H.M.S.S. HOOD & REPULSE

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 118, 14 November 1925, Page 17

H.M.S.S. HOOD & REPULSE

"The Empire Cruise." By V. C. Scott O'Connor. London: Printed privately for the author by Eiddle, Smith, and Duffus.

Mr. Amery, Secretary of State for the Colonies and for Dominion Affairs, tells how it was that H.M.S.S. Hood and Hepulse came to New Zealand in the course of their cruise of the British Empire. In his preface to this authoritative record of the undertaking Mr. Amery. says: "the idea of the Empire Cruise came as a sudden happy thought in Admiral de Robeck's cabin in H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, somewhere in the Bay of Biscay, while engaged in discussing training cruises and the rearrangement of the fleets involved in the new Mediterranean concentration. The moment it occurred it was clear how. much it might contribute to .inaugurating the new era in naval thought." Mr. Amery says he felt that "the spirit of the Navy communicated itself wherever it went." So that certainly held good. It was recognised here then as it is now that the Empire intact by reason of the vigiance of the Royal Navy.

The history cruise is carefully ' and tactfully written by Mr. Scott O'Connor, and it shows.how much the.visits of H.M.S.S: Hood and Repulse to distant parts of the Empire accomplished in giving expression to the idea of security and freedom in the colonies and Dominions being due to a powerful and mobile Navy. The cruise, too, as Mr. Scott O'Connor makes • perfectly clear, owed much of its success to Admirals Sir Frederick Field and' Hubert Brand. Both possessed inborn faculties of ambassadors and fully justified their selection for- so important.an undertaking, by tha wisdom of these appointments New Zealand had abundant proof. Incidentally it may be' stated that -when the squadron visited Honolulu the issue and consumption of all alcoholic beverages on board the ships was suspended, Honolulu being United States territory and therefore "dry." •

The cruise was so long: and varied that there ia not space to even mention every place; touched at. Reference may, perhaps, be permitted to two incidents at. Sierra Leone—there a . black Boy Scout who had done " a good deed" scorned to accept a tip, but he did ask for <a. white uniform in place : of the imported official; woollens'he' was compelled to wear. To a remark of pity for him wearing woollen clothes in such a hot climate he replied:— •.

"As we are on duty, so we' j must cheerfully suffer." Also, he liked being a Boy Scout "because it makes me more courageous, it gives me better manners, and good discipline, sah." .: A native of ■ the colony was asked whether he would not rather live in the Black -Republic of Liberia than in a British colony. ."•'.'

Well (he said) in theory, of course, | I should like to be a Siberian, for | then I might become President of the Republic, but in practice I prefer to stay where I am, for I know that I\ should get very little justice over there. , .-....' „' ■■; ' ' Then there was the visit to Callao, where the people took the officers and men-of-warimen to be Italians, shouting "Viva Italia" in their joy when -the Rear-Admiral and; staff marched to solemn Te Deum in company with the President of. Peru. Of course, the Peruvian officials, made no mistake.

With New Zealand the officers .and men were delighted. Mr. Scott O'Connor remarks that the Prime Minister (the late Mr. Massey) wired in reply to the Vice-Admiral's acknowledgments: "We thank you for your letter, which is much-appreciated. It was a pleasure for us to do what we.could for our gallant kinsmen from the .Motherland. We only did our/duty;" ,"That was the spirit of New Zealand " is the author's comment.

The daily Press of the Dominion came in for the warm commendation of the mission.. Quotations are. given in the work from leaders in "The Evening Post" and the "New Zealand Herald." Mr. Scott O'Connor observes :—

The best impressions of these events as a whole, and; more .especially in their bearing upon the. loyalty and patriotism of the people of the Do-

minion, to to be obtained by those who dedr* to pursue the matter from a perusal of .the pages of the New Zealand Press. The Press, next to the deep-seated feeling of affection for the .great old Motherland from which they have sprung, which subsists in the hearts of the Dominion peoples, contributed more than any other single factor to the success of the cruise. With rare exceptions, it left nothing undone; it spared no expense to make our ships welcome, and to make

the great questions of Imperial policy that lie behind all such pageants understood, and this was most of all evident in those areas to which the honoured name of Ahzac is applied.

Looking ahead, Mr. Scott O'Connor sees that "the farthest parts of tha Empire "will soon be in closer contact with each other thaa were England or Ireland or Scotland a hundred years ago. . . . Unless seme means for eliminating war can be found, and found soon, our civilisation must perish. That conviction comes most easily to the great self-governine Dominions overseas. In.Canada they point to a frontier of 3000 miles, undefended on either side by a man or gun. Australia and New Zealand, protected by ( the British flag, have never known a foreign invader. . They ask but for peace to develop their heritage. Brave to a fault, they remain essentially a peace-loving people .

The conclusions come to by the author after this unique and interesting cruise is that "the greatest chance for a League of Nations lies in the existing union of Uw peoples of the British Empire, and, after it, in. that wider union of sentiment and conviction that is fast growing between tho English-speaking peoples throughout the world. If we British cannot hold together,. it is folly to imagine that any League of Nations will ever succeed in doing bo. It is upon such convictions that a sound British patriotism carl take its stand today." '.

Many illustations, some in colour, go with the text.