The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1893-06-30
THE VICTORIA.
Nov n. English was vessel Wen.

NOW the English War Vessel Went 10 IN
Bottom-Horribie Death In Three Forms
TEIroLf, June About 3 o'clocI
last Thursday afternoon the Englisl
fleet came in sight Of Tripoli. The fv
big ironclads, Victoria, Campcrdowu
Edinburgh, Nile and sans Parcil. wer
drawn up full In front The victori,
was In the center, the Camperdow,
! was on her left and the Edinburgh o,
her right When they were within fiv,
miles of shore Vice Admiral Tryor
nsgnnlled 70 turn and form In doubI,
line. This meant that the Victoria an,
Camperdown were ga yo ahead and de
scribe n turn the Victoria turning 4.
the left and the Camperdown turning I.
the right, then they would advance aid,
by side In the direction for which the,
had come. the others would swing int
double and advance two and two be
hind the leads When the order wa,
given the distance behind the shin.
was less than two cable lengths The
execution Of the order was easy enough
for ships further away from center
bat extremely difficult for the
Victoria and the uampcrdown.
10 turning their bows would pass
within few fathoms Of each other.
Whether A.imsirs; Markham, Of the
Csmpcrdown. could not believe this
movement was TO be- tried when the
ships were M close together or because
he thought Admiral Tryon had miscal.
culsted the distance he did not set
about executing the order. but sig
nailed that he did not understand IL.
The Victoria add the other vessels
had not hesitated. The Victoria
De gan 10 turn at once as she still
held To the signal The Camperdown
no longer hesitatcd, but also began 70
turn. The brief delay, however, had
been fatal The Victoria had nearly
turned. and the Camperdown. swing.
ing around, bore down upon her. Both
admirals were quick To act. Admiral
Tryon swung the Victoria No Us TO ar
rive at the smallest angle the blow,
which the officers saw was inevita bic,
would strike, and Adm. MARKHAM did the
sainc besides reversing her screw. The
tweivc-foot ram struck theVictoria Just
front 81 the armorcd bulkbead and
plunged into the thin plates OF her
,tarboard side. The armor ends At the
bulkhead and the forward part Of the
Victoria above the water line was
mere cardboard To the great
ron wedge. There VIVA smash
ny OF wood and iron Mate and tic
-am and eight feet n, ;he how ~ IN.
amper,iown crashed into the bo,xe,s
u the Victoria. As all the vessel. were
moving TO get into double line behind
he two leaders they were bearing |
own upon the entanglcd shin, and a |
tastrnphc involving nh the iron clad.
vas imminent
The Nictoria's bow was not pointed
ull toward the shore. II seems th.t
Idmiral Tyron did not realize the ex.
INT Of the damage tn the ship. lie no
oubt Thought that AS only me com.
srtment was damaged the Others
'oald keep the ship afioat, so when
ic Campcrdown and the other
hips signalled their offers of
ows he replied that he did not need
iem A moment more and a new peril |
Icre horrible descended upon them.
he great engine deep In the heart Of I
ne hull and inclosed In water tight
was still throbbing ut
III speed and the great steel nanges
the screws were still whirling in the
n, As the vessel sank the screws
,me nearer and nearer TO the water
nd descended into the midst Of human
sings When the screws were
w enough 10 begin 10 whirl In the
alter again the suction had increased
ltil there was a deepening vortex like
maeistrom. Al the bottom of this
sclstrom the screws were revolving
&c circular knives They were drawn
'wn and thrown against the swift
AIDES. Then came n scene which made {
e officers on the decks Of the other
arships OF the feet turn away sick
ith horror. II
Screams and shrieks arose, and in the
bite foam appeared Redeemed arms .
ID legs and wrenched and torn bodies
'adless trunks were tossed out Of the I
rick to linger a moment on the SUR
~ and sink out of sight All within
ach OF that vortex lost their presence s
mind. Men who knew how TO swim a
sscd swimming and Tough, with the
.teps. Men clutched each other 4, n
,nzy and struck each other off Tbs {
sci began 10 forge straight for tha a
ore under full steam :
40 yooi was the d;scinli,s ,ba, with.
five minutes after the blow a diving a
Il had been brought ON deck and n
,er was getting into n 10 obey an ar. 4
,o go h.,,o,., "a ga ,,,, ar. -. !,
the damage. u
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