Annual Manoeuvres of 1896

The Royal Navy's Annual Manoeuvres of 1896 were conducted in the summer of 1896.

Order of Battle

The following ships participated in the exercise.

The Reserve Fleet would assemble at Plymouth Sound under the command of Vice-Admiral E. H. Seymour with Rear-Admiral A. K. Wilson as second-in-command.

Devonport

Battleships to be brought to full complement:

• Benbow Captain Eustace Rooke
• Colossus Captain Edward Henry Meggs Davis
• Devastation Captain William Metcalfe Lang
• Dreadnought Captain Anson Schomberg
• Thunderer Captain Herbert William Summer Gibson

Cruisers:

• Forth Captain Edward Henry Bayly (commissioned 8 July)
• Pearl Captain George Morris Henderson (ditto)
• Phaeton Charles James Norcock (ditto)
• Sirius Captain Robert Archibald James Montgomerie (ditto)
• Melampus Captain Charles Philip Giffin Hicks (to be brought up to full complement)

Gunboats:

• Harrier Commander Henry Loftus Tottenham (commissioned 8 July)
• Hazard Lieutenant & Commander Ernest Charles Thomas Troubridge (ditto)
• Hussar Commander Charles Goodhart May (ditto)
• Antelope Lieutenant & Commander Joseph Ridgway Bridson (ditto)
• Spider Lieutenant & Commander Alfred Whitehouse (in commission; to be re-commissioned)
• Curlew Commander James Pipon Montgomery (ditto)
• Renard Lieutenant & Commander George Alexander Ballard (to be brought up to full complement)
• Jason Lieutenant & Commander Arthur Gwyn Moreton Meredyth (ditto)
• Sharpshooter Commander Arthur Dodgson (ditto)

Torpedo Boat Destroyers:

• Banshee Lionel de Lautour Wells (brought to full complement)
• Ferret Lieutenant & Commander Charles William Stares Leggatt (brought to full complement)
• Lynx Lieutenant & Commander Robert Henry Travers (brought to full complement)
• Opossum Lieutenant & Commander Cecil Foley Lambert (brought to full complement)

Torpedo-boats:

• T.B. 52 Acting Sub-lieutenant in Command "D. T. Morris" (commissioned on 8 July; I cannot identify this man)
• T.B. 55 Acting Sub-lieutenant in Command Walter Hose (commissioned on 8 July)
• T.B. 57 Acting Sub-lieutenant in Command Henry George Robinson Bevan (commissioned on 8 July)
• T.B. 58 Sub-lieutenant in Command Gerald Ducat (commissioned on 8 July)
• T.B. 85 Lieutenant & Commander Sydney Stewart Hall (commissioned on 8 July)
• T.B. 87 Lieutenant & Commander Charles Lionel Vaughan-Lee (commissioned on 8 July)

Portsmouth

Battleships:

• Sultan Captain Count Frederick Cosmeto Metaxa (commissioned on 8 July)
• Alexandra Captain William Harvey Pigott (brought up to full strength)
• Edinburgh Captain John Robert Ebenezer Pattisson (brought up to full strength)

Cruisers:

• Iphigenia Captain William Wilson (commissioned 8 July)
• Indefatigable Captain Horatio Nelson Dudding (commissioned 8 July)
• Latona Captain Charles Henry Cross (commissioned 8 July)
• Naiad Captain Robert Dalrymple Barwick Bruce (commissioned 8 July)
• Iris Captain Frank Hannam Henderson (commissioned 8 July)
• Melpomene Captain Henry Leah (commissioned 8 July)
• Australia Captain William Alison Dyke Acland (brought up to full strength)

Gunboats:

• Niger Lieutenant & Commander Edmund Moore Cooper Cooper-Key (brought up to full strength)
• Leda Lieutenant & Commander Hubert Grant-Dalton (brought up to full strength)
• Spanker Lieutenant & Commander Frederick Harston Eagles (brought up to full strength)
• Seagull Lieutenant & Commander Arthur Barry (brought up to full strength)

Torpedo Boat Destroyers:

• Havock Lieutenant & Commander William Frederick Blunt (commissioned 8 July)
• Hasty (cannot identify her captain) (commissioned 8 July)
• Boxer Commander Reginald Godfrey Otway Tupper (brought up to full strength)
• Bruizer Lieutenant & Commander Anthony Francis Gurney (brought up to full strength)
• Daring Henry Thompson (brought up to full strength, would be delayed one week by engine trouble)
• Hart Lieutenant & Commander Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt (brought up to full strength)

Torpedo-boats:

• T.B. 50 (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 59 (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 60 (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 66 Sub-lieutenant in Command Henry Wise Parker (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 71 Sub-lieutenant in Command Albert Percy Addison (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 76 Lieutenant & Commander Richard Markham Tyringham Stephens (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 77 (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 79 (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 83 (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 84 Lieutenant & Commander Frank Brandt (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 94 (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 95 (commissioned 8 July)

Chatham

Battleships:

• Sans Pareil Captain James Lacon Hammet (brought up to full strength)

Cruisers:

• Apollo Captain Alvin Coote Corry (commissioned 8 July)
• Severn Captain John Leslie Burr (commissioned 8 July)
• Andromache Captain Archibald James Pocklington (commissioned 8 July)
• Thetis Captain Daniel McNab Riddel (commissioned 8 July)
• Brilliant Captain Francis George Kirby (commissioned 8 July)
• Tribune Captain George Northmore Arthur Pollard (commissioned 8 July)
• Terpsichore Captain Herbert Arthur Walton Onslow (commissioned 8 July)
• Mersey Captain George William Hill (brought up to full strength)
• Galatea Captain Basil Edward Cochrane (brought up to full strength)

Gunboats:

• Alarm Lieutenant & Commander Murray Thomas Parks (commissioned 8 July)
• Jaseur Captain George William Gubbins (commissioned 8 July)
• Landrail Commander Rowland Edward Berkeley (brought up to full strength)
• Onyx Lieutenant & Commander William Barrington May (brought up to full strength)
• Circe Lieutenant & Commander Francis Charles Bathurst Addington (brought up to full strength)

Torpedo Boat Destroyers:

• Porcupine Lieutenant & Commander George Ellis Cave (commissioned 8 July)
• Janus Lieutenant & Commander Rowland Nugent (brought up to full strength)
• Contest Lieutenant & Commander George Shadwell Quartano Carr (brought up to full strength)
• Dragon Commander William Fane De Salis (brought up to full strength)
• Snapper Lieutenant & Commander Algernon Eden Brooke Greville (brought up to full strength)

Torpedo-boats:

• T.B. 64 (was to be commissioned 8 July, but may have scratched)
• T.B. 65 (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 67 Lieutenant & Commander Francis Herbert Mitchell (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 68 (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 73 Sub-lieutenant in Command Percy Withers (commissioned 8 July)
• T.B. 74 (commissioned 8 July)