The Forrest City times., 1893-06-30
THE LOST VICTORIA.
Circumstantial Account of the
 Horrible Disaster.
Battle with Death in Three Forms Chopped to Death by the Screws scaIded by Steam or Drowned
 in the Awful Maelstrom.

World publishes the following cable dispatch from Tripoli, Syria, regarding the sinking of her majesty's battle ship Victoria:
 About o'clock Thursday afternoon the English fleet came in sight of FL nina. the port and town of Tripoli. It was coming from the northeast and making directly for the harbor. The five big ironclads, Victoria, Camper down. Edin burgh, Nile and Sanspariel, were drawn up in full front. The Vic toria was in the center, the Camper down was on her left and the Edin- burph on her right. When they were within five miles of the shore, ViceAd- miral Sir George Tryon signaled to turn and form in double line: this meant that the Victoria and Camper down were to go ahead q little and describe turn, the Victoria turn inp to the left and the Camper down turning to the right; then they would advance side by side to the direction from which they had come and the others would swing to double-column order and advance two
 
 order was given the distance between the ships was less than two cable lengths The execution of the order was easy enough for ships further away from the center. but extremely difficult for the Victoria and Camper down, who in turning their bows would pass within few fathoms of each other. even if the movement was executed with the greatest precision. This movement is rarely made, and is chiefly for the purpose of training the ships commanders to move eXpedi- tiously away from shoaling waters.
 Whether because Admiral Markham on the Camperdown could not believe this mo ement was to be tried when the ships were so close together, or be- cause he thought Admiral Tryon had miscalculated the distance, he did not set about executing Admiral Tryon's order, but signaled that he did not un- derstand it. The Victoria and the other vessels had not hesitated. The Victoria began to turn at once. as she still held to the signal. The Camper down no longer hesitated, but began to turn. The brief delay. however had been fatal. The Victoria had near ly turned. and the Camperdown, swing ingaround. bore down upon her. Both admirals were quick to act. Admiral Tryon swung the Victoria so as to re- ceive at the smallest angle the blow which both officers saw was ble, and Admiral Markham did the same for the Camperdown, besides reversing her screws. The twelve-foot ram of the Camperdown struck the hull of the Victoria just in front of the armored bulkhead, and plunged into the big plates of her starboard side. The armor ends of the bulkhead and the forward part of the Victoria above the water line was mere cardboard to the great iron wedge so nightly pro peled. There was a smashing of wood and iron plates, and the ram and eight feet of the bow of the Camterdown crashed twenty feet into the bowels of the Victoria.
 The Camperdown was halted by the heavy armor of the Victoria, and as her screws were reversed. she at once began to back away. As all the other vessels were moving to get in double line behind the two leaders, they were bearing down upon the entangled ships, and a catastrophe involving all the ironclads was imminent Only the coolness and prompt action of the other commanders prevented general disas- ter. The Nictorias bow was now pointed full toward the shore. It seemed that Admiral Tyron did not realize the extent of the damage to the Victoria. As no accident of exactly this kind had happened before he could not know what effect the hole in the compartment was to be. He no doubt thought, as only one compartment was damaged, the others would keep his ship afloat, so when the Camper down and the other ships signaled "otfi- cers of the boats," he replied that he did not need them. The Victoria be- gan to forge straight for the shore un- der full steam. It is one of the rules of the British navy that if a ship is in danger of sinking. and shore is not far away, she must be got into shallow water, so that if she goes down she may be raised again. So Admiral Iryon was making for the shore and was widening the distance between the victoria and the other ships. W hen the Camperdown' ram struck the Vie toria Admiral Tryon, the navigating Officer, two signal officers and the man at the wheel were all upon the deck, either in full view or in the chart house, while most of the crew were on the f0rntn rl lnnl-