Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-17

and he was lost with his heroic comrades,
all of whom were victims of a mistaken idea
In naval construction.
1t is thought that the fate of the Captain
overlook the RENE Regente of Spain. But
no one will ever know whether she foun-
dered or was wrecked by an explosion. She
was a battleship and had on board the
Moorish mission going from Spain to Tan
giers. She sailed In March, 1895, and was
never heard from again. 1t is generally
supposed that she foundered, but her crew
Of 400 was lost with her, and no piece of
wreckage or dead body was ever found to
give clue to her disappearance.
When the Vanguard was rammed by the
Iron Duke. in 1875 her consort stood by and
took off the whole of her crew safely. But
three years later there was disaster of the
same sort in the German navy with a diff
ferent result. The Koenig Wilhelm and the
kurfurst were sailing in company with the
rest of the German squadron. when the
Kurfurst changed her course to avoid two
sailing ships. The koenig Wilhelm was d.
rectly behind her and cut her down almost
from keel to main deck. Like the disaster
of the Vanguard. it was an adful exhibition
Of the power of the ram. But 1t was more
terrible. as half the crew of 492 men were
drowned before they could be taken off.
The ramming of the Victoria by the Cam
perdown in the Mediterranean was a more
recent event, and while 1t again showed the
power of the ram and. the efficiency OF
British naval discipline, It was an awful
commentary on the hard headedness of Adj
miral Tryon. who insisted on trying an inn
possible maneuver. after, he had been re-
spectfully warned against it by his sub
ordinates -.
The British squadron put out from Bey-
reuth for Tripoli on June %, 1893 The
Victoria and the Camperdown were leading
dered them to turn inward and anchor in
the same formation. though they were only
six cable lengths apart. The distance was
less than the turning radius of either ship,
and the Camperdown protested by signal
as Captain Markham, the second in COM
mand on the Victoria, had already protested
in person. The turn was made, however,
and the collision resulted. The Victoria.
which was only completed in 1880. and
which cost So, 624 900, was sunk In ten min
utes. Her crew was drawn up on deck and
stood calmly awaiting the end till the order
was given to Jump.
Many of the crew could not swim, and
they were so close together in the water
that there was little room for even those
who could swim. The helpless ones dragged
down many of their fellows. Some were
cut to pieces by the still revolving screws
and others were dragged down in the vor-
tex never to RISE Altogether 81 of the
crew of $50 persisted. Admiral Tryon dis
dained to outlive the disaster and went
The loss of the Maine was nearer In many
respects to the disaster. of the Mfkasa than
to that of any other ship. The finding of
the court of inquiry was that she was
blown up by a torpedo under her bottom
on the night of February 10, 1898. with a
loss of 30 men. 1t is possible that the
court of inquiry in the case OF Togo,s flag
ship may find that she was wrecked 1nten-
tionally by some OF the war party who
fred her In revenge. and thus exploded her
magazines. However that may be. she adds
another to the long list OF warship dis
aastars and piles up the toll OF blood that
must be paid even in peace time as tho
cost Of sea power to Q nation.