DETAILS OF A NAVAL DISASTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 21

DETAILS OF A NAVAL DISASTER.

THE HEROISM OF THE VICTORIA'S \ " : crew. .' fearful scenes on board. * • - - (London Correspondent of the Argus.) Vl,' " London, July 1. ' The survivors of the ill-fated [flagship Victoria ..have at Malta, but are very renpent, fearing 'to say anything before the c'ottrt-mwti|L has been held. Several correspo'udenbs, %>wever, have succeeded in gefc ' tirig; a c rftjiia - amount of information. One ■ ete.; witness'' I ' of the disaster says :— ",Tiie 'Victoria sank'- in about 13 minutes, having turned completely over. Her watertight doors we?e closed, f He men fell in on the upper deck ia'peif-.W'^rdtr, snd no panic occurred anywhere. When tho order to abandon the ship wall i given niany of the men got over the pore gjde. -The ship sank by the bows and towards the^'starboard side.. Both funnels broke off -when the vessel was lying on her starboard side/ Therowere only two prisoners on board, and both of'then\ were saved, but the man who was sent tt> the cells to release them was 'drowned." ';«,! .An • officer- of the Viotona, who was interviewed at Malta, said:— "At 35 minutes past '3 the fleet in two lines at about eiihb' knots speed, the first division led by the Victoria' anfl the second by the Camperdown. At ' exactlylHtat H' ne Vice-admiral Trypn • > implied to the other ships to alter their course, the vessels' of- the first division by 16 points to%orb and of the second division by 16 points to'' starboard^ - The order was unexpected, as" the J % ttyo/ lines' were rather close fo/'-eueh an evolution as changing column. TKq order wa9 carried out, however, so promptly tSat in two minutts the Camperdoiyn and Victoria were quite close together,, and' one/minute later in some manner which w& quite u^inbelligible to those on board, the Victoria she was iammad in the starboard twriet'by the- Camperdown. That was ab 38 minutes .past-, 3. ■ The Camperdown ram seemed to crush the whole side of the Victoria, arid, then to -get clear away with bremendous way upon Eer, ' I succeeded in swimming far enough away from -the Victoria before Bhe \?ent. down. 'I saw her disappear, and heard the decks bursting as she went down." ■Another' officer' of the Victoria made the following statement :—" I was on deck at the time the C&mperdown collided with us. The' watch, had just. been changed/. and the men who had been relieved had been below nob !

more than 15 minutes, and' "thertforfif very likely most of them were in their 1 bucks aifd went down with the vessel. , Had the* accident ' occurred a few minutes earlier when; the -.watch was about to ba relieved the^.losJ3,of lifewpuld have been very materially reduced. 1 . I believe every man on the deck of the Victoria realised that we were doomed the moment we were struck, andfor a fraction of a minute before the .actual shock came we' were conscious that it -was coming and that there was no way of avoiding' it. After the blow was delivered every man stood at his post waiting for the word from the admiral, and I believe we all heard the words he uttered, so great was the silence. When Vice-admiral Tryon ordered „ every man to save himself there was no . unseemly rush. Every man seemed to realise-t hat every other was entitled to a .chance, and I saw some acts of heroism that are a lasting credit to British sailors; • I saw. one man helping two -others who" 'Were sick and weak up the companion-way on to the' deck, and moving with the deliberation that their condition rendered necessary ab the momentary danger of his. own life. I saw another man, with a companion who he knew, could not swim, tie a scarf round an arm ana give the other end to his companion so that he might keep his head above water, and then- they botbJeaped into the sea. f'am thankful to say they\were laved. I saw a man run to the rails, suddenly stop, draw a picture from his pocket, press the card bo his lips^and bhen plunge overboard. It all happened in much less iimp than I have taken bo tell it. So rapid was the succession' of qvents that even ab this moment. I am not able to disenbangle them, 'and all 1/ can" feel to be clearly definite in my mind is the fact; that th^era was an entire absence of confusion, an heroic epitit of self-sacrifice, and one of the noblest' examples of fidelity and honour on the part of the vice-admiral of which the English navy can boast in all its records." "' -, \., Another survivor made the following statement: — "When I caw the ship sinking I jumped overboard with others. Jfc was with ■ the greatest difficulty that I got clear of the propeller, which continued to revolve, - but I saw the dang«r and swam away from it as hard as I could. When I' thought I 'had reached a safe distance I turned on my back and looked in the direction of the sinking ship. I did so just in time to see the stern disappearing, and I noticed, rherportfscrew still revolving. The nexb minute a ' great ■ explosion took place under water. The ■sound it made was awful, and it caused columns of water to be thrown op high into the air. So far; as I am able to "estimate I should say the Victoria sank in 12 minutes. I was swim- 1 ming about for 10 minutes, .and at last 'was picked up by the Camperdown's cutter. I heard that bhe Camperdown's ram was bents by the force of the collision.- In the course of the evening I was sent aboard the cruiser Edgar with a number of others who -had, like myself, been rescued by the' Campeidown's boats. Fleet-paymaster Rickbrd was -p'ickedL up alive by the Dreadnought's boat, bat died a few minutes after he was tsken- on board. The captain's cook, Portelli>- was also picked up alive, bub both his legs were broken; and ha died while they were being ampntated. Information was sent to the Camperdown that'a. number of bodies were floating inshore near Tripoli, and the cruiser Fearless 1 wa§ sent to recover them, but while doing this she grounded* I heard that IS bodies were seen By those on. board her, bat they could not be ' recovered ia the interim." . > . ••• r ' ' . • Captain Lord Charles Beresfdrd, Commanding the cruiser Undaunted) said he was glad' to ' find that' tbe men of the Victoria' had gone down true to the traditions of ,the- British- ljavy,_and had demonstrated that they yreie 'willing to die> \ for their country, as their forefathers* always were. ' . ■ ~, , .> - 1 ■- , Another correspondent gives a statement from an officer of the Victoria. "He says although, the bluejickets looked anxious, they continued perfectly quiet, eager to carry out orders. There were only two prisoners, and .both these, wero brought on to the upper deck, one^f-jinem, " however, half dead, both of his legs 'having been mangled in a shocking manner by the bow of bhe Camperdown as she crashed into the sick bay. No sooner was, the- order, "Save yourselves, men," fcireo/^ihan fche bluejackets broke ranks and ''swarmed up the weather nettings, some.- shouting " She's going down," and there was a ."scramble to get hold of something. "The- most, awful scene was witnessed on the upper side of the ship, on which the greater number of men had gathered. Those in^front "weie\preߣed io a spot immediately above' ijthe ■ N ports propeller. To jump there - appeared certain death, but there was no option^* and, scores threw themselves into the' sea, .only to ba mangled and killed by the whirling screws. The men behind shouted, " Stop' the, screws, for God's sake," but without avail, , as Ho orders could be communicated to the engineroom even. - had those below been- in a position- to "carry them out. V,^. ?V*' "

Mr A. Fraser, of Clark's Flair, makes the third candidate for Tuapeka. ;, ', Vf'* J . ,