The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1893-07-04

tAO '4SeOAAo was 4OftfN Vo4S'
These ten ships were prob
ably in two or three lines, and
were making some change in
their formation when the
collision took place. 1t is stated
that the blow was received abreast
of the fore turret, in which case
the heaviest of the armor, viz, IS
inches of steel, besides basking,
must have been crushed. Hence
it is fair to infer a high rate Of
speed on the Camperdown.
1t may be, as oecurre6 in a
similar case, when II. NJ. iron-clad
Vanguard was sunk by the Iron
Duke, that the actual spot struck
was on one of the principal water
tight bulkheads, so that two of the
largest compartments were at once
torn open and the water admitted
in an utterly overwhelming flood.
Again, after an injury like this,
the ship soon loses the power of
sitting upright, and having once
heeled over to her bearings, her
double bottom hastens the catas-
trophe and tends to turn the ship
over on her broadside, and finally
bottom up, as it is said was the
case with the Victoria.
The terrible loss of life can be
accounted for in various WAYS.
First, a considerable number of
men, probably amongst the num-
Der the Admiral himself, were
killed or fatally injured by the col
lision itself. Doubtless large pro-
portion of those employed in and |
about the engine-rooms, stokeholes
and coal-boxes were crushed in
engines or suffocated by escaping
steam, and many probably were
unable to escape from the lower
regions of the ship. Another peril
is the "suctioh" of such a huge
body sinking in the waves. Any
thing floating within the area af-
fected would be drawn down. In
the case of the German iron-clad
Grosser Kurfurst, sunk by being
run into by her next astern, about
300 men were lost. This was in
1878. The most terrible loss of life
on the occasion of the sinking of
an iron-clad was in 1870, when H.
NJ. S. Captain capsized in a squalI
in the Bay of Biscay and, accord /
ing to the evidence of the gunner, t
1ne of the eighteen survivors, went t
lown in three minutes. In this in I
stance 472 lives were lost, including !
he captain and every officer, the /
gunner alone excepted. a
Admiral Sir George Tryon was G
ecognized as one of the ablest Of :
icers in H. NJ. service. In his sixty q
irst year, still in the prime of his a
bilities, matured by over forty
ears of pretty constant service, a
rs name or that of his captain, the l.
honorable Maurice A. .Bourke, would i
. sufficient to assure one that b
o neglect or slovenliness, no for 81
citing or not exercising waterproof 5!
oors and bulkhead, no carlessness =,
clumsiness in handling boats n
ontributed to the loss of the ship Il
of those in her. 1t is supposed a
lat about $50 of whom 81 were 81
Ulcers are lost and about 25O ;f
lved, making her complement up fo
600. ie
Admiral Tryon commanded the al
fleet in the naval man. y, ~
uvres of 1890 when he earned al
lie highest credit as tactician
Id an able and enterprising flag tn
ficer, having been previously spe- m m
ally mentioned for services as di- ~
ctor of transports during the
byssinian expedition. As a Young ex
'utenant he served in the naval sa
igade before Sebastopol where he an
Is wounded. ch
The Victoria was built, armored bl,
ID engined by Armstrong at Els tn
ok at a cost of e724,S55. She tn
n