British Battlecruiser HMS New Zealand 1912 at

HMS New Zealand was one of 3 Indefatigable-class battlecruisers built for the defence of the British Empire.
As mentioned in previous submissions Defence of the Empire was a necessity for the Admiralty.
Launched in 1911, the ship was funded by the government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1912. 3 other major 'Naval Powers' were, (or becoming a consideration in Foreign Policy thinking) were active in this area.
(Japan, the US, Russia and to a lesser extent China).
As such, she had been intended for the China Station. Released by the New Zealand government at the request of the Admiralty for service in British water after the outbreak of hostilities in 1914.
Prior to this, in 1913, New Zealand was sent on a ten-month tour of the British Dominions, with an emphasis on a visit to her namesake nation. She was back in British waters at the start of World War I, and operated as part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, in opposition to the German High Seas Fleet.
During the war, the battlecruiser participated in all 3 of the major North Sea battles:-Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank, and Jutland. New Zealand contributed to the destruction of two cruisers during her wartime service and was hit by enemy fire only once, sustaining no casualties.Her status as a "lucky ship" was attributed by the crew to a Māori piupiu (warrior's skirt) and hei-tiki (pendant) worn by the captain during battle. British
naval crews were, and still are a superstious bunch.

After the war, New Zealand was sent on a second world tour, this time to allow Admiral John Jellicoe to review the naval defences of the Dominions. In 1920, the battlecruiser was placed in reserve. She was broken up for scrap in 1922 in order to meet Britain's tonnage limit in the disarmament provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty. This Treaty saw the start of the decline of British Naval supremacy and the rise of the USA as a major Naval Power. In addition, Britain was financially broke ( is this cyclical?) and couldn't really afford a large military force. Perhaps ironically, it was Churchill who over saw the scrapping of a large part of the fleet.