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Bombardment of Alexandria (1882)
Encyclopedia
The Bombardment of Alexandria, in 1882, by the British
Mediterranean Fleet
took place on 11–13 July 1882. Admiral
Sir Frederick Beauchamp Seymour
was in command of a fleet of fifteen Royal Navy
ironclad ships which sailed to Alexandria. This move, had the contrary effect of strengthening Urabi's Nationalist position (supported by the army and with Egyptian popular support), and it inflamed popular resentment. This exploded on 11 June in anti-European riots that killed over two-thousand Egyptians and fifty Europeans. The British hoped that a naval bombardment of Alexandria would topple Urabi. This was done on 11 June 1882, and made Urabi even more of a nationalist hero and put him firmly in control of events. The bombardment lasted 10 and a half hours. Historians argue about whether Admiral Seymour exaggerated the threat from the Egyptian batteries at Alexandria in order to force a reluctant government's hand. Once the British had attacked the city, they proceeded to a violent land invasion as their next step.
Ismail of Egypt inaugurated the Suez Canal, which was a joint venture between the Egyptian Government and the French-led Suez Canal Company. During the digging of the canal many Egyptian workers died that it got common in the collective memory of Egyptians to say that Egyptian blood ran in the canal before the water of the seas. The canal cut sailing time from Britain to India
by weeks and Britain's interest in Egypt grew. Due to the excessive spending of the Egyptian Government under the ambitious Khedive, Britain purchased the Khedive's shares of the Suez Canal company in 1875, thus becoming the controlling partner. French and British concern led to the establishment of an Anglo-French Condominium
over Egypt which was still nominally under the Ottoman Empire
. Egyptian nationalism was sparked and after a revolt by Egyptian troops in 1881, complete control of the government was held by Urabi Pasha by February 1882. The rebellion expressed resentment of the undue influence of foreigners and Copt
ic Christians.
Urabi organized a militia and marched on Alexandria. Meanwhile, the European powers gathered in Constantinople
to discuss reestablishing the power of the Khedive and an Anglo-French fleet was ordered to the port of Alexandria. The Egyptians began reinforcing and upgrading their fortifications and the British House of Commons ordered ships to be temporarily dispatched from the Channel Fleet to Malta
under Admiral Seymour's command.
On 20 May the combined Anglo-French fleet, consisting of the British battleship , the and four gunboats arrived in Alexandria. By 5 June, six more warships had entered Alexandria harbour and more cruised off the coast. The reasons that the British government sent warships to Alexandria is an object of historical debate, with arguments proposed that it was to protect the Suez Canal and prevent "anarchy", and other arguments claiming that it was to protect the interests of British investors with assets in Egypt (see 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War).
The presence of the foreign fleet exacerbated the tensions in Alexandria between the nationalist forces and the large foreign and Christian population. On 11 and 12 June ferocious anti-Christian riots erupted which were reportedly caused by the Khedive attempting to discredit Urabi or by Urabi's forces bent on attacking foreigners. Over 50 Europeans and 125 Egyptians were killed in the fracas that began near Place Mehmet Ali with British Admiral Seymour, who was ashore at the time, narrowly escaping the mob. Upon learning of the riot, Urabi ordered his forces to restore order.
The reaction by European countries to the disturbance was swift. As refugees fled Alexandria, a flotilla of over 26 ships belonging to most of the countries of Europe gathered in the harbour. By 6 July nearly every non-Egyptian had evacuated Alexandria. Meanwhile, the garrison had continued to fortify the various forts and towers with additional guns until Admiral Seymour issued an ultimatum to Urabi's forces to stop fortifying or the British fleet would bombard the city. That same day, the French Admiral Conrad, had informed Seymour that in the event of British bombardment, the French fleet would depart for Port Said
and would not participate in the bombardment.
The ultimatum, which was ignored amid denials of the defensive works by the Egyptian governor, was set to expire at 7:00 am on 11 July.
, HMS Superb
and HMS Alexandra anchored off the Lighthouse Fort and concentrated their now-stationary batteries on Ras-el-Tin. The fort battery was able to score hits, particularly on Alexandra, but by 12:30, Inflexible had joined the attack and the fort's guns were silenced. Meanwhile, HMS Temeraire
had taken on the Mex Forts (with Invincible splitting its broadsides between Ras-el-Tin and Mex) and was causing damage to Mex when she grounded on a reef. The gunboat HMS Condor (Beresford) went to her assistance and she was refloated and resumed the attack on the Mex fort. While the off-shore squadron was engaging the forts at long-range, HMS Monarch
, HMS Penelope
and HMS Condor
was ordered into close engagements with the forts at Maza-el-Kanat and Fort Marabout. HMS Condor seeing that Invincible was within range of the guns at Fort Marabout sailed to within 1,200 feet of the fort and began furiously firing at the fort. When Fort Marabout's guns were disabled, the flagship signaled "Well Done, Condor." The Condors action allowed the ships to finish off Fort Mex.
With the Mex Fort's guns silenced, HMS Sultan signaled to Invincible to attack Fort Adda, which she did with the assistance of Temeraire. At 1:30, a lucky shell from HMS Superb blew up the magazine of Fort Adda and those batteries ceased firing. At about this time, the British fleet began to run short of ammunition. However, nearly all of the guns from Fort Adda west were silenced. HMS Superb, Inflexible and Temeraire focused their fire on the remaining eastern forts until at 5:15, the general order to cease fire was issued. The Egyptians, both outmanned and outgunned had used their firepower to good effect, but the outcome of the bombardment had never been in doubt. The Cairo newspaper El Taif erroneously reported that the Egyptian forts had sunk three ships.
The next day, HMS Temeraire reconnoitered the forts and discovered that the Hospital battery had reconstituted its defences. At 10:30 a.m., Temeraire and Inflexible opened fire and the battery raised the flag of truce at 10:48 a.m. Very soon an Egyptian boat set out to the flagship bearing the flag of truce and a cease-fire was ordered. By 2:50 p.m., HMS Bittern signaled that the negotiations had failed and the bombardment was to resume. Still, most of the forts flew white flags and an irregular cannonade by the British fleet began. By 4:00 p.m. a fire had broken out on shore, and by evening the fire had engulfed the wealthiest quarter of Alexandria, the area predominantly inhabited by Europeans. The fire raged for the next two days before they burned themselves out. Admiral Seymour, unsure of the situation in the city didn't land any troops to take control of the city or fight the fire. It was not until July 14 that British marines and sailors landed in Alexandria.
s, among others, to loot the city. British sailors and marines landed and attempted to take control of the blackened ruins of the city and prevent the looting, while propping up the Khedive's shaky government. Eventually order was restored and a month later, General Garnet Wolseley
landed a large force of British troops in Alexandria as a staging location for attacking Urabi near the Suez Canal at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir. After that the Urabi revolt was put down and Egypt became a British protectorate
until 1922.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
took place on 11–13 July 1882. Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Sir Frederick Beauchamp Seymour
Beauchamp Seymour, 1st Baron Alcester
Admiral Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour, 1st Baron Alcester, GCB was a British naval commander. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet between 1874 and 1877 and of the Mediterranean Fleet between 1880 and 1883....
was in command of a fleet of fifteen Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
ironclad ships which sailed to Alexandria. This move, had the contrary effect of strengthening Urabi's Nationalist position (supported by the army and with Egyptian popular support), and it inflamed popular resentment. This exploded on 11 June in anti-European riots that killed over two-thousand Egyptians and fifty Europeans. The British hoped that a naval bombardment of Alexandria would topple Urabi. This was done on 11 June 1882, and made Urabi even more of a nationalist hero and put him firmly in control of events. The bombardment lasted 10 and a half hours. Historians argue about whether Admiral Seymour exaggerated the threat from the Egyptian batteries at Alexandria in order to force a reluctant government's hand. Once the British had attacked the city, they proceeded to a violent land invasion as their next step.
Origins
In 1869, KhediveKhedive
The term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire...
Ismail of Egypt inaugurated the Suez Canal, which was a joint venture between the Egyptian Government and the French-led Suez Canal Company. During the digging of the canal many Egyptian workers died that it got common in the collective memory of Egyptians to say that Egyptian blood ran in the canal before the water of the seas. The canal cut sailing time from Britain to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
by weeks and Britain's interest in Egypt grew. Due to the excessive spending of the Egyptian Government under the ambitious Khedive, Britain purchased the Khedive's shares of the Suez Canal company in 1875, thus becoming the controlling partner. French and British concern led to the establishment of an Anglo-French Condominium
Condominium (international law)
In international law, a condominium is a political territory in or over which two or more sovereign powers formally agree to share equally dominium and exercise their rights jointly, without dividing it up into 'national' zones.Although a condominium has always been...
over Egypt which was still nominally under the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. Egyptian nationalism was sparked and after a revolt by Egyptian troops in 1881, complete control of the government was held by Urabi Pasha by February 1882. The rebellion expressed resentment of the undue influence of foreigners and Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
ic Christians.
Urabi organized a militia and marched on Alexandria. Meanwhile, the European powers gathered in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
to discuss reestablishing the power of the Khedive and an Anglo-French fleet was ordered to the port of Alexandria. The Egyptians began reinforcing and upgrading their fortifications and the British House of Commons ordered ships to be temporarily dispatched from the Channel Fleet to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
under Admiral Seymour's command.
On 20 May the combined Anglo-French fleet, consisting of the British battleship , the and four gunboats arrived in Alexandria. By 5 June, six more warships had entered Alexandria harbour and more cruised off the coast. The reasons that the British government sent warships to Alexandria is an object of historical debate, with arguments proposed that it was to protect the Suez Canal and prevent "anarchy", and other arguments claiming that it was to protect the interests of British investors with assets in Egypt (see 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War).
The presence of the foreign fleet exacerbated the tensions in Alexandria between the nationalist forces and the large foreign and Christian population. On 11 and 12 June ferocious anti-Christian riots erupted which were reportedly caused by the Khedive attempting to discredit Urabi or by Urabi's forces bent on attacking foreigners. Over 50 Europeans and 125 Egyptians were killed in the fracas that began near Place Mehmet Ali with British Admiral Seymour, who was ashore at the time, narrowly escaping the mob. Upon learning of the riot, Urabi ordered his forces to restore order.
The reaction by European countries to the disturbance was swift. As refugees fled Alexandria, a flotilla of over 26 ships belonging to most of the countries of Europe gathered in the harbour. By 6 July nearly every non-Egyptian had evacuated Alexandria. Meanwhile, the garrison had continued to fortify the various forts and towers with additional guns until Admiral Seymour issued an ultimatum to Urabi's forces to stop fortifying or the British fleet would bombard the city. That same day, the French Admiral Conrad, had informed Seymour that in the event of British bombardment, the French fleet would depart for Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
and would not participate in the bombardment.
The ultimatum, which was ignored amid denials of the defensive works by the Egyptian governor, was set to expire at 7:00 am on 11 July.
Battle
At 7:00 a.m. on 11 July 1882 Admiral Seymour aboard HMS Invincible signaled to to commence firing at the Ras-el-Tin fortifications followed by the general order to attack the enemy's batteries. According to Royle, "[a] steady cannonade was maintained by the attacking and defending forces, and for the next few hours the roar of the guns and the shrieks of passing shot and shell were alone audible." The attack was carried out by the off-shore squadron as it was underway, the ships turning from time to time to keep up the barrage. This was not entirely effective and by 9:40, HMS SultanHMS Sultan (1870)
HMS Sultan was a broadside ironclad of the Royal Navy of the Victorian era, who carried her main armament in a central box battery. She was named for Sultan Abdülâziz of the Ottoman Empire, who was visiting England when she was laid down. Abdülâziz cultivated, good relations with the Second French...
, HMS Superb
HMS Superb (1875)
HMS Superb was an ironclad battleship designed by Sir Edward Reed for the Ottoman Navy, and was built in Britain by Thames Ironworks under the name of Hamidieh. She had both engines and sails....
and HMS Alexandra anchored off the Lighthouse Fort and concentrated their now-stationary batteries on Ras-el-Tin. The fort battery was able to score hits, particularly on Alexandra, but by 12:30, Inflexible had joined the attack and the fort's guns were silenced. Meanwhile, HMS Temeraire
HMS Temeraire (1876)
HMS Temeraire was an ironclad battleship of the Victorian Royal Navy which was unique in that she carried her main armament partly in the traditional broadside battery, and partly in barbettes on the upper deck.-Design and construction:...
had taken on the Mex Forts (with Invincible splitting its broadsides between Ras-el-Tin and Mex) and was causing damage to Mex when she grounded on a reef. The gunboat HMS Condor (Beresford) went to her assistance and she was refloated and resumed the attack on the Mex fort. While the off-shore squadron was engaging the forts at long-range, HMS Monarch
HMS Monarch (1868)
HMS Monarch was the first sea-going warship to carry her guns in turrets, and the first British warship to carry guns of calibre.-Design:...
, HMS Penelope
HMS Penelope (1867)
HMS Penelope was the last small ironclad to be commissioned in the Royal Navy.Because of the absence through illness of the Chief Constructor, Sir Edward Reed, the design of this ship was entrusted to his brother-in-law and the future Chief Constructor, Nathaniel Barnaby.-Design:She was...
and HMS Condor
HMS Condor (1876)
HMS Condor was the name-ship of the Royal Navy Condor-class composite gunvessel of 3 guns.-Construction:Designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction, her hull was of composite construction; that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking...
was ordered into close engagements with the forts at Maza-el-Kanat and Fort Marabout. HMS Condor seeing that Invincible was within range of the guns at Fort Marabout sailed to within 1,200 feet of the fort and began furiously firing at the fort. When Fort Marabout's guns were disabled, the flagship signaled "Well Done, Condor." The Condors action allowed the ships to finish off Fort Mex.
With the Mex Fort's guns silenced, HMS Sultan signaled to Invincible to attack Fort Adda, which she did with the assistance of Temeraire. At 1:30, a lucky shell from HMS Superb blew up the magazine of Fort Adda and those batteries ceased firing. At about this time, the British fleet began to run short of ammunition. However, nearly all of the guns from Fort Adda west were silenced. HMS Superb, Inflexible and Temeraire focused their fire on the remaining eastern forts until at 5:15, the general order to cease fire was issued. The Egyptians, both outmanned and outgunned had used their firepower to good effect, but the outcome of the bombardment had never been in doubt. The Cairo newspaper El Taif erroneously reported that the Egyptian forts had sunk three ships.
The next day, HMS Temeraire reconnoitered the forts and discovered that the Hospital battery had reconstituted its defences. At 10:30 a.m., Temeraire and Inflexible opened fire and the battery raised the flag of truce at 10:48 a.m. Very soon an Egyptian boat set out to the flagship bearing the flag of truce and a cease-fire was ordered. By 2:50 p.m., HMS Bittern signaled that the negotiations had failed and the bombardment was to resume. Still, most of the forts flew white flags and an irregular cannonade by the British fleet began. By 4:00 p.m. a fire had broken out on shore, and by evening the fire had engulfed the wealthiest quarter of Alexandria, the area predominantly inhabited by Europeans. The fire raged for the next two days before they burned themselves out. Admiral Seymour, unsure of the situation in the city didn't land any troops to take control of the city or fight the fire. It was not until July 14 that British marines and sailors landed in Alexandria.
Aftermath
Fires continued to break out in Alexandria over the next few days and the city was chaotic and lawless which permitted BedouinBedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
s, among others, to loot the city. British sailors and marines landed and attempted to take control of the blackened ruins of the city and prevent the looting, while propping up the Khedive's shaky government. Eventually order was restored and a month later, General Garnet Wolseley
Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley
Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, KP, GCB, OM, GCMG, VD, PC was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He served in Burma, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, China, Canada, and widely throughout Africa—including his Ashanti campaign and the Nile Expedition...
landed a large force of British troops in Alexandria as a staging location for attacking Urabi near the Suez Canal at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir. After that the Urabi revolt was put down and Egypt became a British protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
until 1922.
British Fleet
Battleships
- HMS AlexandraHMS Alexandra (1875)HMS Alexandra was a central battery ironclad of the Victorian Royal Navy, whose seagoing career was from 1877 to 1900. She spent much of her career as a flagship, and took part in operations to deter Russian aggression against Turkey in 1878 and the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882.-Background:At...
- HMS SuperbHMS Superb (1875)HMS Superb was an ironclad battleship designed by Sir Edward Reed for the Ottoman Navy, and was built in Britain by Thames Ironworks under the name of Hamidieh. She had both engines and sails....
- HMS SultanHMS Sultan (1870)HMS Sultan was a broadside ironclad of the Royal Navy of the Victorian era, who carried her main armament in a central box battery. She was named for Sultan Abdülâziz of the Ottoman Empire, who was visiting England when she was laid down. Abdülâziz cultivated, good relations with the Second French...
- HMS TemeraireHMS Temeraire (1876)HMS Temeraire was an ironclad battleship of the Victorian Royal Navy which was unique in that she carried her main armament partly in the traditional broadside battery, and partly in barbettes on the upper deck.-Design and construction:...
- HMS InflexibleHMS Inflexible (1876)HMS Inflexible was a Victorian ironclad battleship carrying her main armament in centrally placed turrets. The ship was constructed in the 1870s for the Royal Navy to oppose the perceived growing threat from the Italian Regia Marina in the Mediterranean.The Italian Navy had started constructing a...
- HMS MonarchHMS Monarch (1868)HMS Monarch was the first sea-going warship to carry her guns in turrets, and the first British warship to carry guns of calibre.-Design:...
- HMS InvincibleHMS Invincible (1869)HMS Invincible was an Audacious-class ironclad battleship of the Royal Navy. She was built at the Napier shipyard and completed in 1870. Completed just 10 years after , she still carried sails as well as a steam engine.-Armament:...
- HMS PenelopeHMS Penelope (1867)HMS Penelope was the last small ironclad to be commissioned in the Royal Navy.Because of the absence through illness of the Chief Constructor, Sir Edward Reed, the design of this ship was entrusted to his brother-in-law and the future Chief Constructor, Nathaniel Barnaby.-Design:She was...
Gun boats
- HMS CondorHMS Condor (1876)HMS Condor was the name-ship of the Royal Navy Condor-class composite gunvessel of 3 guns.-Construction:Designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction, her hull was of composite construction; that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking...
- HMS Bittern
- HMS Beacon
- HMS Cygnet
- HMS Decoy
Egyptian Forts
- Fort PharosCitadel of QaitbayThe Citadel of Qaitbay is a 15th century defensive fortress located on the Mediterranean sea coast, built upon/from the ruins of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt...
- Fort Silsileh
- Fort Adda
- Fort Ras-el-Tin
- Fort Marabout
- Fort Adjemi
- Marza-el-Kana
- Citadel of Mex
- Fort Kamaria
- Fort Omuk Kebebe
- Fort Saleh Aga