PERIL OF BRITISH IRONCLADS IN BESICA BAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 65, 16 March 1877, Page 4

PERIL OF BRITISH IRONCLADS IN BESICA BAY.

We* learn from an account in the Western Daily Mercury of the following narrow escape ot two ironclads : —

"Her Majesty's sbip Tricmph left Malttt : on tbe 19th of December to join the fleet ander Admiral Drummond, near the Dardanelles, and at noon on the 22nd, after a eplendid ruo of 70 hours,, anchored in Besika Bay, she found the rest of the ships lying at single anchor. T*be position she: took op was about half a mile ahead of the Monarch, thus forming with that- ship the outer of the three lines in Which the fleafr was placed. It was blowing very fresh when the lYiunVpla arrived. The .wind ; soon increased to a. furious gale from the south and south-west. As the "barometer was still falling and the wind increasing, ail the other ships let go a second anchor about 2 p.m., thereby making themselves pretty secure, but the Triumph having her steam etill up ready for use, continued to trust* to the one anchor only. At sunset (here was a slight lull in the aiorro^and it seemed as if the worst was.. over, more especially as the sky was unclouded, and the moon and stars shone out clearly. It was a delusive pause, however, in the conflict of the elements, during which the gale seemed to gather greater fury, for about 8 p.m. it burst over the fleet again with tremendoaa force. At 9.30 a terrific squall struck the Triumph and quite overcame the holding power of her anchoiy though no less than 100 fathoms of cable were out. In a moment she began , to drift with fearful rapidity straight towards the Monarch. It soon became evident that in a few minutes she would fall right upon tbe other's ram, and that the career of both ships would come to an untimely end unless something effectual was done at once. The Triumph's second anchor waa let go as speedily as possible; but the effect it produced was only slightly to check the rate of progress. It never slopped it for a moment. On went the noble ship as if bent upon self destruction, and dragging both her anchors after her as if tbey were mere playthings. Presently the jib-boom of the Monarch was over the stern of the Triumph,' and everybody on board the latter ship was expecting a midnight swim; but fortunately, just when a few seconds would have sealed the fate of the two finest vessels afloat, steam came to the rescue and began to make the Triumph move ahead. Both her anchors were weighed, i and she started' in search of better quar- £ ters. Such was tbe fury of the storm however, that she wae driven bock, though under full steam, and at about 10 30 p.m. found herself close alongside tbe Monarch,— being so close indeed, that everyone might easily have gone from one ship to the other. Everyone one on board expected momentarily to hear the iron sides crushing to bits, bot marvellous to relate, they did not actually touch, so no damage of any consequence was done. The Triumph was stectmiug ahead with full power all the time. At last, during a lull, she managed to sheer off from the other, and once more got ahead of her, about a mile and a half. Then both anchors were let go, but again the squalls came on in greater force than ever, and again she dragged them both. Of. course there was nothing lor it but to get them up once more, and go through ths whole performance again. This was repeated altogether three times before it: was found where the anchors would' hold'; but at last, about 3 a.m. on the 23rd, the ship Was securely moored, though even then it was coneidered necessary to keep the screw going, in order -to take some strain off the cables. Th* captain of the Triumph, who is doe of the best sailors in the navy, was q.uite equal 10 tbe emergency, and no man could have done more for the safety; of the ship than he did. He did not leave the deck for a' moment from the first alarm until things were quite aafe. It is considered to be a most' unwise thing rb keep such a fleet as Admiral Drummond's in such an exposed and unsafe anchorage. The fleet might be in some safe harbor, such as Saionica, and the few hours' additional steaming required to reach Constantinople from that place would not be worth considering compared with tbe tremendous loss to Great Britain in every way if one or two of the ironclads now in Besika Bay should be wrecked.