Warspite's Turkish visit shows how presence must fit its audience

The Royal Navy used a visit to discourage Turkey from entering the Second World War. Admiral Andrew Cunningham considered a cruiser but chose the battleship HMS Warspite with four Tribal-class destroyers. His reasoning is paraphrased rather than quoted directly: Turkey lacked the commerce and trading interests that would make cruiser power the most meaningful signal. Battleship guns and the visible authority of the flagship were more likely to shape Turkish calculations. The example qualifies any universal rule that cruisers are always the best instruments of presence, because naval diplomacy must be calibrated to what the audience values and fears.