The heavy cruiser H.M.S. Cumberland

Details

William McDowell (1888-1950)
The heavy cruiser H.M.S. Cumberland
signed and dated 'William M^cDowell/1927' (lower left)
oil on canvas
27 x 48 in. (68.6 x 122 cm.)

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Lot Essay

The heavy cruiser H.M.S. Cumberland, ordered in 1924, saw much active service until she was scrapped in 1959. Her most famous role was in December 1939 when her captain received a garbled message about a battle off Montevideo, and steamed north at high speed to reach the River Plate at ten at night on 14th December, after steaming for 34 hours. The German pocket battleship Graf Spee was trapped in Montevideo by Commodore Harwood's two light cruisers, Ajax and Achilles (Exeter having been heavily damaged), and the Graf Spee was forced to scuttle herself on 17th December. Cumberland played herself in the 1956 film, the Battle of the River Plate.

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