On the afternoon of 22nd June 1893 a few miles off the Syrian (now Lebanese) port of Tripoli, the battleships H.M.S. Victoria and Camperdown, flagships respectively of the Commander-in- Chief Mediterranean Admiral Sir George Tryon, and of the Second-in-Command, Rear- Admiral A H Markham, collided almost head-on, Within thirteen minutes the Victoria had gone to the bottom, taking with her twenty-two officers and 363 men including the C-in-C.

This book, published as a supplement to the Malta Chronicle and Garrison Gazette in August 1893, is the a record of the court martial of Captain M A Bourke, Captain of the Victoria, held on board HMS Hibernia at Malta between 17 and 27 July 1893.