The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-03
SINKING OF THE VICTORIA.
Rear Admiral MaTkham'S Version Of
the Disaster.

AutAOn Oruefed From the Victoria
Gould Not Be Executed without a
Collision, Owing to the Lack of
Room-Sank in 3 Minutes.
London, July "A midshipman from
the Victoria arrived at Calais early this
morning with Rear Admiral Markhain's
dispatches concerning the collision off
Tripoh. He was brought by special
steamer, the Maid of Kent, to Dover, and
was conveyed thence by special train to
London. He drove directly to the admi-
rally office, where the admiralty board,
notified in advance of his coming. re-
ceived and read the dispatches at once.
! The board declined to publish the dis
patches in full for the present
! The first dispatch is dated from the
warship Camperdown, June % 1t SAYS:
| ut Is with most profound regret that /
! have to report the total loss of Her Males
tvs ship Victoria, involving the irrepara-
| bic loss of the commander-in-chief. Vice
Admiral Sir George Tryon, % officers
and 836 men, under the following circum-
stances:
THE VESSELS IN THE SQUADRON
"The squadron consisting of Her Males
! tvs ships Victoria, Camperdown, Nile
| Dreadnaught, Inhexible, CollngwOod
! Phaeton, Edinburg Sanspareil, Edgar,
Ampion, Fearless and Barham. left Bey-
| rout about 10 o'clock this forenoon for
! TripOh. Shortly after the squadron form
ed single column line abreast and pro-
ceeded at the rate of about eight knots
per hour. When about five miles from
the anchorage of Tripoli the signal was
made at 2:20 o'clock in the afternoon to
form columns of divisions in
line ahead, disposed abeam to
| port, the columns to be six
! cable lengths apart. We proceeded in this
! formation until 2:2S O'clock, when a sig
nal was made from the Victoria to the
| first division to turn sixteen points to
| port, and TO the second division to turn
! sixteen points to the starboard As the
| columns were only six cable lengths apart
1t was not, therefore, in my opinion, pos
| slble within the maneuvering distance to
execute such an evolution. directed the
flag lieutenant to keep the signal, which
| was repeated, at dip as an indication that
the signal from the Victoria was not un-
derstood.
TIE FATAL ORDER REPEATED.
81 then directed him to signal with the
! semaphOre; DO | unders tand that il is
your wish for the columns to turn as indi.
Gated by the signal now hyingN But be-
! fore my order could be carried out the
| cOmmander-in-chief semaphored me to
know what / was waiting for. 1t then
struck me that he wished me to turn six
teen points, as indicated by the signal,
and that it was his intention to circle
| round the second division, leaving them
on the port hand. Having full confidence
in the great ability of the commander to
maneuyer the squadron without
even the risk of collision /
ordered the signal hoisted as an in
dication that l understood. When the
signal was hauled down, the helm of the
Camperdown was put hard a-port At
the same time the helm of the Victoria
was starbOarded l watched very care
fully the helm of the Victoria, as indi-
eating the purpose Of her signals. AS the
two ships turned towards each other,
and seeing that the helm of the Victoria
was still hard starboard, directed the
captain of the Camperdown to go full
astern, in order to decrease our circle of
turning,
A COLLISION INEVITABLE.
Seeing thata collision was inevitable
I then advised him to go full speed astern
with both engines, but before our speed
could be materially checked the stem of
the Camperdown struck the Victoria on
| her starboard bow about 20 feet before
the turret and crushed into the ship
almost to the centre line, the fore and aft
lines of the ship at the time of the COLI
sion being inclined towards each other at
an angle of about so de-
| grees. 1t was, l think, quite
was able although going with full speed
astern with both engines, to get clear Of
the Victoria. The water-tight doors of
the CamperdOwn had been closed by my
orders before the collision occurred.
| Seeing the critical condition of the Vic
toria, which seemed to be settling down
| by the head, boats were immediately'pre-
| pared and the boom boats got ready TO be
| hOisted out, when an open pendant was
hoisted by the Victoria and signal was
made not to send the boats. A very few
minutes later she heeled over to star
board, and, turning bottom upwards, dis
appeared.
WENT DOWN IN THIRTEEN MINUTES.
The time that elapsed between the oc-
currence of the collision and the disap-
| pearance was only about 13 minutes.
| Shortly before the Victoria turned over,
men were seen jumping overheard. OBJ
serving this, l Immediately ordered the
| signal made to send all the boats to the
rescue and directed the Barham and Fear
less to close it at once to save life, steam
J my up III VIC OtlA4 pCAhtNh ~ 1tAC odALlO
time to succOr the officers and men strug-
! Cling in the water The combined efforts
of the squadron resulted in saving 20 offic-
ers and about 296 men, but l regret that
| no less than % officers and about 1876 men,
! a majority of whom were, in all proba bill
ity below at the time, were lost.
THE SEA SMOOTH.
! "The sea was smooth and there was
only light breeze at the time of the ac-
| cideut The injuries to the Camperdown
are serious, but hope that with the as
sittance of the arti6cers Of the squadron,
that she may be temporarily repaired
and go to Malta to be docketed." "
Here, Rear Admiral Markham gives a
detailed and technical description Of the
injuries sustained by the CamperdOwn; ;
II regret that the ships books of the Vic
toria were lost. In fact,' nothing of i'm
portance has been recovered so far. For
some hours after the sinking of the Vic
toria, the water remained agitated over
the wreck, Her screws were revolving
as she sank | remained in the vicinity
of the catastrophe with the squadron un-
til $50 o'clock, when, as the eCamperdOwp
was making water, deemed it advisable
to anchor the ships of Tripoi The
Amphion, Barham and Fearless re-
mained until after dark, but did not re-
cover anything of importance.
DEEP SORROW FELT.
Icannot express the deep grief and sorrow
felt in consequence Of this lamentable catas-