GRKAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



359 



I'nited Kingdom in 1893 was 103,891 officers 

 untl incii. ri.n-i-.tinj; of 12,759 cavalry, 17,li(>:{ 

 artillfi-y. ."i,:t:',s engineers, and 68,181 infantry 

 ami special rcu-ps. \vitli 13,070 horses and mules 

 and ','vj lirld trims. Tliere were .stationed in 

 England and Wales 7~ > .!)^7 men, with 10,141 

 hor-cs and mules and 2 'JO field guns; in Srot- 

 land, 4, (>:.>:{ men, witli 322 horses and mules and 

 4 field guns: in Ireland. 'Jli.lMl men, with 3,207 

 horses and mules and 52 field guns. In Kgypt 

 were stationed 8,350 officers and men, with ::."i7 

 horses and mules, which force was strengthened 

 early in 1893 by 2 battalions, or about 900 men. 

 A force of 29,586 men, with 625 horses and 

 mules, was stationed in the colonies ; there were 

 on passage 3,143 officers and men. The British 

 troops in India numbered 71,620, with 11,478 

 horses and mules and 318 field guns. Includ- 

 ing these, the total effective was 211,590 officers 

 and men. with 20,130 horses and mules and 600 

 guns. There are besides four classes of reserves 

 and auxiliary forces, which had at the beginning 

 of 1893 an effective as follows: Army reserve 

 class, 68,933 ; militia, 113,999 ; yeomanry, 10,768 : 

 volunteers, 222,046. These figures added to those 

 of the active army give 627,336 as the fighting 

 strength of the nation. On Jan. 1, 1892, the 

 regular army consisted of 153,131 Englishmen, 

 15,993 Scotchmen, 26,788 Irishmen, 6,032 natives 

 of India and the colonies, 123 foreigners, and 

 1,096 whose nativity was not reported. 



Under the various army laws Great Britain 

 and Ireland are divided into 14 military districts. 

 For the infantry there are 102 subdistricts, com- 

 manded by line colonels; for the artilery, 12 sub- 

 districts, commanded by artillery colonels ; and 

 for the cavalry, 2 districts, commanded by cav- 

 alry colonels. As a rule the brigade of an in- 

 fantry district consists of 2 line battalions, 2 

 militia battalions, the brigade depot, rifle vol- 

 unteer corps, and infantry of the army reserve. 

 Of the two line battalions it is a part of the sys- 

 tem that one should be abroad and the second 

 at one of the home stations. An artillery sub- 

 district contains, besides the royal artillery, that 

 of the militia, the volunteers, and the army re- 

 serve; while a cavalry colonel has command not 

 only of the cavalry regiments in his district, 

 but over the yeomanry, volunteers, and reserve 

 cavalry. The issue of the magazine rifle was 

 nearly complete early in 1893, when 346,000 had 

 been manufactured, 56,000 of which were in the 

 hands of the troops, and 70,000 in India. The 

 cavalry are being armed with the new carbine, 

 and 86 batteries have been armed with a new 12- 

 pounder gun. 



The Navy. The naval estimates for 1892-'93 

 provided for 46.031 seamen, including 14 flag 

 officers and 2,714 commissioned officers on active 

 service; 8. 443 boys, including those under train- 

 ing ; 14,379 marines afloat and on shore ; 4.200 

 coast guards ; and 1.049 officers for various serv- 

 ices, making a total of 74,100 of all ranks. 

 Provision was also made for 23.501 officers and 

 men in the navy reserves, and 3,010 pensioner 

 reserves. Including 94 officers on salary, nut 

 above specified, the total of officers and men pro- 

 vided for was 100. TO."). 



There were 278 naval vessels in commission 

 Nov. 1. 1892, against 277 in the previous year. 

 There were 9 first-class battle ships, against 17 in 



1891, but this decrease was due to a change in th- 

 ria ideation of armor-plated ,-hi|>>. Tln-r. 

 8 second-class battle ships, a decrease of 2, can-, d 

 also by change in classification : 8 third-class 

 battle ships, an addition of 7 due to the changed 

 cla-Mlication ; 4 coast-defense ships, an addition 

 of .'> in this class; and 11 first-class cruisers, an 

 addition of 1 ; making 40 armored ships, an in- 

 crease of 1 over the previous year. There were 

 137 unarmored ships, as follow : 45 second and 

 third-class cruisers; 1 torpedo ram; 13 sloops, 

 an increase of 1 ; 4 gun vessels, a decrease of 1 ; 

 51 gunboats, an increase of 1 ; 16 special-service 

 vessels : 2 dispatch vessels ; 7 troop and store 

 ships; 4 Indian troop ships; 4 royal yachts; 7 

 surveying ships ; 11 torpedo boats; and 12 other 

 ships. There were also 26 sailing vessels, com- 

 prising 6 training brigs. 18 coast-guard tenders 

 or revenue cruisers, and 2 other ships; and 35 

 stationary vessels, including 21 training and 

 drill ships. According to the programme of 

 construction to be completed in 1894, the fleet 

 will comprise 77 full-armored, 88 protected, and 

 336 unprotected vessels, making a total of 501 

 ships of all classes, of 1,127,049 tons, against 373 

 effective ships, of 679,144 tons, in 1889. 



Of 137 vessels on foreign service in 1892, there 

 were 28 in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea ; 

 8 in the Channel squadron ; 12 in North Ameri- 

 can and West Indian waters; 10 on the East In- 

 dian and 20 on the China station ; 24 at the 

 Cape of Good Hope and on the west coast of 

 Africa; Sin the Pacific; 12 on the Australian 

 station ; 4 on the southeast coast of America ; 10 

 on particular service; 4 on surveying service; 

 and 10 constituting the training squadron. 



Loss of the Victoria. While the Mediter- 

 ranean fleet, commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir 

 George Tryon, was manoeuvring off Tripoli on 

 June 22, the " Victoria," which was the flagship 

 of the squadron, was struck by the ram of the 

 " Camperdown,'' Rear-Admiral A. Markham 

 commanding, and sunk in about 70 fathoms 

 of water. The manoeuvre that brought on 

 the collision required the fleet, proceeding in 

 two columns, led respectively by the "Victoria" 

 and " Camperdown, to reverse the sailing di- 

 rection by turning inward toward each other, 

 each ship to follow its leader in the movement. 

 By the orders of the admiral the distance be- 

 tween the columns was 6 cables, or 3.600 feet. 

 The " Victoria " was leading the starboard and 

 the " Camperdown " the port column, and when 

 the admiral's order to turn inward was signaled 

 from the ' Victoria," the " Camperdown " did not 

 begin to turn, but signaled that the order was 

 not understood. It was known by experiment 

 that the " Victoria " at ordinary speed could turn 

 around in a circle a little less than 1,800 feet in 

 diameter, and that, with one wheel going ahead 

 and the other backing, that circle could be re- 

 duced to 1,200 feet. The " Camperdown's " 

 turning capacity was approximately the same; 

 so that had the engines of both steamers been 

 run to make the short turn there was a margin 

 of 1.200 feet for the performance of the evolu- 

 tion, as the sea was perfectly calm. It appears, 

 however, that there was no understanding on 

 cither ship that the engines were to be run other 

 than in the ordinary way. As soon as the Vic- 

 toria" began to make her turn inward Rear- 



