Reel 1: Officers on deck of HMS Ajax with female Latin American guests during goodwill visit to unidentified South American port, then extensive coverage of passage of the cruiser through Panama Canal in easterly direction, concluding with views of shipping off Bermuda, including HMCS Skeena (D.59), RN cruiser and a three-funnelled liner.

Reel 2: Edited reel recording highlights of the ship's cruise from Bermuda via Trinidad to Brazil (Salvador de Bahia and Rio de Janeiro) concluding with scuttling of German merchant ship Olindaon 3 September 1939, and distant views of smoke spiraling above Admiral Graf Spee and subsequent scenes ashore in Montevideo (Uruguay), December 1939.

Reel 3: Offcuts from Reels 1 and 2.

Amateur film shot by Engineer Commander Rouse while serving on HMS Ajax in the Caribbean and South Atlantic comprises shore scenes suggesting pleasures of a naval oficer's life during goodwill visits to the ports of Latin America, and naval activity including passage through Panama Canal and sinking of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee off the River Plate (Rio de Plata), Uruguay.

Notes

Summary: Reel 1 was edited, ca 1990, by George Deacon (died 2002) who served on HMS Ajax with Commander Rouse (died ca 1970). Similar footage was also taken by Lieutenant-Commander Tod on the same commission (MGH 3662).