page_title: Fleet review
section_title: George VI
hierarchical_section_title: Fleet review / United Kingdom / George VI
caption_attribution_description: WARSHIPS AT THE SPITHEAD FLEET REVIEW OF 1937, The German heavy cruiser ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE anchored off Spithead for the 1937 Fleet Review. In the background are the battleship HMS RESOLUTION and a RENOWN class battlecruiser.
context_page_description: A fleet review is a traditional gathering of ships from a particular navy to be observed by the reigning monarch or his or her representative, a practice allegedly dating back to the 15th century. Such an event is not held at regular intervals and originally only occurred when the fleet was mobilised for war or for a show of strength to discourage potential enemies. However, since the 19th century, they have often been held for the coronation or for special royal jubilees and increasingly included delegates from other national navies.
context_section_description: Thursday 20 May 1937 - Coronation Fleet Review.  The largest assembly of warships since the coronation review of 1911, it has been described by military historian Hedley Paul Willmott as "the last parade of the Royal Navy as the world's greatest and most prodigious navy". Ten British battleships and battlecruisers were present, and for the first time at a coronation review, four aircraft carriers. Altogether, there were 101 surface warships, 22 submarines and 11 auxiliaries drawn from the Home, Mediterranean and Reserve Fleets.
  The Review Procession included the royal yacht, HMY Victoria and Albert, two minesweepers and a survey ship. The Commonwealth and Empire were represented by two warships from Canada and one each from New Zealand and India. A large complement of British merchant ships ranging from ocean liners to paddle steamers were also present.
  By tradition, foreign navies were invited to send a single warship each to the review and seventeen were present. Notable among them were USS New York, which had brought Admiral Hugh Rodman, the President's personal representative for the coronation, across the Atlantic; the new French battleship Dunkerque; and the elderly Soviet Marat. Also present were the formidable looking German "pocket battleship", Admiral Graf Spee, the Greek cruiser, Georgios Averof and the Japanese heavy cruiser, Ashigara.
  Described by one naval officer in a letter to a friend -
  "The day was quite as bad as I feared but my sisters are insistent that they enjoyed it all"
  It was also the occasion of the infamous "Woodrooffe Incident"   in the BBC Radio coverage (known by the phrase 'The Fleet's Lit Up!')
  HMY Victoria and Albert III took part in this review, her second and last before being scrapped in 1939.
  9 August 1939, including HMS Revenge
  May 1944, in secret, of the D-Day invasion fleet - the largest review to date (800 vessels, ranging from capital vessels to small minesweeper and landing craft).
caption: Admiral Graf Spee at Spithead in 1937; HMS Hood and Resolution lie in the background
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