable to bring her guns effectively to bear while remaining with the convoy, Gurkha turned toward the attacking aircraft to improve her firing angles and draw the attack away from merchant ships. The aircraft concentrated on Gurkha and the rest of the force escaped, but the destroyer was lost. Later doctrine favoured keeping station and maintaining concentrated defensive fire, but those methods were not yet settled in the Norwegian campaign. Captain Philip Vian later regretted not intervening, while also recognising how hindsight shaped that judgement.
Notable Point · 25:59-27:57
HMS Gurkha exposed the uncertainty of early-war air defence
Gurkha's fatal charge toward attacking aircraft records how surface ships were still testing air-defence tactics in 1940.