Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T02:05:19.824Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Part IV - 1924–1929: The ‘Normal’ Years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2024

Get access

Summary

With the resolution of the Chanak Affair the Mediterranean Fleet was able to resume a more normal pattern, ushering in a period that can be viewed in retrospect as something of a golden age in the interwar period. There were flaws in this rosy picture and some serving at the time might have considered it as a golden age only in the light of what was to follow. The government imposed strict economy measures that translated into reduced fuel allowances resulting in curtailed time at Sea, unrealistically slow ‘economical speed’ in exercises and a much resented increase in bureaucracy and paperwork to account for expenditures. The staff of the Mediterranean Fleet became notorious for excessive regulation and attempts to foresee and schedule everything with exercises crammed into every available minute. It was, as Admiral Chatfield later wrote, ‘staff work run mad: the Germanic method of complete preparation and organisation, successful perhaps on land but ill adapted to the Sea’. Admiral Brock was succeeded as Commander-in-Chief in June 1925 by Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, a well-known and popular figure because of his leadership of the raids on Zeebrugge and Ostend in 1918. Keyes was followed in June 1928 by Admiral Frederick Field who commanded for the remainder of the 1920s. The atmosphere of the mid-1920s, with its impressive annual combined manoeuvres with the Atlantic Fleet followed by the cruising Season with visits to various Mediterranean and Adriatic ports, can be discerned in the letters from the flagship written by Lieutenant Duckworth [280, 281]. Duckworth also reflects the pride in the immaculate appearance of the Fleet and the importance attached to ‘showing the flag’, coupled with a somewhat condescending attitude towards foreigners that was characteristic of that time [282, 283].

The arrangement of the summer cruises was more complicated than it might seem at first. The first part of the cruise in the eastern Mediterranean, primarily in Greek waters, posed relatively few problems and took place each year. The second part of the summer cruises was more difficult, that is the very size of the Fleet made it desirable not to outlast its welcome in the western Mediterranean by visiting ports too often. Consequently, the second half of the summer cruise alternated each year between the ports of the western Mediterranean and the adriatic [302, 304].

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
First published in: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×