Historic footage of Royal Navy patrolling during Home Rule crisis.

This important film documents the use of the Royal Navy by the British Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, to curtail the militarisation of the Unionist cause. We see a naval rating signalling by semaphore to the 11 destroyers that lie in the distant waters. On the nearby harbour walls, two members of the Ulster Volunteers are seen watching proceedings intently by telescope.

On the 24th and 25th of April 1914, 14,000 ‘Ulster Volunteers', working under the cover of darkness, were involved in the smuggling of some 25,000 rifles, by boat, from the German empire into Larne, Donaghadee and Bangor. Alarmed by the rapid arming of the Unionists, Asquith - as we can see here - sent the Royal Navy to patrol the coasts of Antrim and Down and prevent any additional arms hauls being made.