Annual Manoeuvres of 1890

The Royal Navy's Annual Manoeuvres of 1890 was a typical exercise, with one fleet taking a defensive role while a second took a threatening role.

Order of Battle

The Times reported the structure of the exercise as follows.

A review of the Navy List and Service Records of the men involved seems to indicate that appointments in command were dated 22 July, 1890.

• Fleet Number 1 – commanded by Vice-Admiral George Tryon was to represent the English Fleet, tasked with protecting trade routes.
  • Anson, Captain Bouverie Francis Clark
  • Rodney, Captain John Borlase Warren
  • Inflexible, Captain not indicated
  • Hero, Captain William Home Chisholme St. Clair
  • Inflexible, Captain Arthur Thomas Brooke
  • Triumph, Captain Francis Starkie Clayton
  • Hotspur, Captain Thomas Harvey Royse
  • Northumberland, Captain John Fellowes
  • Black Prince, Captain Alexander Plantagenet Hastings
  • Galatea, Captain Swinton Colthurst Holland
  • Narcissus, Captain Lewis Anthony Beaumont
  • Shannon, Captain Arthur Edward Dupuis
  • Iris, Captain Ernest Neville Rolfe
  • Thames, Captain Wollaston Comyns Karslake
  • Mersey, Captain Arthur William Moore
  • Inconstant, Captain Frederick Ross Boardman
  • Medusa, Captain Andrew Kennedy Bickford
  • Basilisk, Commander Lewis Edmund Wintz
  • Mohawk, Commander Robert Blair Maconochie
  • Racoon, Commander Edward Harpur Gamble
  • Speedwell, Lieutenant Edmund Arthur White
  • Spider, Lieutenant The Hon. Patrick Maurice Hely-Hutchinson
  • Hearty, Commander William Wilson
• Fleet Number 2 – commanded by Vice-Admiral Michael Culme-Seymour was to represent the Hostile Fleet, tasked with attacking and holding those trade routes.
  • Forth, Captain John Hugh Bainbridge
  • Arethusa, Captain Thomas Peere Williams Nesham
  • Medea, Captain George William Hill
  • Barossa, Commander Henry Hart Dyke
  • Serpent, Commander Harry Leith Ross
  • Curlew, Commander Henry Deacon Barry
  • Sandfly, Commander Paul Warner Bush
  • twin screw vessel Traveller, Lieutenant Gustavus Humphry Yonge
  • Ajax, Captain Robert Hornby Boyle
  • Camperdown, Captain Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman-Simpson
  • Howe, Captain Henry Harvey Boys
  • Neptune, Captain John Frederick George Grant
  • Conqueror, Captain Henry John Carr
  • Audacious, Captain Arthur Cecil Henry Paget
  • Iron Duke, Captain Frederick Samuel Vander-Meulen
  • Minotaur, Captain George Thomas Henry Boyes
  • Aurora, Captain Sir William Wiseman
  • Immortalité, Captain Arthur Dalrymple Fanshawe
  • Northampton, Captain Leicester Chantrey Keppel
• Fleet Number 3 – was be the Reserve Fleet of Fleet Number 1, and would have its headquarters in the Downs.
  • Belleisle, Captain The Hon. Richard Hare
  • Glatton, Captain John George Jones
  • Gorgon, Captain Orford Churchill
  • Hecate, Commander Alfred Carpenter
  • Hydra, Commander Alvin Coote Corry
  • Cyclops, Captain Charles Philip Giffin Hicks
  • Active, Captain Armand Temple Powlett
  • Hecla, Captain Edwin John Payne Gallwey
  • Tartar, Commander Charles Grey Robinson
  • Rattlesnake, Commander Henry Deacon Barry
  • 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.
  • Volage, Captain William Alison Dyke Acland
  • Calypso, Captain Count Frederick Cosmeto Metaxa
  • Ruby, Captain Reginald Friend Hannam Henderson

• The following first-class torpedo boats would be split evenly between the two fleets.
  • 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 Taylor
  • 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. 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. 81 Lieutenant Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee
  • T.B. 82 Lieutenant Edward Francis Benedict Charlton
  • T.B. 83 Lieutenant Edward Arthur Salwey
  • T.B. 84 Lieutenant Herbert Orpen
  • T.B. 85 Lieutenant William Osbert Boothby
  • T.B. 86 Lieutenant John Michael de Robeck
  • T.B. 87 Lieutenant Lionel de Lautour Wells