Stay quiet and leave war to Great Powers

Invincible Strangers 24 Chapter 10.1

New Zealand was a colony and lacked a navy of its own. Devonport, in Auckland, was a Royal Navy base, home to the New Zealand Squadron with its obsolete Pelorus-Class light cruisers Psyche and Pyramus. Australia scorned them as ‘unspeakably useless....’ With them was the ancient cruiser HMS Philomel, fleet commander Captain Percival Hall-Thompson aboard. They were no match for Spee’s fleet.

HMS Philomel Berthing at the ferry wharf Wellington 1917  NZ Navy Museum

New Zealand had little political say over the squadron, but taxpayers had paid for an Indefatigable class battlecruiser, HMS New Zealand. It was one of the grandest follies in New Zealand political history and a scandal, recognised at the time, which had a deep impact on New Zealand. In 1909 Australian born Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward announced, without  consulting his cabinet, much less parliament, that New Zealand was going to give the Motherland - England - a battleship. He preferred a Dreadnought, but the Royal Navy had enough of them. So instead New Zealand donated an Indefatigable class battlecruiser - which was, even before it was built, outclassed by Imperial German ships. It cost £2,000,000. In today’s money that is a staggering $342,000,000. It was, he said, no problem as Britain would lend New Zealand the money. At most favourite interest rates, spread over 18 years (in fact the last payment was made in 1945, well after the vessel was scrapped). In 1913 the ship made a 10 month empire tour, including most New Zealand ports. It arrived back in England in November 1913 and was put into the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow, never to be made available to New Zealand.