"Death of an Admiral and crew: June 22, 1893" Topic

"If one watches the Ealing black comedy masterpiece, "Kind Hearts and Coronets" made in 1949, Dennis Price is the determined distant heir to a Dukedom who has a grudge against all the family that spurned him and his mother (who married beneath her). So he is killing them all, in assorted clever, even elegant, ways while talking like Oscar Wilde. But of the eight potential victims, Price actually only kills six. One he misses is a banker who is elderly and dies of a series of strokes. The other is an Admiral, "Lord Horatio D'Ascoygne", who is always away on sea duty. Price is considering (at one point) sinking the Admiral with a torpedo, but he does not have to – it seems the Admiral has an accident. We see the Admiral (played by Alec Guinness, who plays all the titled victims) on the bridge of his battleship in a maneuver, giving an order to turn to port. A worried officer says, "Don't you mean starboard, Sir?" Guinness repeats, "Port!!". We see the order given, and a pair of 1900 pre-dreadnoughts collide as a result. Both sink, but all the crews are taken off – except Guinness, who (saluting to the end) goes down with his ship.

The incident is amusing to the movie audiences who see it. Few realize the actual tragedy that lays behind it…."
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Amicalement
Armand

Few, unless they have an interest in naval history, in which case it would be most!

An excellent film though – may well watch it again now…

Cheers Armand

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Admiral Tryon's maneuvering order was actually capable of being performed; it simply required his captains to think a bit creatively. Unfortunately, it was not to be on that sad day.

B