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8vo, viii, 402pp, 34pp of adverts. Illustrated. Dark Blue Cloth with gilt spine and decorations to cover. Tissue Guards to portraits. Minor Collation pencil annotations to endpapers. Slight foxing though out, internally tight. A Very Good copy consistent with age. .A Rear Admiral in April 1884, Tryon was influential in the establishment of the Australia Station and in December was appointed its first Commander-in-Chief; he arrived in Sydney on 22 January 1885 in the Indus. His wife did not accompany him but he entertained Sydney society at Admiralty House with long-remembered hospitality. His handsome presence and robust, cheery personality combined with high professional ability made him the confidant of many important people in Australia. Among his first duties was an inquiry into the native labour trade between Queensland and the Pacific islands; it led to his inclusion in discussions regarding the annexation of New Guinea. The heightened colonial consciousness of defence following the Russian scare of early 1885 gained Tryon much publicity, which he used to urge increased naval effort. He proposed greater colonial participation in defence of the general Australian area by an auxiliary squadron not limited to the Australian coast, an integral part of his concept was his opposition to payment to Britain in return for protection. But Admiralty policy was opposed to a colonial blue-water capability and a policy of monetary contribution was accepted by colonial leaders at the 1887 Imperial Conference in London, to which Tryon had not been invited. As a result, Tryon asked to be relieved of his command and left Australia in the HMS Ballarat on 19 April 1887. He had filled the Victorian naval forces with his nominees, but failed to forge a coherent Australian unit or effect involvement in defence beyond coastal waters. Nevertheless, he stimulated a school of thought which eventually produced the RAN. On his return to Britain Tryon was created Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and appointed Superintendent of Reserves, which allowed him to pursue his interests in tactics and other matters. In 1889 he was promoted Vice Admiral, and in 1891 became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Station, where he implemented many of his ideas on training, including the introduction of a greater sense of realism into fleet manoeuvres. He was drowned following a collision on 22 June 1893 between his flagship, HMS Victoria, and a consort, HMS Camperdown, in a manoeuvre ordered by him and generally regarded as a lapse of judgment. His body was not recovered. Subsequent controversy concentrated on the risk inherent in his methods and tended to obscure his great contribution to naval development.
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