Annual Manoeuvres of 1890

The Royal Navy's Annual Manoeuvres of 1890 was a typical exercise even if of a relatively reduced scale compared to other years', with one fleet taking a defensive role while a second took a threatening role.

A review of the Navy List and Service Records of the men involved seems to indicate that those who received the temporary command appointments often used in manoeuvres were dated 22 July, 1890. The manoeuvres seemed to commence shortly after 29 July, with the two fleets departing Portland and to conclude around 20 August.

Order of Battle

The Times reported the structure of the exercise as follows.

The first-class torpedo boats listed there were to be split evenly between the two fleets. A story from 29 July 1890 permitted their Fleet assignments to be sorted out as shown below.

• Fleet Number 1 – commanded by Vice-Admiral George Tryon in flagship Invincible was to represent the English Fleet, tasked with protecting trade routes.
  • second class battleship Anson, Captain Bouverie Francis Clark
  • second class battleship Rodney, Captain John Borlase Warren
  • masted turret ship Inflexible, Captain not indicated
  • second class battleship Hero, Captain William Home Chisholme St. Clair
  • central battery ironclad Invincible, Captain Arthur Thomas Brooke
  • ironclad Triumph, Captain Francis Starkie Clayton
  • turret ram Hotspur, Captain Thomas Harvey Royse
  • ironclad battleship Northumberland, Captain John Fellowes
  • armoured frigate Black Prince, Captain Alexander Plantagenet Hastings
  • armoured cruiser Galatea, Captain Swinton Colthurst Holland
  • armoured cruiser Narcissus, Captain Lewis Anthony Beaumont
  • armoured cruiser Shannon, Captain Arthur Edward Dupuis
  • second class protected cruiser Iris, Captain Ernest Neville Rolfe
  • second class protected cruiser Thames, Captain Wollaston Comyns Karslake
  • second class protected cruiser Mersey, Captain Arthur William Moore
  • iron-hulled screw frigate Inconstant, Captain Frederick Ross Boardman
  • second class protected cruiser Medusa, Captain Andrew Kennedy Bickford
  • screw sloop Basilisk, Commander Lewis Edmund Wintz
  • torpedo cruiser Mohawk, Commander Robert Blair Maconochie
  • torpedo cruiser Racoon, Commander Edward Harpur Gamble
  • torpedo gunboat Speedwell, Lieutenant Edmund Arthur White
  • torpedo gunboat Spider, Lieutenant The Hon. Patrick Maurice Hely-Hutchinson
  • survey vessel Hearty, Commander William Wilson
  • T.B. 65 Lieutenant John Hercules Robertson
  • T.B. 67 Lieutenant Charles FitzGerald Sowerby
  • T.B. 68 Lieutenant Trevylyan Dacres Willes Napier
  • T.B. 72 Lieutenant Claude William Manners Plenderleath
  • T.B. 73 Lieutenant Charles Lionel Vaughan-Lee
  • T.B. 74 Lieutenant The Hon. George Arthur Hardinge
  • T.B. 78 Lieutenant Francis Eaton Travers
  • T.B. 79 Lieutenant Arthur Cavenagh Leveson
  • T.B. 80 Lieutenant Lewis Bayly
  • T.B. 83 Lieutenant Edward Arthur Salwey
  • T.B. 84 Lieutenant Herbert Orpen
  • T.B. 85 Lieutenant William Osbert Boothby
• Fleet Number 2 – commanded by Vice-Admiral Michael Culme-Seymour was to represent the Hostile Fleet, tasked with attacking and holding those trade routes.
  • second class protected cruiser Forth, Captain John Hugh Bainbridge
  • second class protected cruiser Arethusa, Captain Thomas Peere Williams Nesham
  • second class protected cruiser Medea, Captain George William Hill
  • third class protected cruiser Barossa, Commander Henry Hart Dyke
  • torpedo cruiser Serpent, Commander Harry Leith Ross
  • gunvessel Curlew, Commander Henry Deacon Barry
  • torpedo gunboat Sandfly, Commander Paul Warner Bush
  • ex-tug and special service vessel Traveller, Lieutenant Gustavus Humphry Yonge
  • turret ship Ajax, Captain Robert Hornby Boyle
  • second class battleship Camperdown, Captain Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman-Simpson
  • second class battleship Howe, Captain Henry Harvey Boys
  • masted turret ship Neptune, Captain John Frederick George Grant
  • second class battleship Conqueror, Captain Henry John Carr
  • central battery ironclad Audacious, Captain Arthur Cecil Henry Paget
  • central battery ironclad Iron Duke, Captain Frederick Samuel Vander-Meulen
  • ironclad battleship Minotaur, Captain George Thomas Henry Boyes
  • armoured cruiser Aurora, Captain Sir William Wiseman
  • armoured cruiser Immortalité, Captain Arthur Dalrymple Fanshawe (captains of this ship and Aurora may have been swapped)
  • armoured cruiser Northampton, Captain Leicester Chantrey Keppel
  • T.B. 45 Lieutenant Cunningham Robert de Clare Foot
  • T.B. 51 Lieutenant Reginald Graham Gregory
  • T.B. 52 Lieutenant Philip Jeston Hodges
  • T.B. 54 Lieutenant Basil Reginald Hamilton Taylour
  • T.B. 55 Lieutenant Arthur Trevor Dawson
  • T.B. 57 Lieutenant Robert John Prendergast
  • T.B. 58 Lieutenant Arthur Parkinson James
  • T.B. 59 Lieutenant William Firth Slayter
  • T.B. 81 Lieutenant Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee
  • T.B. 82 Lieutenant Edward Francis Benedict Charlton
  • T.B. 86 Lieutenant John Michael de Robeck
  • T.B. 87 Lieutenant Lionel de Lautour Wells
• Fleet Number 3 – was be the Reserve Fleet of Fleet Number 1, and would have its headquarters in the Downs.
  • armoured ram Belleisle, Captain The Hon. Richard Hare
  • ironclad monitor Glatton, Captain John George Jones
  • coastal monitor Gorgon, Captain Orford Churchill
  • coastal monitor Hecate, Commander Alfred Carpenter
  • coastal monitor Hydra, Commander Alvin Coote Corry
  • coastal monitor Cyclops, Captain Charles Philip Giffin Hicks
  • corvette Active, Captain Armand Temple Powlett
  • depot ship Hecla, Captain Edwin John Payne Gallwey
  • torpedo cruiser Tartar, Commander Charles Grey Robinson
  • torpedo gunboat Rattlesnake, Commander Henry Deacon Barry
  • torpedo gunboat Grasshopper, Lieutenant Frederick Tower Hamilton
• Squadron 4 – was to be unattached and employed on special service. Whether it is part of one of the above Fleets is not mentioned.
  • corvette Volage, Captain William Alison Dyke Acland
  • third class protected cruiser Calypso, Captain Count Frederick Cosmeto Metaxa
  • corvette Ruby, Captain Reginald Friend Hannam Henderson