The court-martial on the loss of the 'Vanguard' has ended,
as it was quite obvious to any one who read the evidence that it must end,—with a sharp reprimand to the leading officers of the 'Vanguard,' which implies an equally sharp reprimand to the leading officers of the Iron Duke,' and a decided reflection on the Admiral at the head of the fleet. The loss is ascribed (1) to the high rate of speed at which the squadron of which the vessels formed part was proceeding while in a fog,—which implies, we suppose, a censure on the Admiral ; (2), to the fact that Captain Dawkins, of the Vanguard,' who was leader of his division, left the deck before the evolution ordered was completed, though there were indica- tions of fog at the time ; (3), to unnecessary reductions in the speed of the 'Vanguard' without any signal from the flag-
ship, and without any proper communication of those reductions to the Iron Duke ;' (4), to the increase of speed ordered on the Iron Duke' in a dense fog, her speed being already high ; (a), to the 'Iron Dlite' improperly sheering out of line ; (6), to the want of a fog-signal on the 'Iron Duke.' Further, the chief officers of the 'Vanguard' were censured for not getting the pumps at once to work, and for making no effort to stop the leak from the outside ; and Captain Dawkins is censured for not ordering the commander of the 'Iron Duke' to tow her into shallower water, when it seemed clear that she must sink. Captain Dawkins is dismissed from the command of the 'Van- guard,' but as the 'Vanguard' is not very likely to be soon again under sailing orders, the punishment is, we suppose, rather an ideal one, and only goes to strengthen the reprimand. A censure, too, ought to have been passed on the Ad- miralty, for the great imperfection, not to say futility, of its system of fog-signals. Finally, some of the minor officers are justly censured for the inefficiency of the tools used, and of the steps taken in rigging the pumps and in closing the water-tight com- partments. The real outcome of the inquiry is,—clear evidence of a general deficiency of minute care and organisation in the iron- clad fleet,—a very formidable fact.
