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IT WAS 22 JUNE, 1893, and the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet was about to perform an elaborate anchoring plan off Tripoli, Lebanon. After what had already been a long day of close-formation manoeuvres of the battle group, Admiral George Tryon, Commander-in-Chief on the flagship, gave what would be his final order.
The group of 11 battleships had been steaming along in two lines, and he ordered them to turn towards each other. But they were too close together and HMS Camperdown, under second-in-command Admiral Markham, sliced into the bows of Tryon's HMS Victoria.
Within 10 minutes Victoria had sunk, taking Tryon and 358 of her crew to their deaths. In an instant the Mediterranean Fleet had lost its admiral and the flagship named after the reigning monarch. The Admiralty, and a stunned Britain, wanted answers.
How could such a catastrophe have occurred? Why did no one prevent the collision? Why did this fearsome ironclad sink so fast, when the damage she sustained was limited to her bows?
Naval historians and divers have tried to fathom what lay behind this tragic event for more than a century.
To followers of naval strategy, the sinking of HMS Victoria was more than the loss of a flagship with her admiral -it was the closing of a chapter of maritime doctrine and helped to shape the future of battle afloat.
Christian Francis had been running Lebanon Divers for more than 10 years and looking for HMS Victoria for even longer. His quest started after he heard fishermen's stories and visited the cemetery in Tripoli dedicated to the sailors who perished that day.
Creating a photographic shrine to HMS Victoria, Christian then visited the Maritime Museum in London and studied newspaper archives, gleaning information and images of the sinking that he hoped might one day lead to the ship's discovery.
Accounts passed down through the generations of local fisherman gave the ship's position as roughly 10 miles from the coast. Landmarks noted by crews of sister-ships on the day of the sinking gave transit marks that could be roughly translated to modern GPS co-ordinates.
Some fisherman must have unknowingly fished over the wreck, but modern depth-imaging equipment repeatedly failed to confirm the presence of the 400ft-long warship in an area where the seabed is at about 150m, a depth precluding scuba divers from scouring the area by sight.
In March 2004, Christian contacted me to see if my tech-diving experience and deep wreck-finding skills could help in the search for HMS Victoria. Two months later, we met at Beirut Airport. During the drive to the dive centre at Enfeh, we worked out a plan that would allow a dive team to find, dive and confirm the wreck's identity.
Christian wanted to obtain video footage, and we carried out many practice dives to boost the support team's confidence and fine-tune mobility in deep water with the camera system.
After some 22 dives to a maximum 123m, we were all working smoothly together and it was time for a fly-past of some possible wreck positions.
The initial plan was for a series of exploration dives to 120m, dropping magnesium flares to illuminate the seabed below. The electronics on the dive boat had revealed a small possible debris field, but its height above the seabed was so low as to suggest that the 10,000 ton vessel had either submerged into soft mud or collapsed flat.
Depth-soundings revealed a highly unusual image. It was of a large object, seemingly floating in midwater. The fisherman on board with us suggested that this could be a large trawl net, tangled around wreckage on the seabed and held up by the net's floats.
Hours were spent searching for the highest point of the debris field. We were joined by Major Paul Pitchfork, who was intrigued at the prospect of some deep wreck-finding, particularly as we had been vague about our possible target. The first dive of the series saw the three of us drop down a line to 120m in very pleasant Mediterranean conditions. Visibility was easily 30-40m and the water temperature a balmy 28¡C.
We dropped down the descent line and scanned the water to the limits of visibility, straining to see anything that seemed to contrast with the void below.
At 120m, the ambient light was starting to turn to a deep blue twilight, and darkness began to obscure everything. We stopped to turn on the dive lights. Regrouping on the anchor-line, we noticed in the twilight a huge shadow looming in the distance to our left. It looked like a stain in the water, but extended above us and beyond the limit of visibility.
I remember checking the regulator I was using to ensure that I was breathing from the correct tank. I checked the hose all the way from my twin tanks to the second stage, and noted the contents marked on my second-stage tag. My check at least confirmed that I wasn't off my head!
In the Mediterranean, there is seldom much tidal movement, and at this depth the sea was still like a swimming pool. We all let go of the downline and went for a careful swim, upwards and towards this strange sight.
I was mindful that it could be a large trawl net, and didn't relish the idea of cutting myself or anybody else free while wearing four tanks in deep water.
As we neared the object, we realised that the shadow before us was the wreck find of the century.
It was the most unbelievable sight - a very large, steel-hulled battleship that could hardly have been anything other than HMS Victoria.
And it was standing completely vertical, its bows surely buried into the seabed deep below.
The original photographs we had obtained showed the Victoria as she had slipped below the waves 111 years before. She had indeed sunk bows first, her propellers still turning at near-maximum revolutions.
Victoria's bow was fitted with an enormous metal ram that would have pushed deep into the soft clay of the seabed. Combined with the sheer weight of the vessel, the continued downward thrust of the propellers ensured that the ironclad took a good purchase of the seabed. She had stood like a tombstone all this time, waiting for discovery.
The speed of HMS Victoria's demise was probably down to her enormous fore deck gun, with its 111 ton deadweight and 16.25in barrels.
Swimming up the hull, we could see cannons and machine guns still aiming at imaginary targets. We peered into the dozens of portholes, gaping wide open as they would have been on that tragic day to let some cooling breeze into the ship, as her crew toiled in the stifling Mediterranean heat.
The hull looked to be in excellent condition, and in many places was coloured red, either from the original paintwork or perhaps some kind of algae.
The bronze of the enormous twin propellers still shone in places, and was remarkably clear of fishing nets and lines. The rudder was in the straight-ahead position, as the sinking accounts suggested it would be.
HMS Victoria was making a frantic dash for shallow water, after the penetrating ram of HMS Camperdown had perhaps been prematurely removed from Victoria's wound.
She would have listed to starboard almost immediately as she sped away, before minutes later capsizing and driving towards the seabed at almost top speed.
Our first amazing dive was coming to an end, but as we ascended towards the shallowest part of the wreck, Admiral Tryon's sitting cabin and outside balcony - the chance to confirm beyond any doubt that this was the right ship - presented itself. Victoria's stern nameplate was located just below the walkway, its ornate decoration and floral metalwork standing out around the letters. The scene was electrifying.
I tied my big Kent reel onto the ornate balustrade after sending up an SMB to mark the wreck's position forever.
As we went up, we peeked over the topside decking to see Victoria's enormous 60 ton rear-facing deck gun still chained down.
Finding HMS Victoria was without doubt one of the most rewarding projects with which I have been involved. Christian had hoped to find the wreck lying on the seabed, perhaps partially submerged in soft clay. I had agreed to dive it with him to a maximum 150m three times to obtain enough video footage for a documentary. On that first dive, we had found something we could never have dreamt about.
Our feeling during the decompression stops and on surfacing was one of total elation, and that evening the champagne flowed. Finding HMS Victoria standing vertically and with the shallowest parts in "only" 77m allowed us to carry out 17 more dives in the following two weeks, and to record more than three hours of video for use in a documentary.
Because of the loss of life during the sinking, and HMS Victoria's historical significance, the site is protected by various charters.
Visits to the wreck are officially sanctioned but have to be in accordance with strict preservation guidelines.
Coming soon: deeper into the Victoria
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Admiral Tryon's battleship HMS Victoria met her untimely end when Admiral Markham's Camperdown sliced across her bow, in 1893. The loss was a huge blow to the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet
Mark Ellyatt
Christian Francis and Paul Pitchfork prepare to dive
video footage showing the unusual orientation of HMS Victoria - and that tell-tale nameplate
Artist's impression of an amazing sight - the vertical stern of HMS Victoria.
A small libation to celebrate a remarkable wreck experience
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