The Sinking of the HMS Victoria, 1893.Commissioned in 1887 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen

The Sinking of the HMS Victoria, 1893.Commissioned in 1887 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, the HMS Victoria was the most powerful warship to sail the high seas during the Victorian Era.  The pride of the British Navy, the Victoria sported state of the art technology, steel plate armor, large 16 inch and 10 inch guns, and could make an impressive speed of 16 knots.  The flagship of the Royal Navy, she was the best the United Kingdom had to offer.  Too bad she would go down a mere six years later, not in combat, but because of a tragic accident as a result of stupidity and negligence.In 1890 the HMS Victoria was assigned to the Mediterranean fleet and came under the command of Vice Admiral Sir George Tryon.  Tryon was a very brusque and dictatorial officer who believed his orders should be carried out to the letter without question.  On June 22nd, 1893 his command style would be his doom, ultimately leading to the destruction of the Victoria.Tryon believed that a well performing navy was a well drilled navy and under his watch the Mediterranean fleet performed several drills and exercises.  On June the 22nd, 1893 he ordered the undertaking of an impressive fleet maneuver off the coast of Lebanon, at least one that would be impressive if it worked properly.  With 13 ships, the fleet would steam away from the coast in two columns, each 1,200 yards apart with the HMS Victoria and HMS Camperdown in the lead of each column.  When the order was given, the two columns would reverse course 180 degrees, turning towards each other and closing the gap to 400 yards while steaming back towards the coast.While an impressive maneuver there was one problem, the HMS Camperdown had a much wider turning radius than that of the HMS Victoria.  Thus in order to make the turn without running into the Victoria the Camperdown needed to be at least 1,600 yards apart from the Victoria.  Tryon’s second in command, Rear Admiral Albert H. Markham tried to inform Tryon of this fact but was rebuked by Tryon who exclaimed, “what are you waiting for?”.  The Captains of two other ships must have understood the problem as they signaled for clarification of orders.  When the order was repeated they assumed that Tryon had some other maneuver planned.  Despite the protests of his officers, Tryon ordered the fleet to proceed, disaster was inevitable.When the order was given all ships changed course 180 degrees.  By the time the HMS Victoria completed her turn, the HMS Camperdown was steaming perpendicular with the Victoria at 9 knots.  As the Camperdown grew larger in the distance it was beginning to become apparent that she would ram the Victoria.  The Captain of the Victoria, Maurice Bourke demanded permission from Tryon to order engines astern, but only at the last minute did Tryon order the Victoria to take evasive action. By then it was too late.The Camperdown struck the Victoria 12 ft below the waterline, causing the ship to fill with water faster than repairs could be made.  A mere 13 minutes after the accident the Victoria capsized and sank to them bottom, taking 358 crewmen with her.  Among the dead was the man responsible for her sinking, Vice Admiral Sir George Trayon.After the sinking an investigation was conducted into the accident.  In the end while they concluded the the accident was due to Trayon’s faulty orders, it was Markham who would take the blame for the accident because he did not take enough action when he knew the ship was in danger.  However he was not punished since many other officers knew Trayon’s orders would result in disaster but did nothing. -- source link
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