The Dickinson press., 1893-07-01

size III the direction from which they had
come the others would swing into double
column order and advance two and two
behind the leaders.
hen the order was given the distance
tween the ships was less than two cables
iehSlh. The execution of the order was
easy enough for ships further away from
me center, but extremely difficult for the
Victoria AMI the Camprrllown. In turn
lHs their bows would pass within few
lathoms OF ench other. even if the move
inrnt was executed with the greatest pre-
clSl"li. This movement is rarely made,
ana Is chiefly Tor the purpose of training
me snip commanders to move expcdi-
liously away from shoning waters.
whether because Admiral Markham,
OF the Camprrdown. could not believe this
movement was to bc tried when the ships
were SO close together, or because he
Thought Admiral Tryon had miscacu-
lated the distance, he did not set about
executing Admiral Tryon's order, but
slgnailed that ha did not understand it.
The Victoria and the other vessels had
hot hesitated. The Victoria began TO
turn ut once, us she still held to the sig
nal. The Cumper.iown no longer hesi-
tated, but also began to turn. The brief
decay, however,
Hnd Been Fatal
The Victoria had nearly turned, and tho
Camperdown swinging around bore down
upon her. Both admirals were quick to
act admiral Iryon swung the Victoria
80 as to receive nt the smallest angle the
blow which both officers saw was incv-
table, and Admiral Markham did the
same for the Camperdown, besides re-
versing her screws. The twelve foot ram
OF the Camperdown stn1ck the Victoria
just in front of the armored bulkhead,
and plunged into the thin plates of her
starboard side. The armor ends at the
bnlkhead, and the forward part of the
Victoria above the water line was mere
cardboard to the great iron wedge so
nightly propelled. There was IL smash
ing of wood and iron plates, and the
ram and eight feet of the bow of the
Camperdown crashed twenty feet into the
down was halted by the heavy arinor
of the Victoria, and as her screws were
reversed she mt once began to back away.
AS all the other vessels were moving to
get into double line between the two lead
ers, they were bearing down upon the en-
tangled ships, and Il catastrophe invOlv-
ing all the ironclads was imminent Only
the GOODNESS and prompt action of the
other commanders prevented general
disaster. The Victoria's bow was now
pointed full toward the shore. 1t see:ns
that Admiral Tryon did not realize the
no accident OF this kind has happened
before, he could not know what the Of
feet of the hole in the compartment was
to be. He no doubt thought that as one
compartment was damaged the others
would keep his ship ailoat, so when the
Il .,t1,, .,:,
nailed for boats he 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 striking
and shore is not far away, she must be
got in shallow water. so that if she goes
down she may be raised again.
When III" Cnmprrlown's ram struck
the Nictoria. Admiral Tryon. the navi-
eating olirer. two signal officers and the
men ut ,h" wheel were upon the bridge,
either in full view or in the chart house
deck, lnniiging about, trying to keep cool
under the blazing sun of the clear, calm
sky.
With the Crash
they rushed into the battery and as far
aft as ssiblc, hut when the two vessels
separated ali returned TO their places;
Discipline WAS perfect. The admiral and
otiicelx remained stc;,'lfast upon the
bridge, setting an cxaImpr". SO good was
the discipline that within five minutes
after the blow II diving suit had been
brought ON deck and II diver was getting
into it to obey an or,ier to go below AMI
finL out the extent of the damage.
About ten minutes after the blow the
Victoria, having got something like two
miles nearer shore from the scene of the
collision. all at once leaned away over
to starboard and with II great roll AMI
nj 1,lri inl Lnr hnunut IA tLt. f.nl IN
surface of the sea. 1t was almost in
stantaneous. There was only chance
for few wild cries, and the Victoria
was almost half submerged. bow fore
most. with her swiftly revolving screws
whirling clear of the water and high in
the air Those on deck were Immediate
ly plunged into the water. The men
forward and below had no time to rnsh
to the deck and found themselves cropping
for doors of rooms filled with water
more time for those in the officers quar-
tcrs They heard the shouts and warning
cries and rushed TO the almost pes:
pendicular deck.
Commodor. Jellico. lying in his berth
sick with fever. started up and dashed
to the deck in rain,a"s +" find himself
Immediately struggling in water. A
lieutenant swam up to him. put his arID
around him and. despite the handicap
of supporting helpless man. was all.
to get away from the side of the sinking
ship. The huge hull was drawn in the
water as she Went down. and several
hundred men hurled suddenly into TIE
water. fully dressed. had to do battle
| against the increasing suction.
Cut by the Screws.
\ moment more and n new peril more
horrible descended upon them. The great
engine. deep i'll the heart of the hull and
| lnc!"Sed i'll watcr-tight. compartments,
was still tlrobbing at full speed and the
grra, steel phlanSes of the twin screws
were whirling round up in the air. AS
the vessel sank the screws came nearer
and nearer to the water and descended
| into the midst of the struggling human
beings. The vessel sank slowly, and
when the screws were low enough to