The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-08-20 00:00:00

_
THE NAVAL MANCEUVRES.
ADMIRALTY OFFICIAL REPORTS.

The official reports of the Admiralty on the recent
naval manceuvres have been published. They set
forth the conditions under which the manceuvres were
carried on, and the vessels and torpedo flotillas taking
part in them, with the daily details of the movements
of each squadron. The "general idea" of Squadron A
in the Channel was that the British cruisers had lost
touch of in enemy's fleet which had put to sea with
a view of doing as much damage as possible to the
English ports in the Channel and in the Thames and
Medway—avoiding, if possible an engagement with
the British fleet. The attacking squadron under.
Rear-Admiral Fremantle consisted of five iron-
clads—the Agincourt, Imperieuse, Conqueror, Black
Prince, and Iron Duke; one fast torpedo cruiser (the
Archer), and the gun-vessel Curlew. The defending
force under Sir W. Hewett wasoomposed of five iron-
elads—Minotaur, Sultan, Monarch, Inflexible, and
Collingwood, with a cruiser (Mercury), a torpedo gun-
boat (Rattlesnake), and three torpedo boats, a flotilla
consisting of two turret ships, sixteen gunboats, and
seven torpedo boats being also stationed in the Downs
to guard the Straits of Dover and the entrance to the
Thames and Medway. Look-out stations were
organised by the defending force at the Lizard, Start,
Portland Bill, St. Catherine's, Beachy Head, Dunge-
ness, and the South Foreland, which were night and
day in telegraphic communication with each other
and with Portsmouth, Devonport, Portland, and
Deal. Of the torpedo fight off Dover the official
accoirit Bays:
"On the alarm being given the torpedo boats acted
as fellows: No. 32 proceeded to Dover, then out into
the Straits, and meeting Black Prince attacked her,
afterwayds going to the Varne, and eventually joined
Wigton about 7 a.m. .No. 62 steamed to Dover, then
went out and attacked Black Prince and Iron Duke,
afterwards proceeded to the Gull Light Ship, joined
No. 79, and with him attacked :Agincourt and Impe-
Acme. About 2.50 a.m. No. 79, after sighting Agin-
court went to Dover, and meeting Nos. 63, 31, and
61 coming out, joined them. Eventually Nos. 63,
31, together, attacked Black Prinee, and No. 79, 31,
and 61, the Iron Duke. After this attack, Nos. 63,
31, and 61, thinking that only two ships had gone by,
patrolled off the Varna, and joined the Vice.
Admiral off Dover in the morning. With refennce
to these torpedo attacks, it may be remarked that the
night was clear, with a good moon, so that the torpedo
boats were able to find ironclads which in their
turn readily made out the torpedo boats. The reports
as to the success or otherwise of these attacks are
very conflicting, the ironclads being assured that the
boats were long under fire before firing their torpedoes
while the torpedo boats quote instances in which
their opportunities may be considered to have been
good. Looking to the facility with which it is pos-
sible to miss a small object even in the daytime, it
would seem quite within the bounds of possibility that
one of these attacks might have been successful.
This being the ease it is a doubtful point whether any
admiral would in war time attempt to pass the
Straits at night without nets in the face of a torpedo
flotilla, and if note are carried it is to be remembered
That the speed would have to be reduced to about five
knots in order that the protection shotld be effec-
tive."

not taken, in actual war, particularly as she bad no
excess of speed over her opponents. At 9.30 the
Commodore formed his ships in starboard quarter
line, and now gave up his original into:thou of pro-
ceeding direct to Liverpool, as the Mersey and Fear-
less on his port quarter reported his every movement,
and prevented him altering his course unobser red.
He therefore kept on hoping to draw the Vice-
Admiral round the Isle of Man and thence to get
_away to Liverpool. At 11.40 he resumed the line
ahead, but at 1.25 a.m. on the third, the Rupert being
unable to keep station, had to haul out of the line to
clean out fires, and speed was reduced to 8.5 knots.
At 4 a.m. the squadron formed in two columns and at
daylight the fleets were about six miles apart
S.W. end of Isle of Man, bearing N.E. eighteen
miles from Hercules. At 7 a.m. the Commodore was
going 9.5 knots, and altered her course to gradually
round the northern extremity of the Isle of Man
instead of making for the North Channel, which was
his only way to escape. About 9 a.m., finding escape
impossible, as the vice-admiral had been coming up
fast, the Commodore determined to make a running
fight of it towards Liverpool, covering the retreat of
the slow ships Rupert and Shannon with the Edin-
burgh, Neptune, and Devastation, which would
engage the three leading ships of the vice-admiral,
Hercules, Ajax, and Invincible, Bellisle and Hotspur
being some way astern. At 9.30 a.m. the nearest
ironclads were only three miles apart, and shortly
after the action commenced, which was continued
until 11.30 a.m., when the vice-admiral, having shown
it was in his power to force an action according to the
rules laid down, signalled to cease fire, and the two
fleets proceeded in company to the southwards.
C squadron, under the command of Commodore
Markham, in the Active, proceeded to the north-west
coast of Ireland for the protection of commerce and to
carry out a series of operations in the Irish Channel.
The squadron consisted of the Active, Rover, Volage,
Calypso, Inconstant, and Arethusa. To bar their
passage through the North Channel—the only means
of access from the north of Ireland to Glasgow—a
squadron of coast defence ships and torpedo-boats had
been assembled having their headquarters at Belfast.
The object of the attacking force was, if possible, to
pass into the Firth of Clyde, without encountering
severe opposition, as an action with the defending
force, though victorious, would to a certain extent
cripple the attacking squadron, thus impeding the
carrying out of its wain object, viz., levying imposts
and capturing steamers in the river.
The report concludes as follows: "Attacks by a
torpedo flotilla of the Rattlesnake and 20 first-class
torpedo-boats, under the command of Captain Long,
on the squadron which had assembled at Spithead
and Portland after the operations at sea, brought the
manoeuvres to a close. The idea was that the iron-
clads had been forced into harbour for coal, provisions,
or for some other reason, and that the enemy having
obtained this information had taken the opportunity
to attack him with his torpedo boats. At Spithead
the defence depended entirely on the patrolling gun
and torpedo boats and the nets of the ironclads,
backed up by the fire of the machine and quick-firing
guns. The attack was well delivered at midnight, and
it is possible that some of the ships might have been
damaged. On the other hand, at Portland the attack
was a distinct failure, as Vice-Admiral Baird had pro-
tected himself with a boom which was impassable to
the torpedo boats, and resulted in the whole of them
being put out of action.
"The casualties which occurred to vessels and men
during the opekettions were as follows: August 4,
Collingwood broke down temporarily for 3,± hours, at
the end of which time she was able to proceed with
one engine at a speed of nine knots. The necessary
repairs to the other engine could have been completed
in 36 hours by the ship's artificers. Same day the In-
flexible had to stop for one hour to repack a piston,
and the Sultan for half an hour to repack valves.
On the Ist, the port engine of the Mohawk became
disabled, and as the repairs could not be carried out
efficiently at sea, she was ordered to proceed to Ply-
mouth. On the let the starboard engine of the
A mphion broke down temporarily, and the repairs
were not completed for some hours. During this time
her speed was reduced to ten knots. Subsequently
stopped for one hour to avoid a similar accident to port
engine, the under water valve in connection with
supply to main fire engine was broken, and the hole
bad to be plugged by a diver. The boiler tubes of the
Curlew became so leaky that it was necessary to leave
her at Sheerness for repairs on the 6th. Four of the
torpedo boats attached to the flotillas in the Lash
Channel had to put into Milford for minor repairs,
and one of the torpedo boats attached to Admiral
Hewett's squadron broke down temporarily, but was
in a short time made efficient by artificers. Four men
in the Curlew and two in the Black Prince were
severely injured from the same cause, the explosion of
blank ammunition when firing from the foui-barrelled
one-inch Nordenfelt gun."

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.