HMS Hood moored at Pipitea Wharf, Wellington in 1924, painted by Ethel Richardson.
Gail Pope is social history curator at the MTG.
In 1923 the ‘Empire Cruise’, a goodwill navy tour, departed England, intended to strengthen imperial ties and act as a subtle reminder to all and sundry, that Britain still “rule[d] the waves”.
British Navy warships, HMS Hood and HMS Repulse, in company with vessels of the First Light Cruiser Squadron (which included HMS Dunedin, Delhi, Danae, and Dragon), were under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Field, and visited ports across Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Sir Field’s credentials were given as a “good golfer and marvellous conjurer”.
The reporter considered Field’s attributes a “weird combination” as he could “palm and pass and change the queen of spades into an easter egg”, as well as “guide a mighty squadron from [one] end of the world to the other”.
HMS Hood, known as Mighty Hood, was the crowd pleaser of the Empire Cruise, being the largest and most powerful warship afloat at the time. Measuring 860 feet in length (262m), with an assortment of armaments on board, consisting of 28 guns of varying sizes, five machine-guns and six torpedo tubes. The crew numbered 1,433 and the vessels’ speed could reach 32 knots per hour.
In the Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust collection this charming painting, by Aotearoa artist Ethel Richardson, depicts HMS Hood moored at Pipitea Wharf, Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, sometime between April 26 - May 8, 1924.
The visit to Wellington proved a tremendous success. Most afternoons the squadron was placed on ‘at home’ status, which meant the warships were open to receive visitors including officials, school groups and the general public.
Throughout the Te Whanganui-a-Tara visit, crew and officers were regaled throughout town, treated to formal dinners, parades, and sports events in which crew members energetically participated.
On Saturday, May 8, 1924, the squadron left Wellington for Ahuriri/Napier, Tūranganui-a-Kiwa/Gisborne and Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland.
Travelling on board HMS Hood was New Zealand’s Governor General and Admiral of the Fleet, Sir John Jellicoe and his daughters.
The itinerary for the visit to Aotearoa had been planned months before and included a stopover of just two hours in Ahuriri.
On arrival at Napier, the vessels would “steam as close inshore as is safe”, and anchor in the vicinity of the Ahuriri Roadstead, so those unable to get aboard could view the flotilla from Marine Parade and the Breakwater.
As the day of the fleet’s arrival loomed, excitement intensified, especially amongst school children who had been given an unexpected day off by the Education Board, specifically for this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Te Matau-a-Māui/Hawke’s Bay’s MP Gilbert McKay, keen that children from Central Hawke’s Bay attend the event, wrote to the Minister of Railways asking that a train be provided free-of-charge to convey schoolchildren from Waipukurau to Napier, stopping in at Waipawa and Ōtāne on the way.
His justification was that the excursion was for the “benefit of country children” so they could be “impressed by the great warship upon which the safety and defence of the Empire depends.” His request was granted, with strict instructions that the train leave Waipukurau at 6am and Ōtāne at 6.20am.
In Heretaunga/Hastings, a train was organised to convey Navy League members from various schools through to Port Ahuriri.
The Napier Navy League made provision for 1,800 children, provided that their “League’s badge be worn without fail.”
Children were instructed to assemble punctually at 7.15am at the Breakwater.
HMS Veronica, along with several Richardson & Company steamers, were organised to take Hawke’s Bay children for a cruise around the warships, to get a close-up view of their magnificence.
The morning of May 9, 1924, dawned crisp with a “light frost covering the ground”, the horizon “steeped in a thick haze through which the rising sun shone bluntly like a brazen ball”.
Conditions were favourable for the arrival of the Special Service Squadron.
HMS Hood arrived earlier than expected, casting “anchor about 6 o’clock” at the Roadstead, followed by the “Imperial” cruisers shortly before 8am. These “monsters of war, with their frowning super-structures, clear outlines and bristling guns” thrilled the “crush of people on the breakwater, along the shore, on the outworks and assembled on the Bluff”.
Suddenly, to the delight of all onlookers, the Delhi fired an “Admiral’s salute of nineteen guns”.
Immediately “a flotilla of small craft took thousands of school children and adults” for trips around the harbour to get a close-up view of these mighty “ships of war”.
An official visit was made to HMS Hood by Napier’s Mayor John Andrew and dignitaries. On behalf of the people of Te Matau-a-Māui, Andrew “expressed appreciation of the privilege accorded the children and the residents of the province” in getting the chance to see “the assemblage in their roadstead of such a powerful fleet”.
The party was then shown through the battleship, after which they were entertained.
The Napier visit was a huge success with “all the arrangements working with entire smoothness.” The fleet departed for Auckland at 9.40am, while HMS Hood steamed out at 11am watched by admiring crowds and “enraptured” children, until there was nothing “to mark her presence but a smudge of smoke on the horizon”.
Williams & Kettle then opened up their No 4 store for the Navy League. The store had been set up with a “generous supply of refreshments” to feed the “hundreds of eager and hungry children”.
Overall, the Empire Cruise was a highly successful public relations victory for the British Empire. Sadly, on May 24, 1941, HMS Hood was destroyed in the World War II Battle of Denmark Strait.
A shell from German battleship Bismarck, struck Hood near her aft ammunition magazines. Soon after, Hood exploded and sank within three minutes. Only three of a crew of 1,418 survived.