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The [[Royal Navy]]'s '''Annual Manoeuvres of 1893''' involved a number of ships called into special commission on 11 July.{{NMI|Monday, Jul 10, 1893; pg. 10; Issue 33999}}  This was a considered a "partial mobilization" of the Fleet in that it not all ships in Reserve were made ready.{{ToL|The Naval Manoeuvres of 1893|Tuesday, Jul 11, 1893; pg. 11; Issue 34000}}

==Overall Plan==
The Manoeuvres were held in the Irish Sea as the nation digested news of the loss of {{UK-Victoria|f=p}} in the Mediterranean.  In the Manoeuvres, one side composed of two fleets trying to take command of the sea from the opposing side also composed of two fleets.  The Red side, intended to represent Britain, was larger than the Blue side, which was to represent France or a similar challenger.  However, one of the two Blue fleets was larger than the smaller of the Red fleets, and the Blue side would be able to overpower either Red fleet should Blue be able to concentrate its two fleets.  Blue also had a considerable force of torpedo boats &ndash; a type missing in the Red side.

The area for the manoeuvres were between 49&deg; and 56&deg; North and 3&deg; to 13&deg; West; the British coast would be Red territory and the Irish coast Blue.

==Ships Involved==

===Sheerness Command===
* {{UK-Andromache|f=t}} Captain [[George Fowler King-Hall]]
* {{UK-Apollo|f=t}} Captain [[George Anson Primrose]]
* {{UK-Barracouta|f=t}} Commander [[Philip Francis Tillard]]
* {{UK-1Benbow|f=t}} Captain [[Burges Watson]], Commander The Hon. [[Walter George Stopford]]
* {{UK-Blenheim|f=t}} Captain [[William Henry Hall]] (lent), Commander [[Reginald Purves Cochran]]
* {{UK-1Brilliant|f=t}} Captain [[Edmund Samuel Poë]]
* {{UK-Circe|f=t}} Commander [[Henry Joseph Keane]] 
* {{UK-Gleaner|f=t}} Commander [[Leslie Creery Stuart]]
* {{UK-Gossamer|f=t}} Commander [[Rowland Edward Berkeley]]
* {{UK-1Grasshopper|f=t}} Lieutenant & Commander [[Arthur Barry]] (lent)
* {{UK-Jaseur|f=t}} Commander [[Stanley Talbot Dean-Pitt]]
* {{UK-Jason|f=t}} Commander [[Frederick Gilbert Charles Langdon]]
* {{UK-Raven|f=t}} Lieutenant & Commander [[Alexander Eckstein Stewart]]
* {{UK-Salamander|f=t}} Commander [[Algernon Horatio Anson]]
* {{UK-Sappho|f=t}} Captain [[Henry Charles Bigge]]
* {{UK-1Sheldrake|f=t}} Commander [[Alfred Fulling Welldon]]
* {{UK-Skipjack|f=t}} Commander [[James Pipon Montgomery]]
* {{UK-Terpsichore|f=t}} Captain [[Arthur Calvert Clarke]]
* {{UK-1Tribune|f=t}} Captain [[Robert Leonard Groome]]
* {{UK-TB63}} Sub-lieutenant in Command [[Cecil Henry Fox]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB64}} acting Sub-lieutenant in Command [[John Barff Hancock]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB67}} Lieutenant & Commander [[George Barrett]] (lent; recorded as "George H. Barrett" in ''The Times'')
* {{UK-TB68}} acting Sub-lieutenant in Command [[Hubert Henry Holland]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB72}} Lieutenant & Commander (T) [[Dudley Rawson Stratford de Chair]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB73}} Sub-lieutenant in Command [[Arthur Edward Phillipps]]

===Portsmouth Command===
* {{UK-Barossa|f=t}} Commander [[John Edward Bearcroft]]
* {{UK-1Hero|f=t}} Captain [[George Lambart Atkinson-Willes|George Lambart Atkinson]], Commander [[Thomas Philip Walker]]
* {{UK-1Indefatigable|f=t}} Captain [[Richard Bingham]]
* {{UK-1Intrepid|f=t}} Captain [[John Salwey Hallifax]]
* {{UK-Iphigenia|f=t}} Captain [[Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman|Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman-Simpson]]
* {{UK-1Iris|f=t}} Captain [[John Harvey Rainier]]
* {{UK-Magnet|f=t}} Lieutenant & Commander [[James Webber]] (lent)
* {{UK-Naiad|f=t}}, Captain [[Michael Pelham O'Callaghan]]
* {{UK-1Rattlesnake|f=t}}, Lieutenant & Commander [[Lewis Bayly]] (lent)
* {{UK-Seagull|f=t}} Lieutenant & Commander (T) [[Arthur Ward Torlesse]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB59}} Lieutenant & Commander [[Clement Greatorex]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB60}} Sub-lieutenant in Command [[Arthur Kipling Waistell]]
* {{UK-TB66}} acting Sub-lieutenant in Command [[Henry Strickland]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB77}} acting Sub-lieutenant in Command [[Thomas Parry Bonham]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB79}} Lieutenant & Commander [[Gordon Colquhoun Fraser]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB81}} Lieutenant & Commander (T) [[Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB82}} Lieutenant & Commander [[William Reginald Hall]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB83}} Lieutenant & Commander Sir [[Robert Keith Arbuthnot, Fourth Baronet|Robert Keith Arbuthnot]]
* {{UK-TB84}} Lieutenant & Commander [[George Walter Smith]] (lent)

===Devonport Command===
* {{UK-Aeolus|f=t}} Captain [[Walter Hodgson Bevan Graham]]
* {{UK-1Curlew|f=t}} Commander [[John Locke Marx]]
* {{UK-1Conqueror|f=t}} Captain Sir [[Baldwin Wake Walker, Second Baronet|Baldwin Wake Walker]], Commander [[Frederick Henry Peere Williams Freeman]]
* {{UK-Forth|f=t}} Captain [[Charles Philip Giffin Hicks]], Commander [[William Francis Tunnard]]
* {{UK-Pique|f=t}} Captain [[Orford Churchill]]
* {{UK-1Rainbow|f=t}} Captain [[Count Frederick Cosmeto Metaxa]]
* {{UK-Retribution|f=t}} Captain [[Charles James Barlow]]
* {{UK-Spider|f=t}} Lieutenant & Commander [[Henry John Oldfield]] (lent)
* {{UK-1Thames|f=t}} Captain [[Robert William Craigie]], Commander [[Ian Mackenzie Fraser]]
* {{UK-Traveller|f=t}} Lieutenant & Commander [[Richard Archibald Cathie]] (lent)
* {{UK-1TB34}} Lieutenant & Commander [[Spencer Allen Hickley]] (lent)
* {{UK-1TB45}} Sub-lieutenant in Command [[Robert Gwynne Corbett]]
* {{UK-TB52}} Sub-lieutenant in Command [[Louis Charles Stirling Woollcombe]]
* {{UK-TB53}} acting Sub-lieutenant in Command [[Berkeley Holme-Sumner]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB57}} Sub-lieutenant in Command [[Henry Rawdon Veale]]
* {{UK-TB58}} Lieutenant & Commander [[Cecil Irby Prowse]]
* {{UK-TB80}} Lieutenant & Commander (T) [[William Lowther Grant]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB85}} Lieutenant & Commander [[Thomas Legge Barnardiston]] (lent)
* {{UK-TB87}} Lieutenant & Commander [[Robert Falcon Scott]] (lent)

==Order of Battle==
The objectives of the Manoeuvres and the order of battle were spelled out in ''The Times'' on 11 July.{{ToL|The Naval Manoeuvres of 1893|Tuesday, Jul 11, 1893; pg. 11; Issue 34000}}

===Red Side===
The Red Side was under the overall command of Vice-Admiral [[Henry Fairfax]], who personally commanded the component "A" Fleet, with a second "B" Fleet under command of a subordinate.
* "A" Fleet &ndash; under command of Fairfax, assembled at Portland and Torbay
** Group "a"
***{{UK-1RoyalSovereign}}, {{UK-1Rodney}}, {{UK-1Nelson}}, {{UK-1Conqueror}}, {{UK-1Narcissus}}, {{UK-Blenheim}}
**Group "b"
***{{UK-Sappho}}, {{UK-Pique}}, {{UK-Naiad}}, {{UK-1Rainbow}}, {{UK-1Intrepid}}
**Group "c"
***{{UK-Speedwell}}, {{UK-Skipjack}}, {{UK-Salamander}}, {{UK-Jaseur}}, {{UK-Gossamer}}, {{UK-Gleaner}}, {{UK-Spider}}, {{UK-1Rattlesnake}}

*"B" Fleet &ndash; under command of Rear-Admiral [[Edward Hobart Seymour|E. H. Seymour]], assembled at Milford Haven and Lamlash
** Group "a"
***{{UK-Anson}}, {{UK-1Thunderer}}, {{UK-Rupert}}, {{UK-Immortalite}}
**Group "b"
***{{UK-1Tribune}}, {{UK-Iphigenia}}, {{UK-1Mersey}}, {{UK-1Iris}}, {{UK-1Bellona}}
**Group "c"
***{{UK-Barracouta}}, {{UK-1Sheldrake}}, {{UK-1Grasshopper}}

===Blue Side===
The Blue Side was under the overall command of Rear-Admiral [[Robert O'Brien FitzRoy|R. O'B. Fitzroy]], who personally commanded the first component Fleet, with two subordinate Fleets.
* "C" Fleet &ndash; under command of Fitzroy, assembled at Torbay and Berehaven
** Group "a"
***{{UK-1Alexandra}}, {{UK-1Superb}}, {{UK-1Benbow}}, {{UK-1Audacious}}, {{UK-1Australia}}, {{UK-2Galatea}}
**Group "b"
***{{UK-Terpsichore}}, {{UK-1Indefatigable}}, {{UK-1Melampus}}, {{UK-Aeolus}}

*"D" Fleet &ndash; under command of Rear-Admiral [[Alfred Taylor Dale|A. T. Dale]], assembled at Berehaven and Black Sod Bay
** Group "a"
***{{UK-1Swiftsure}}, {{UK-1Hero}}, {{UK-2Aurora}}
**Group "b"
***{{UK-Andromache}}, {{UK-Apollo}}, {{UK-1Brilliant}}, {{UK-Retribution}}, {{UK-Forth}}, {{UK-1Thames}}

* Coast of Ireland Squadron &ndash; under command of Rear-Admiral [[Henry Craven St. John|H. C. St. John]].  Assembled at Falmouth and other stations.
** Group "c" &ndash; stationed at Falmouth
*** {{UK-Barossa}}, {{UK-Jason}}, {{UK-Circe}}, {{UK-Seagull}}
**Torpedo Boats &ndash; stationed at Larne, Belfast, Carlingford, Kingstown, Wicklow and Waterford, and immune to capture when in Strangford, Dundalk, Howth and Wexford
*** {{UK-TB59}}, {{UK-TB60}}, {{UK-TB66}}, {{UK-TB77}}, {{UK-TB79}}, {{UK-TB81}}, {{UK-TB82}}, {{UK-TB83}}, {{UK-TB84}} 
*** {{UK-1TB34}}, {{UK-TB45}}, {{UK-TB52}}, {{UK-TB53}}, {{UK-TB57}}, {{UK-TB58}}, {{UK-TB80}}, {{UK-TB85}}, {{UK-TB87}} 
*** {{UK-TB63}}, {{UK-TB64}}, {{UK-TB67}}, {{UK-TB68}}, {{UK-TB72}}, {{UK-TB73}},

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1893}}

{{Annual Manoeuvres Footer}}
{{CatNat|Naval Manoeuvres|UK}}