What is it about?
HMS Cornwall visited ports and coastlines of Denmark, Germany, western Russia (now the Baltic States), Sweden and Norway. Under the cover of training and diplomacy her officers surveyed navigable channels and coastal fortifications wherever they went.
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Photo by Jan Reinicke on Unsplash
Why is it important?
The results informed British planning in WW1, the 1919 intervention and perhaps even as late as WW2. Moreover the relationships formed during the cruise helped bring together a team which had a pivotal effect on naval intelligence in both wars.
Perspectives
Researching this cruise, the importance of which I think has been neglected, brought its own mixture of drama, humour and surprise. I hope some of that comes through in the text.
Mr Derek Nudd
Society for Nautical Research
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Training, Diplomacy and Espionage: The curious cruise of HMS
Cornwall
, 1909, The Mariner s Mirror, October 2025, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/00253359.2025.2578097.
You can read the full text:
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