Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-06-27

Made Stout-Hearted Men Shud-
der.
NEW York. June 26.-An extra edition
of the Ersnfuo World, issued this evening,
contains a special cable from Tripol, Sy-
ria. giving the 1rsL full details Of the sink
ing OF the flagship Victoria They are as
follows;
About three O'Clock last Thursday after
noon the English feet came IN sight OF IL
Nina, the port and town o. IriPoh IL was
coming from the northeast ana making
dieectly for the haroor. The hye olg iron
clads. Victoria, CampOrdOwn, Edinburgh,
Nile and SanSParell, were drawn up IN Iul4
front. The Victoria was IN the centre,
the Camperdown was on her Ieit ana the
Edinburgh on her right,
When they were within five miles OF
shore. Vice-Admiral Sir George Iyron
sgualied 70 turn and form in double line.
This meant that the Victoria ana camper
down were TO 90 ahead little anu 0e-
scri De a turn, the Victoria turning 70 the
left aud the CamperdOwn turning 70 the
right. then they would advance side Oy
side In the direction from which they had
come. The others would swing into dou-
HE column order and advance two and TWO
behind the leaders.
When the order was given the distance
between the ships was less than TWO cables
lsngth. The execution Of the order was
Nessy enough for ships further away from
the centre, but extremely dlhcult Tor the
! Victoria and Camperdown.
In turning their BOWS would pass with
4 in few fathOms Of each other, even II the
movement was executed with the greatest
precision. This movement is rarely made,
and is chiefly for the purpose OF training
the shin commanders 70 move eXpedluOus-
ly away from shOaling waters.
Whether because Admiral Marknam, OF
the CamperdOwn, could not believe this
movement wac 70 Oe tried wnen the snlps
were so close together, or because ne
thought Admiral Tyron had miscalculated
the distance, he did not set about ex ecut-
ing Admiral TyrOn's order, but signalled
that ne did not understand IL
The eCamprdown and the other vessels hesi-
tated. Tue Victoria began 70 turn AZ once
as she still held TO the signal Inc Cam
perdown no longer hesitated. but also De-
gan TO turn. The brief delay, however,
had been fatal.
The Victoria had nearly turned and the
CamperdOwn, swinging around, bore down
upon her.
Beth Admirals were quick to act. Ad-
miral Tryon swung the Victoria so as 10 re-
ceive at the smallest angle the blow which
g-both officers saw inevitable and Admiral
MARKHAM did the same for the Camper
down, besides reversing her screws.
The twelve foot ram OF the camper
down struck the hull or the victoria Just
IA front OF the armOred 0Dlknead ana
ulupged into the thin plates Of her star
board side.
The armor ends at the bulkhead and the
forward part Of the Victoria above the
water line was mere card board 10 the
great iron wedge 50 nightly propelled
There was u smashing OF wood and iron
plates and the ram ana eight feet OF the
now of the CamperdOwn crashed 20 teet
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 into double line behind the two leaders
they were bearing down upon the entan-
gled ships and a catastrophe involving al
the iron clads was imminent.
Only the GOODNESS ana prompt action OF
the other commanders prevented general
disaster.
The Victoria's bow was now pointed full
toward the snOre. 1t seemed that Admiral
TryOn did no. realize the extent OF the
damage 10 the Victoria As no accident OF
exactly this kind had happened before he
could not know what the effect OF the hole
in the compartment was 10 be.
He no dou0t thought that as only one
compartment was damaged, the others
would keep his ship a1oat, so when the
Canperdown and the other ships signalled
offers of boats, ne replied that he did not
need them.
The Victoria began TO forge straight for
the shore under full steam. 1t Is one OF the
rules of the British navy that If 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 DO raised again.
So Admiral TryOn was making for the
shore and was widening the distance be-
tween the Victoria and other ships. When
the Camperdowns ram struck her Ad
miral TyrOn, the navigating officer two
sienal officers and the man at the wheel
were all upon the bridge either IN full
view or in the chart house. Most OF the
crew was on the forward deck, lounging
about. trying TO keep cool under the
blazing sun of the clear, calm day.
With the crash they rushed into the bat
tery aud rs far aft as possible, but when
the two vessels separated all returned to
their places.
Discipline was perfect. The Admiral
and ofdcerS remained steadfast upon the
bridge, setting an example. So good was
the discipline that within hve minutes
after the blow diving suit had been
brought on deck and a diver was gettiRg
into il TO obey an order TO 90 below and
find out the extent of the damage.
The untangling and getting under full
headway had taken some little time. About
ten minutes after the blow, the Victoria
having got something like two miles near
er shore from the scene of the collision, all
at once she leaned away over 70 StarOOard
and with great roll and plunge buried
her bow beneath the calm surface OF the
! sea.
II was almost instantaneous.
There was only a chance for few wild
cries and the Victoria was almost half sub
merged, bow foremost with her swiftly re-
vOlving screws whirling clear Of the water
and high in the air.
Those on deck were plunged immediate
lv into the sea. The men forward and be-
low had no time to rush TO the deck, but
found themselves cropping for doors Of
rooms filed with water and compressed
air.
There was little more time for those in
the officers quarters. They heard the
shouts and warning cries, and rushed 10
the almost perpendicular deck
Commander Jellicos. lying in his berth
sick with fever. started up and dashed TO
the deck to IND himself Immediately strug-
Cling in water. A lieutenant swan up 10
him, put his arms around him. and despite
the handicap OF supporting helpless man
was able 10 get away from the side Of the
sinking vessel IL took strong, Skilfnl
swimmer ia full possession Of his senses TO
do this.
The huge hull was drawing in the water
as il went down and several hundred men
trrfn F,rll ~