HOW ADMIRAL TRYON CAPTURED LIVERPOOL. A Million Ransom Demanded.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 304, 3 October 1888, Page 5

HOW ADMIRAL TRYON CAPTURED LIVERPOOL. A Million Ransom Demanded.

THE'following- extracts fare 'from the log oi the'"Times" co-respondent on board TLMis., Ajax>, and deal with the operations in the I Mersey on August 9th :-r~ **, .. ' August 9, 7.30 a m. - All yesterday afternoon we steamed through lovely scenery, in squally \veather,,but as nightfell we got into a dense, fog. » Here we are, however, five very formidable ironclads, at the very gates of Liverpool, without having' seen or . heard of the slightest attempt at resistance since it pleased us to leave our anchorage atßerehaven. The fog is still very thick, i but the sun is making' brave efforts to struggle through it, and it will probably ' soon lift. We cannot get over the Bar tillabout ten, and there are then about ten miles of river before we got up to the town. It is enough to make one ti'emble to think oi what would befall the town if we were really a foreign enemy's fleet, and there is evidently no reason in the world why one should not some fine day do as 'we have done, unless more efficient means are taken to prevent it than have been employed in our case. The Hearty, with torpedo-boats, was sent in very early this morning to destroy the mines that form part of the defences of the place. Our arrival has doubtless by this time been telegraphed to every town in the United Kingdom. You will be fully informed of all that passes on shore at Liverpool long before I know anything about it. Lator. — The Admiral, with a view to saving time and getting up within a bombarding distance as soon as possible, made a signal for ships to take pilots on board. This is quite fair, as there is but little doubt that here, at any rate, pilots would always be available, no matter who wanted them. At 10.30 it became quite bright and clear. About this time the Neptune hove in sight, one of Rowley's ironclads. She promptly took to her heels, making in the direction of Barrow. The Hero was despatched in chase of her, but was soon recalled, as the Neptune was too far for business. We have just heard that the Belleisle, another of Rowley's division, is up the river. She falls to us as a prize, and will increase our strength to six ironclads. The enemy will have to muster in force before he can hope to engage us with a reasonable chance of victory. At about two o'clock the ships moored in the river some mile and* a half below the town. There is an opportunity for/ sending these telegrams ashore by the pilot, and there may not be another. At the last moment I am able to state that the terms made with the town have been a ransom of one million sterling and a free exit from the river without molestation by the enemy. We bombarded the forts on our way up, but merely as a matter of form. They are beneath contempt as defences of a port like Liverpool against modern ironclads. We are perfectly safe for the time being, as the tide would utterly prevent the enemy's approach for some hours. Liverpool, Thursday night. — Now that the ships are securely moored, and the Admiral has made a general signal to his squadron that he does not intend to sail before to-morrow forenoon, we have leisure to look around us and think a little about the unexpected and almost astonishing turn that events have taken. That three swift cruisers — for the Warspite, though classed as an ironclad, is really only a cruieer — should, under cover of darkness, a false alarm, and a brilliant pyrotechnic display, manage to escape from the blockade of Berehaven, which was never too rigidly kept, is not so very wonderful. It was all along believed in the B squadron that sooner or later our fastest ships would get away. We did not think they would get away so easily ; still less did we imagine that our ironclads had only to choose their own time for following their example. It seems to us almost incredible that an enemy's fleet of inferior— and very much inferior- strength should be able, without the slightest attempt at resistance or molestation by the British naval forces, to force a blockade in one port, reinforce itself by junction with a squadron supposed to be blockaded in another port, and then, still without opposition, to steam up the Mersey and exact what ransom it pleases, with the alternative of utterly destroying Liverpool and Birkenhead with all their belongings. What the plans of Admiral Baird and his colleague may have been or are now is of no consequence. Nothing can ecet over the fact that Liverpool has been at the mercy of an invading fleet, and that fleet was able to exact what terms seemed best to it, which, in the case of a foreign foe, would most certainly have been such as to cover the value of the five ironclads that seized the town, even if they were captured outside on their departure. Thi<* is a simple text, and no sermon preached from it can add to its significance. What Sir George Tryon has done a French or German admiral might do and would do if his genius were equal to Tyron's and the means employed to foil him were not more efficacious than those adopted by the British admirals in this case. Sir George Tryon may well be proud of the complete success of his strategic combination, everything has happened exactly as he anticipated, and the valuo of the lesson he has taught to those who think our navy is as good as it need be is incalculable. From personal knowledge, I am sure that none will rejoice more at his sufce-s than our children in Australia. But Admiral Tryon's success means something serious to the nation. It means that all questions, however burning: — even Irish ones — .should at once be considered unimportant till the ' state of our national defences is satisfactory and beyond dispute. To bring "this about we must begin with the navy, and an increase in its strength is evidently necessary, not to our safety, but to our very existence as a nation.

Ultimatum to the Mayor of Liverpool. The Admiral's galley was sent ashore with the following despatch to the Mayor of Liverpool : - By George Tryon, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, j Rear- Admiral in her Majesty's Fleet, and I Admiral Superintendent of Naval Reserves, Commanding the Achill Fleet : — Hostilities ever to be regretted were commenced by that portion of her Majesty's Fleet called A Fleet on the 24th July, 1888, by an act of war perpetrated by it against that part of her Majesty's Fleet that is attached to the Achill kingdom.The accidents of war have placed the disposal of Liverpool in my hands. Recalling to mind happier days, the generous welcome and kind hospitality .extended, to the seamen of all nations by che inhabitants of your town, now know that I am prepared to pave the way to a restoration of p^eace and amity by demanding only that, you and your successors shall be compelled,' if asked, to dine with myself and, my successors at least once a yeai 1 ; and that you will also engage to treat 'hospitably^ and without mqlestation, my fleet or any portion of it, and that it shall be free to stay or to go back to their own ports when they choose under the same conditions. ' > , * Lept any of> your- counsellor's should be vain eoongli )to tMrjk fl\e canyely oh the , commercial superiority, of its fleet, lopk.out? 'of your windbwß^randr.ypu, will^seeMiHe, mine

fieldsl have established;lockingitheentrance, ( -to 5 your*. pdr,fc>;Wd^tHo^ gurisfdf |m^f|bips] bearing pnydurftown,' ?and i '-be l asBured{th'al) •the slightesb ■ on your iparb^will^ lead to violent retribution.. y^' '.jjf^j One half-houf;is%iven*to you to'*reply', to: this. ;, „ _' ."* „. a v/'^'v"^, ; j Be assured, 'sir, of my distinguished cpn-' sideration. ' '',\'- , <■'•";', ""^*f V-'''^ Dated, on board' the Hercules,, in'^the. ,'M'efsey, this 9bh day of August,' 1888P) V^ ?' ' (Signed) ' G. Tryon>"" , > The' Worshipful the Mayor of Liverpool.^

, How the Unemy Entered the Port.,? v% I The correspondent of the " Standard" on 4 board her Majesty's ship Hercules. thu v s^ describes the ' enemy's entry into " the -Mersey : — - - Shortly after eight we stopped our engines owing to the danger of progress! We anxiously watched the weather and looked in vain for a. pilot. At 8.45 we moved on again slowly upon the fog thin- ' ning Pomdwhat, our siren working discordant messages, and a gun firing at regular intervals. ' How much water have you ?'- calls the captain to the man heaving the lead. * Quarter less ten, sir,' is the answer from the fog, and our speed is made four knots. Whistles ahead, whistles to port, whistles. to starboard come thick and fast to the distraction of our navigator, but war is war, and risks must be run if Liverpool is to be ours. So far we are ignorant ot tjier whereabout of our four ironclad com-; panions, not to speak of having no news from the cruisers and torpedo-boats. At last, however, the spars of the Devastation loom up on our port bow at 9 a.m., followed at short intervals by the great hulks ot the Devastation, Ajax, and Hero, all ateaming down our port side. We are at last together, but without pilot, and, worse than that, without any information as to where or in what force the enemy are. At 9.30 the little torpedo-boats come back to us, as do the cruisers, or perhaps* ib would be more accurate to say that westumble across one another, for they have not been up to the city, owing to the thickness of the weather. At 9.50, to our intense relief, Schooner No. 2 gives us a pilot, and by eleven all our ships are provided, and we are steaming up the fifteen miles that separate the Bar Lightahip from the Prince's Landing-stage. Thirty merchantmen hare been thus far technically sunk, and we came very near capturing the Neptune, for she was heading in our direction when the fog lifted at about 10. 10, and would have been close to us had the fog favoured her a few minutes more. When she satisfied herself as to. what we were, her helm was ' immediately put down, and she disappeared at the top of her ppeed, accompanied by one torpedo-, boat. No doubt she is going to call"assistance, but by ' the time it comes Liver- - pool will be a beautiful wreck. Of course the sighting of this hostile 9,000 ton enemy called all hands to quarters, and furnished us with another evidence of our strongest weapon, the alacrity and skill of our men, not mere armour tonnage. 4. p.m. — We continued up Channel to within range of the forts guarding the northern end of. the line of docks, and these lose no time in giving us the benefit of what ammunition they have. At 12.30 our five scouts come down Channel with the signals that they have engaged the enemy successfully, and so it proves, for when at 1.15 we come within gun range of the Belleisle, she fires a few shots and then strikes her colours. The past hour has been spent in running the gauntlet of shot^ , and shell, and the fleet and shipping is^ covered with dense smoke. A pleasant variety to our serious work was occasioned by the little Volunteer gunboat Forester, steaming down our line and blazing away at us with her little guns as merrily as would a honey bee torment a buffalo. Verily, thought I, if this were war, the Forester would rise to immortal heights — that part of her, at least, that did not sink to the bottom of the Mersey. Opposite New Brighton a brass band on the pier salutes us with the National Anthem.

An Unparalleled Disaster. The c Times,' in a leading article, says : An unparalleled disaster has befallen our country. Liverpool, the Queen of the Mersey, the rival of Liverpool as a seaport, the centre and starting point of our vast ocean trade, the headquarters of those wonders of the world the swift Atlantic steamers, has been captured, and held to ransom by a hostile fleet. On Thursday, without an attempt to stop him, the bold admh-al who had succeeded in breaking thd ' blockade at Berehaven I'eached the Mersey, destroyed the mines, silenced the insignifi-* " cant forts that pretend to guard the estuary, and anchored his ships within striking distance of Liverpool and Birkenhead. Both cities Mere at his mercy, but, with a clemency that could hardly have been expected of the conqueror, he let them off for a ransom of a million sterling, and steamed out to sea unhampered and unpunished. Perhaps he was afraid pf ~ waiting more than one tide in such a risky positio i, and preferred a low penalty and one that could be quickly paid to a bigger one that would have been more difficult to exact. Anyhow, he escaped with his six ironclads, and the British fleet has not yet auffht and beaten him. The cruiser Sandfiy captured the Cunard liner Pa vonia, bound for Boston, five miles south of Ballycottin, county Munster. This makes the ninth Atlantic liner she has captured.