Empire Cruise: The Special Service Squadron, 1923-24

Description

In November 1923 the Royal Navy dispatched what was named the Special Service Squadron on a ten-month tour around the British Empire. Led by the battlecruiser HMS 'Hood', the pride of the Royal Navy and, at the time, the largest ship in the world, and including the battlecruiser 'Renown' and the First Light Cruiser Squadron, the role of the Special Service Squadron was to 'show the flag' in a public relations exercise and to strengthen ties across the Empire. Much publicised, the cruise served as a subtle reminder that in the aftermath of the Great War, Britannia still ruled the waves. This book charts the situation faced by Great Britain and the Royal Navy in the years immediately after the Great War, and details the origins of the cruise before charting the course of the expedition.

Daniel Knowles graduated from the University of Northumbria with an Honours degree in history and politics and is part of a new generation of historians. His previous works have been the critically acclaimed Tirpitz: The Life and Death of Germany's Last Great Battleship (2018), HMS Hood: Pride of the Royal Navy (2019), The Battle of the Denmark Strait (2020) and Yamato: Flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy (2021). He resides in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.