The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-06-24
SIR GEORGE TYRoN.
The Lost Vice Admiral One of Britain'l
Oldest ard Bravest Naval Officer.

The Lost Vice Admiral One of Britain's
Oldest ard Bravese Naval Officer.
WASHINGTON, juno 23.-Sir George Ty-
ron, the vice admiral who went down in
his flagship, the Victoria. is one of the
best known of British naval officers. Com
mander Chadwick, now in charge of the
naval in Intelligence Office here. was we'll &C.
quainted with him during his residence in
London as United States naval attache,
and he speaks In terms Of high praise Of
the AdmiraPs character and ability as .
naval officer. He was man Of vast ex-
perience. his service beginning in the day Q
before steam was q prominent feature in
naval architecture. and RAINING through
oil the various phases of development that
were marked by the substitution OF steam
for sail power. of iron for wooden hulis
steel and ir On for broadsldes and of armor
for thin sheathina He was a man who
had earned the highest hOnOrs within the
gift tof the British nation. His
name first appears on the naval
list away back In the days of the
Crimean war. where be served in the
naval brigade before Sebastopol during
the winter OF 1854, In the trenches where
he was wounded. He was present at all of
the oper ,tiOns before Sebsstopol, and at
the capture of Klnburn. He received med.
ais for distinguished services, and was
especially mentioned In dispatches for
services director of transports during
the Abysslnlan war or 1Bo. he vas
lrlvate secretary of the Fist Lord of the
Admiralty from 1871 to 1874. received various
orders of knighthOod, and received the APP
prevail Of the government for the manner
in which he discharged his duties on the
coast of Tunls and in the Sfax comm ission
of inquiry III isl. He became acting per-
manent secretary to the Admiralty in leS2.
nnd permanent secretary In the followin &
year. In 1884 be became O mmander in
chief on the Austraiion station. and after
IL brief attempt at parliamentary career.
W as made admiral superintendent of naval
reserves in 1882. He commanded one of
the opposing fleets III the naval maneuvers
in 1ssS-S9 and $50 and was made com.
niander In chieI or the Mediterranean
forces Aug. 20, 1891.
The news of the sinking of the Victoria
caused profound sensation at the Navy
Department here People who saw the
beautiful and stately Blake, flagship of the
British squadron at the naval review,
thought she was a great ship. but che W as of
secondary Importance when comp pared with
the Inflated Victoria for while the Blake
was q large armOred cruiser. the Victoria
was full-fedged bsttleship nearly 1.600
tons larger than tho Blake. She bore
about the same relation to the Blsket hat
our owD new bett.eshlps Indiana and Ore
gon do to the armored cruiser New York.
Her dimensions and features were as fol-
lows: Armored ship Victoria. steel. 10. 470
tons. 1900 horse power, $40 ieet long. sew
enty feet beam, built at New Castle, conn.,
pleted in 1890; hull cost ft12. 522: machinery.
fll2. SSS: :urret and barbette, compound
armor. two III ton guns in
forward turret and one ten-inch mounted
in u barbette aft. The turret and barbette
had eighteen inches of compound armor.
Her listed speed was 1915 knots. She had
one lofty military mast of steel. carrying
Gunplate forins.
The Camperdown. which dealt the fatal
blow. was about the same size Is the Vic
torja. She resem b.es the United States
steamer Charleston in general appearance.
though she Ia twice large. She has q
central snperstructure. but her decks fore
and altar entirely clear. save two bar
bettes carrying heavy guns. aud her sides
| are clad IN impsnetrabie armor. Naval OFF,
| GERS here feel that one result of this catas-
| trophe will be to emphasize IN a striking
manner the terri bic efficiency of the ram
rs weapon of naval otiense. for. although
there was no intention of using It offensive g.
| Nv in this case. whom IL 10 presumed the
| ships were engaged in . ample maneuver.