Skip to main content
BFI logo

Home

Film

Television

People

History

Education

Tours

Help

  search

Search

Screenonline banner
Great Naval Review at Spithead, The (1909)
 

Synopsis

Warning: screenonline full synopses contain 'spoilers' which give away key plot points. Don't read on if you don't want to know the ending!

A general view of the fleet from shore, with shots of HMS Dreadnought taken from a passing boat. Successive shots of ships in the line show the colossal scale of the event. There are views of flag signalling in action and other flag-decked ships in line with a yacht in full sail passing in front of the camera. Torpedo destroyers passing HMS Dreadnought preceed a mock attack on Whale Island by naval forces, shots of land fighting show the 'invaders' (in white uniforms) bringing up a 4.7-inch gun. The final shot is of 'the men who man the ships' - a parade of naval detachments presumably on the quayside at Portsmouth.