laststandonzombieisland

How about this excellent shot of the one-off battlecruiser HMS Hood, with (VADM) Sir Frederick Laurence Field, KCB, CMG, embarked, as she rests on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. Note the Chateau Frontenac to the right and the iconic Citadelle de Quebec to the left, both landmarks that endure on the city’s skyline. The image was taken a century ago, between 19 August and 02 September 1924.

This shot gives a more detailed view of the battlecruiser in front of the Citadel. 

Hood was in Canada as part of the 10-month-long (27 November 1923 to 28 September 1924) “World Cruise” of the Special Service Squadron, which included not only the battlecruiser but also the Renown-class battlecruiser HMS Repulse and vessels of the First Light Cruiser Squadron (HMS Delhi, Danae, Dauntless, Dragon, and Dunedin).

As detailed by Frank Allen with the H.M.S. Hood Association:

This epic journey, known to the public as the “Empire Cruise” or “World Cruise” (but called the “World Booze” by the Squadron’s men), was a highly successful public relations victory for the Empire. It served as a subtle reminder to friend and foe alike that Britannia still ruled the waves. The squadron logged over 38,152 miles and visited numerous foreign countries around the globe. During this cruise, over one million visited the entire Squadron, with Hood getting approximately 752,049 visitors alone.

Besides Hood’s unfortunate meeting with Bismarck in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, and Repulse’s rendezvous with destiny with Japanese bombers off Malaysia, two of the five D-class cruisers that accompanied them on the World Cruise would end their career off Normandy (Dragon) and off Saint Paul’s Rock in the South Atlantic (Dunedin) at the hands of German torpedos. The rest would meet the breaker’s torch by 1948.