3-086-460 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Scene after the Accident: the launch of H.M.S. "Albion" at Blackwall, 1898. 'On the afternoon of June 21 H.M.S. Albion was launched...the christening ceremony being performed by the Duchess of York. What seemed a most brilliant and successful function was destined to be marred by an appalling disaster, involving the loss of many lives. At first everything went gaily...the vessel left the ways in perfect style amid great enthusiasm, and the distinguished guests did not suspect that the general rejoicing had suddenly become an occasion of mourning...A gangway between two slips upon which some hundreds of people were gathered to witness the proceedings, had been washed away by the wave caused by the displacement of water consequent upon the launch. It appears that notices of warning were posted near the fatal gangway, but an East-End crowd is more wilful than its western counterpart. The occupants of the staging were precipitated into deep water and upwards of thirty were drowned. Rescue parties immediately put out...but it was impossible to save all. The scenes were heartrending as the bodies of victims, mostly women and children [of] to the poor districts of Plaistow and Canning Town, were brought ashore and identified by relatives...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1898.