EMPIRE CRUISE: The Special Service Squadron, 1923-24

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Examines the Special Service Squadron that the Royal Navy sent on a 10-month tour around the British Empire. Led by the battlecruiser HMS Hood -- the pride of the Royal Navy and the largest ship in the world at the time -- and comprising of the battlecruiser Renown and the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, the role of the Special Service Squadron was to show the flag during a public relations exercise and to strengthen ties across the empire. Much publicized, the cruise served as a subtle reminder that in the aftermath of WWI, Britannia still ruled the waves. Charts the situation faced by Great Britain and the Royal Navy in the years immediately after the war, detailing the origins of the cruise before charting the course of the expedition.