Charles Dixon.]
THE NAVAL REVIEW: BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE FLEET AT ANCHOR IN SPITHEAD, June 26, 1897.
The line E consists of Merchant Vessels, anchored on the south or Isle of Wight side of Spithead. Line A consists of Foreign Men-of-war. The total number of British War Ships occupying stations in Spithead was 165. Of these lines B and C comprised fifty-nine Battleships and Cruisers in the following order, starting from the left or eastward end:—
Line B—1, Magnificent; 2, Royal Sovereign; 3, Repulse; 4, Resolution; 5, Empress of India; 6, Majestic; 7, Prince George; 8, Mars; 9, Jupiter; 10, Victorious; 11, Renown (Commander-in-Chief); 12, Powerful; 13, Blake; 14, Blenheim; 15, Royal Arthur; 16, Theseus; 17, Thetis; 18, Flora; 19, Naiad; 20, Tribune; 21, Terpsichore; 22, Sirius; 23 (station not occupied); 24, Hermione; 25, Andromache; 26, Sappho; 27, Spartan; 28, Latona; 29, Brilliant; 30, Charybdis.
Line C—1, Sans Pareil; 2, Howe; 3, Benbow; 4, Collingwood; 5, Inflexible; 6, Alexandra; 7, Edinburgh; 8, Colossus; 9, Devastation; 10, Thunderer; 11, Warspite; 12, Terrible; 13, Australia; 14, Galatea; 15, Aurora; 16, Edgar; 17, Melampus; 18, Endymion; 19, Diana; 20, Isis; 21, Juno; 22, Doris; 23, Venus; 24, Minerva; 25, Dido; 26, Apollo; 27, Æolus; 28, Phaeton; 29, Leander; 30, Bonaventure.
Line D (thirty-eight Third-class Cruisers, Gun-vessels, and Torpedo Gunboats)—1, Mersey; 2, Pelorus; 3, Magicienne; 4, Medea; 5, Medusa; 6, Barracouta; 7, Curlew; 8, Landrail; 9, Speedy; 10, Alarm; 11, Antelope; 12, Jaseur; 13, Circe; 14, Gossamer; 15, Jason; 16, Hazard; 17, Leda; 18, Niger; 19, Onyx; 20, Rattlesnake; 21, Renard; 22, Sharpshooter; 23, Skipjack; 24, Sheldrake; 25, Spanker; 26, Gleaner; 27, Raven; 28, Cockchafer; 29, Starling; 30, Active; 31, Volage; 32, Calypso; 33, Champion; 34, Cailiope; 35, Curacoa; 36, Northampton; 37, Agincourt; 38, Minotaur.
Line F (forty-eight Destroyers and Gunboats)—1, Halcyon; 2, Lightning; 3, Havock; 4, Daring; 5, Hornet; 6, Hardy; 7, Whiting; 8, Hasty; 9, Hunter; 10, Fame; 11, Foam; 12, Spitfire; 13, Ranger; 14, Research; 15, Triton; 16, Vivid; 17, Firequeen; 18, Albacore; 19, ——; 20, Jackal; 21, ——; 22, Decoy; 23, Quail; 24, Ferret; 25, Rocket; 26, Opossum; 27, Sparrowhawk; 28, Lynx; 29, Thrasher; 30, Skate; 31, Virago; 32, Sunfish; 33, Haughty; 34, Desperate; 35, Contest; 36, Janus; 37, Salmon; 38, Snapper; 39, Sturgeon; 40, Spider; 41, ——; 42, Wanderer; 43, Liberty; 44, Martin; 45, Nautilus; 46, Pilot; 47, Seaflower; 48, Sealark.
Twenty Torpedo Boats were anchored further to the right, near the Spit Fort, and beyond them, in Stokes Bay, as well as on the opposite side, off Osborne, accommodation was found for a very large number of yachts and other vessels.
It was not destined, however, that the hundreds of thousands of spectators who were afloat in the pleasure boats and who lined Southsea beach and the shores of the Isle of Wight overlooking Spithead, were to lose the most beautiful spectacle of all. As daylight faded so faded the storm, and at a quarter-past nine o’clock, when the signal for lighting up the ships was given by a single gun, the conditions for viewing the illuminations were as perfect as possible. To quote again a writer, Mr. G. W. Steevens, to whom we are already much indebted:—“The thunderstorm was only an episode. Having done its business, it went dutifully away, and left the field clear for the illuminations. Out on the sea front you could see the lights of the fleet like glow-worms in the dark. Then suddenly there sounded a gun; and as I moved along Southsea Common there appeared in the line a ship of fire. A ship all made of fire—hull and funnels and military masts with fighting tops. And then another, and another, and another. The fleet revealed itself from behind the castle, ship after ship traced in fire against the blackness. From the head of Southsea they still came on—fresh wonders of grace and light and splendour, stretching away, still endlessly as in the daytime, till they became a confused glimmer six miles away. It was the fleet and yet not the fleet. You could recognise almost any ship by her lines and rig—just as if it had been in day, only transmuted from steel and paint into living gold. The Admirals still flew their flags as in the day, only to-night the flags were no longer bunting, but pure colour. The heavy hard fleet vanished, and there came out in its stead a picture of it magically painted in pure light.
THE JAPANESE BATTLESHIP “FUJI.”
Japan having so recently had experience of actual naval warfare, her representative at Spithead came in for a considerable amount of attention. Some of her officers had, indeed, taken part in the Battle of the Yalu.
From a Photograph] [by Symonds & Co., Portsmouth.