United Kingdom Fleet review (Commonwealth realms)

1 united kingdom

1.1 medieval
1.2 stuart
1.3 1700-1837
1.4 queen victoria
1.5 edward vii
1.6 george v
1.7 george vi
1.8 elizabeth ii

united kingdom

because of need natural large, sheltered , deep anchorage, uk fleet reviews have been held in solent off spithead, although southend, torbay, firth of clyde , overseas ports have hosted reviews. in examples below, venue spithead unless otherwise noted.

a list follows of fleet reviews in england, great britain, , later uk since 14th century.

medieval

june 1346 - edward iii, before sailing war france
1415 - acknowledged first fleet review on record, henry v, @ southampton, before sailing first french campaign ended in battle of agincourt

stuart

may 1662, charles ii on occasion of wife catherine of braganza s arrival in portsmouth
february 1693, william iii , mary ii, after battles of barfleur , la hougue

1700-1837

king george iii reviewing fleet @ spithead, 1773



march 1700, on peter great s visit england, show of strength
23–27 june 1773, king george iii set out kew, in royal coach scarlet outriders, call first formal royal review. on arrival saluted triple discharge of cannon , , proceeded dockyard admirals , captains assembled, each barge, escort king spithead. had dressed crews in fancy colours, each own taste (at time there no uniform naval uniform), whilst resplendent in full dress designed them george ii in 1748. ships on show had fought french in 7 years war , join war of american independence, , led hms barfleur, of 90 guns, built 5 years before.
may 1778, george iii, before france joined american war of independence
1781
june 1794, after glorious first of june
25 june 1814, last consist solely of sailing ships. celebrate treaty of paris (1814), , show allied sovereigns, including czar of russia , king of prussia, tremendous naval armaments has swept ocean fleets of france , spain , secured britain domain of sea. 15 ships of line , 31 frigates present, of them veterans of napoleonic wars. reviewed not george iii, prince regent
september 1820, george iv, first coronation review. 1 ship in attendance hms beagle, later made famous charles darwin.

queen victoria

17 occurred during reign, monarch.

the shah of persia s visit in 1876 - hms duke of wellington, flagship @ portsmouth, may seen in left foreground.



march 1842, first, held herself , prince albert grand naval review.
1844, may - visit of king of saxony; , october, on visit of tsar nicholas i, king louis-philippe of france , friedrich wilhelm iv of prussia, both show of strength
19 june 1845, inspecting experimental squadron, new hmy victoria , albert. board of admiralty attended in steam yacht, black eagle. place not 1814 last time royal review consisted of sailing ships, , last time queen watch hms trafalgar s men run aloft , set sails feline agility , astonishing celerity.
11 august 1853, fleet mobilisation crimean war, including first time steam screw ships of line.
10 march 1854. wary of russian break out north sea, due numbers of ships in baltic sea, british admiralty brought force contain them. first division of baltic fleet commanded vice-admiral sir charles napier. napier s task find naval recruits , train them possible. screw yacht-tender, hms fairy, , 2 months before 35th birthday (which perhaps intended commemorate), queen victoria reviewed napier s fleet @ spithead, shortly before set sail, including (on 10 march 1854) review of first part of fleet set sail eighteen days before britain declared war on russia. according reports in london illustrated news (which printed special edition occasion, drawings of various scenes day of review), fairy reviewed fleet steamed path created ships anchored on each side, day later led fleet out of spithead began journey baltic.
23 april 1856, of baltic fleet on return. first recorded example of evening illumination of fleet. showed lessons learnt crimean war, first of ironclad ships present in form of 4 1,500-ton floating batteries. on 100 gunboats present, puffing locomotive engines wisps of white steam trailing funnels.
august 1865, on visit of french fleet
17 july 1867, held abd-ul-aziz, sultan of ottoman empire, , khedive of egypt, ismail of egypt. first time every ship flew white ensign, after dissolution of old red, white , blue squadrons. new designs five-masted hms minotaur powerful broadside, , graceful 14-knot ironclad sister-ships hms warrior , hms black prince.


diamond jubilee review 26 june 1897



may/june 1873, visit of nasser-al-din shah (1848–1896), shah of persia
august 1878, of reserve squadron
25 july 1887, golden jubilee. notable appearance of nordenfelt submarine (though first rn submarine holland 1 20 years later)
5–6 august 1889, on visit of kaiser wilhelm ii , admiral von tirpitz, show of strength
august 1891, on visit of french fleet
august 1896, on visit of mps , li hung chang
26 june 1897, diamond jubilee, notable being presided on prince of wales (later edward vii) since frail attend in person. ships formed 2 lines 7 miles long lines; 170 british ships included 50 battleships. parsons made unscheduled , dramatic appearance turbinia showing power of steam turbine.
august 1899, last, notable being presided on prince of wales (later edward vii) since frail attend in person, , visit of squadron german navy.

edward vii

one of lines of battleships @ 1909 review.



16 august 1902, coronation review, first time in modern era review used mark coronation
9 august 1905, review of british , french fleets king edward vii @ spithead
august 1907, review of reconstituted home fleet
12 june 1909, review of home fleet , atlantic fleet, including hms invincible
16 july 1909, home , atlantic fleets assemble off southend prior display southend, including hms invincible
17–24 july, 1909, home , atlantic fleets on display westminster nore.

george v

24 june 1911, coronation fleet review. uss delaware sailed 4 june america , appeared @ review 19 june 28 june.
9 july 1912, houses of parliament, @ weymouth, featured first take-off of plane ship underway - on 4 may commander charles samson became first man take off ship underway. did in short s.27 biplane whilst hms hibernia steamed @ 10.5 knots (19 km/h).
18–20 july 1914, fleet mobilisation world war i. no fewer 59 warships , 17 seaplanes
21–22 july 1919, @ southend, mark end of world war i
saturday 26 july 1924, including hms warspite
16 july 1935, silver jubilee. 160 warships including hms revenge. d l davenport, @ time young cadet serving on board hms iron duke (he later went on successful naval career, reaching rank of rear admiral), noted impressions of event in diary:


turned out @ 0545 , scrubbed focsle…after breakfast gave brightwork final polish , cleaned up… after lunch fell in on deck ... ships saluting guns fired royal salute of 21 guns noise not bad led expect. smoke screened of ships minutes… after tea ‘clean lower deck’ sounded , had fall in manning ship position on y turret grid on quarter deck excellent 1 see yacht approaching… v&a approached band played ‘god save king’ , guard presented arms in royal salute. when king halfway past gave 3 cheers. see king on bridge, saluting …about ½ hour later fell in again passed other side.
after supper watched illuminations… after half hour lights turned off , red flares lit on deck, each held sailor @ guardrail. these did not except first few seconds… ships remained illuminated rest of time until midnight... turned in 2345 tired.

george vi

hms nelson other british battleships , cruisers 1937 cornation fleet review



thursday may 20, 1937 - coronation fleet review. after small beginnings of naval airpower @ 1912 review, 5 carriers present time.

described 1 naval officer in letter friend -

day quite bad feared sisters insistent enjoyed

it occasion of infamous woodrooffe incident [1] [2] in bbc radio coverage (known phrase fleet s lit up! )

hmy victoria , albert iii took part in review, second , last before being scrapped in 1939.

the sole u.s. navy representative uss new york, had brought admiral hugh rodman, president s personal representative coronation, across atlantic.

germany represented new pocket battleship admiral graf spee, , empire of japan sent heavy cruiser ashigara attend ceremony.

9 august 1939, including hms revenge
may 1944, in secret, of d-day invasion fleet - also, ironically, largest review date (800 vessels, ranging capital vessels small minesweeper , landing craft).

elizabeth ii

hmas melbourne @ 1977 spithead review; hms ark royal behind



her majesty queen elizabeth ii admiral sir alan west on board hms endurance



15 june 1953, coronation fleet review, coronation of queen elizabeth ii. first post-war review, here seen ongoing technical innovations war had produced (plan of ships @ anchor).
27–28 may 1957 review of fleet off invergordon scotland.
7–11 august 1965, partial review @ tail of bank on firth of clyde. first rn nuclear submarine hms dreadnought appeared.
16 may 1969 elizabeth ii - nato review (nato s 20th anniversary), spithead - 64 ships 11 nato countries participated: british contingent included hms phoebe , hms dido; united states - uss wasp
july 1969 - fleet review: ships of western fleet (14 ships) , queen s colour presentation aboard hms eagle in torbay
28 june 1977, silver jubilee of elizabeth ii. hms blake , hms tiger both appeared.
1993 - commemoration of battle of atlantic anniversary, hms cornwall flagship of event (off north wales)
1994 - d-day 50th anniversary, including hms edinburgh
1999 - battle of atlantic commemoration
28 june 2005, international fleet review trafalgar 200, held in lieu of 2002 golden jubilee review, latter of cancelled on cost grounds




^ [3]
^ naval spectacle @ spithead . times (40580). london. 1914-07-20. p. 9. 
^ souvenir programme, coronation review of fleet, spithead, 15th june 1953, hmso, gale , polden
^ coronation spithead review (1953). royal navy. 1953. 
^ official souvenir programme, 1977. silver jubilee fleet review, hmso