In 1923-24, HMS Hood and the Special Service Squadron sailed around the world on The Empire Cruise, visiting many ports of call in the countries which had fought together during the First World War. The Squadron departed Devonport on 27 November 1923 and headed for Sierra Leone.[1] The fleet would separate at various points of the cruise with the battleships passing through the Panama Canal, while some destroyers carried around Cape Horn.[1]
Cruise route
Ships involved[]
Battlecruiser HMS Hood at the Panama Canal Zone in July 1924
Taken by a plane from Naval Air Station, Pearl Harbor, while Hood was off Honolulu, Hawaii, on 12 June 1924
HMS Repulse taken on the `Cruise`
- Battlecruisers under Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Field -
- HMS Hood (Captain John Kim Thurm)
- HMS Repulse (Captain Henry Parker)
- Light cruisers under Rear Admiral Sir Hubert Brand
- HMS Delhi (Captain J Pipon)
- HMS Danae (Captain F Austin)
- HMS Dragon (Captain B Fairbairn)
- HMS Dauntless (Captain C Round-Turner)
- HMAS Adelaide
Ports of call[]
Africa and the Indian Ocean[]
The fleet sailed from HMNB Devonport on 27 November 1923, and headed for Freetown, Sierra Leone. Whereupon the fleet was greeted by the Governor of Sierra Leone. Food and provisions were taken aboard after the journey of 2805 miles.[1] The ships then sailed to Cape Town and arrived 22 December, adding a further 3,252 miles to the cruise distance. Some of the sailors and marines performed in a ceremonial march, to great fan fare.[1] The fleet sailed for a short visit to Mossell Bay, East London and Durban, where the fleet left South Africa on the 6th January 1924 for Zanzibar.[1] Upon port arrival in Zanzibar on 17 January the fleet was greeted by Sultan Khalifa Bin Harub, which now encompassed the regular ceremonial March Past. The total distance covered was 11,734 miles.[1]
- Sierra Leone
- Cape Town
- Durban
- Zanzibar
- Mombasa
- Dar-es-Salaam (Danae)
- Trincomalee
Far East[]
The fleet arrived for the far east tour in Port Swettenham 4 February, where the ship fired a 17 gun salute for the Sultan. The fleet also incurred is first fatality when a seaman died of Malaria, a local funeral was arranged. 10 February marked the arrival of the fleet at the important British Naval Base at Singapore.[1] In the same year of the cruise Singapore had been approved by the British Government to become the major British base in the far east with massive investment.
- Port Swettenham
- Singapore
Australia and New Zealand[]
- Fremantle
- Albany, Western Australia
- Adelaide
- Melbourne
- Hobart
- Jervis Bay
- Sydney (Adelaide joins)
- Brisbane, Wellington
- Sydney (2)
- Lyttleton
- Bluff (one ship)
- Dunedin (Dunedin)
- Auckland
Pacific[]
- Fiji
- Honolulu
West coast of Canada and the USA[]
- Vancouver/Victoria
- Esquimalt
- San Francisco
- Panama
- Colón, Panama
- Jamaica
- Callao
South America[]
- Valparaiso (Delhi, Danae)
- Talcahuano (Dauntless, Dragon)
- Punta Arenas (if necessary)
- Falkland Islands (if weather suits)
- Bahía Blanca (Dragon)
- Buenos Aires (Delhi, Danae)
- Montevideo (Dauntless, Dragon)
- Rio de Janeiro
East coast of Canada[]
- Newfoundland and Halifax, Nova Scotia
Africa[]
- Cape Verde
See also[]
- List of circumnavigations
References[]
External links[]
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