Evening star., 1898-05-06
DISASTROUS TO wAasH1ps.

| Times of Peace Are Not wfthsat
Their Serious Accidents.
From the Chicago Inter-ocean.
| 1t Is remarkable fact that some of the
GraSest disasters to naval vessels have &C.
Cured In times Of peace. The sinking of
| the British ship Victnr1a by the Camper
down was ono ef the worst of this class Of
accidAnts. The British fleet. under COM
mand Of Admiral Sir George. fryon was
executing series OF intricate maneuysrs
of Tripoh ON June y, 1893. when by some
misunderstanding Of signals the Camper
oo~n came into collision with the f1aRshau
Victoria The latter was cut down and
sank IN few moments. carrying with her
ing Admiral Tryon
The capstzing of the Royal Georxe IN
proDaoiy the most disastrous flagship acct-
cent ON record. 1t was the flagship OF Rear
was anchored OF Spithead at the mouth Of
the Thames. A pipe below the water line
needed some repairs, and as II was 80 sim
pie an affair the ship was not docked. In
order TO get at the pipe the ship was heel
ed or listed to one side by running ona
proadside of guns from one side over to the
ther. The Royal George was a line Of
battle ship and the pride Of the British
navy ana IN full commission. All her off,
GERS and men were, on board, together with
any number of their visiting friends, to say
nothing Of swarm of tradespeople Soon
a1ter she was "heeed' a stiff land breeze
sprung SPRUNG up up and the great ship capsized.
Nearly 800 people were drowned
The battle ship Eastern Monarch anchor.
ed on SpHhead on June . 1859 She had
Just reached home port after a voyage from
lndia ana had on, board not only her own
omcers and crew, but a great number of in
vaids from the army and navy stationed
In India. She had in all over 500 men and
efiicers on board Many had been absent
from home for years There was great ne
Jelcing that night within sight of the shores
or old England. During the merriment a
lamp was upset. and the ship burned to the
waters edge. with great loss of life
;, similar accident destroyed H. M. 8. Co
lith on the night Of December % 1875. lust
three days befora Christmas She was a.
training ship, and had aboard over fifty
ofncers men and boys, mostly boys She
had Just returned from a long cruise and
lay In the Thames. The boys were antici-
pattng the Christmas festivities and i,
tneir pranks upset lamp in the Oil room,
Ihe ship was total loss, but this time the
loss of life was comparatively small.
The boys on the sailing frieate Eurvd;ca
were not so fortunate. She was homewa rd
bound from the Bermudas About 300 off,
GERS, men and boys. were on board, and she
came up along the Isle Of Wight, with ey-
cry sail drawing and her ports open. Off
Ventnor, the famous watering place on the
Isle OF Wight, the boys manned the rigging
ana eheered and cheered to those on the
peach. A squall struck the old frigate.
over she went. and nearly every person on
board was drowned right before the ewes
on hundreds of persons within hailing dis
tance on shore
Ten years before Ericsson built the moni-
tor captain Cowper Cowles of the British
navy invented what he called turret shin
II was not until some years later that the
lord high admiral accepted the captain's 3
plans and ordered turret ship built II.
NJ s. Captain was launched in 1860 and
seemed to be "hoodooed' ship from the
start She was a full-rigged iron shin.
armored and with steam as an auxiliary
power. High bulwarks were intended to be
let down, uneovering the two turrets when
the ship was cleared for action
On September Z. 1870 she was sailing in
the Bay of Biseay. A squall sprung UP and
struck the top-heavy ship full abeam She
heeied over and never rfghted. OF the
40 persons on board only eighteen were
| saved. When the court-martial sat to try
some one for negligence in losing the ship
the only person they could try was James
lost
The Victoria, with TOO persons aboard,
capsized In the Thames on May "a 1881
and over 800 we're drowned. In the mer-
chantman service hundreds Of ships and
thousands OF lives have been lost right in
port, when the ship Is supposed above an
otner times to be safe