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The Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt by the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...
took place on 11–13 July 1882.
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
Beauchamp Seymour was in command of a fleet of fifteen
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
ironclad ships which had previously sailed to the harbor of
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
to support the khedive
Tewfik Pasha Mohamed Tewfik Pasha ( ar, محمد توفيق باشا ''Muḥammad Tawfīq Bāshā''; April 30 or 15 November 1852 – 7 January 1892), also known as Tawfiq of Egypt, was khedive of Egypt and the Sudan between 1879 and 1892 and the sixth rule ...
amid
Ahmed 'Urabi Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
's nationalist uprising against his administration and its close ties to
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
and French financiers. He was joined in the show of force by a French flotilla as well. The move provided some security to the khedive, who withdrew his court to the now-protected port, but strengthened 'Urabi's nationalists within the army and throughout the remainder of Egypt. On 11 June, anti-European riots began in Alexandria. The city's European residents fled and the Egyptian 'Urabist army began fortifying and arming the harbor. An ultimatum to cease this build-up being refused, the British fleet began a 10½-hour bombardment of the city without French assistance. Historians argue about whether Admiral Seymour exaggerated the threat from the Egyptian batteries at Alexandria in order to force the hand of a reluctant Gladstone administration. Once the British had attacked the city, they then proceeded to a full-scale invasion to restore the authority of the khedive. Egypt remained under British influence until
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes ...
, with the last British troops leaving in 1956.


Background (1869–1882)

In 1869, Khedive
Ismail of Egypt Isma'il Pasha ( ar, إسماعيل باشا ; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895) was the Khedive of Egypt and conqueror of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain. Sharing the ambitious outlook of his grandfa ...
inaugurated the Suez Canal, which was a joint venture between the Egyptian Government and the French-led Suez Canal Company. During the excavation of the canal so many Egyptian workers died that it became 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 a substantial partner, owning 40% of the total share issue. French and British concern led to the establishment of an Anglo-French
Condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
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 foreigners. '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 The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...
to
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
under Admiral Seymour's command. On 20 May 1882, 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 British conquest of Egypt (1882), also known as Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It ...
). 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 riots erupted, possibly started by 'Urabi's supporters but also blamed upon the Khedive himself as a
false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...
operation. 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.


Battle

At daybreak the gun-ship Helicon was dispatched into the harbour flying flags saying she was carrying a message from the Egyptian government to the city defenders.Famous Fighters of the Fleet, Edward Fraser, 1904, .293 At 7:00 a.m. on 11 July 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, " 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 ''Sultan'', 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'' were 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 ''Condor''s 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 Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
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 it burned itself 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 14 July that British marines and sailors landed in Alexandria.


Aftermath

It has been estimated that as many as 30 percent of the shells fired by the Royal Navy missed their targets and landed in the city itself, causing death and injury among the inhabitants, damaging or destroying many buildings, and starting fires which spread over the following days.Wright, ''Tidy Little War'', p. 107 This damage was exacerbated by panic, looting and arson, while many buildings rendered unsafe by the bombardment were subsequently demolished by the British during their occupation. 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 Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, (4 June 183325 March 1913), was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He became one of the most influential and admired British generals after a s ...
landed a large force of British troops in Alexandria as a staging location for attacking 'Urabi near the Suez Canal at the
Battle of Tell El Kebir The Battle of Tel El Kebir (often spelled Tel-El-Kebir) was fought on 13 September 1882 at Tell El Kebir in Egypt, 110 km north-north-east of Cairo. An entrenched Egyptian force under the command of Ahmed ʻUrabi was defeated by a British a ...
. Photographer
Luigi Fiorillo Luigi Fiorillo (1847–1898) was an Italian photographer, active in the Middle East and parts of Africa. Life and career Much is yet unknown about Luigi Fiorillo's private life, including his birth date and place. It is documented that he was ...
created an album of fifty pages showing the changes in Alexandria from start to finish of this attack. These photos can now be found online at The American University of Cairo in the Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library. This digital library was established in the fall of 2011 and the photographs of the Bombardment of Alexandria were compiled between June and August 2012. The bombardment was described in disparaging terms by British MP
Henry Richard Henry Richard (3 April 1812 – 20 August 1888) was a Congregational minister and Welsh Member of Parliament between 1868–1888. Richard was an advocate of peace and international arbitration, as secretary of the Peace Society for forty yea ...
:
I find a man prowling about my house with obviously felonious purposes. I hasten to get locks and bars, and to barricade my windows. He says that is an insult and threat to him, and he batters down my doors, and declares that he does so only as an act of strict self-defence.
After that the Urabi revolt was put down. Egypt came under partial British military occupation and significant governmental supervision (including as an outright British Protectorate 1914-22; British Protectorate) and remained under British domination through the Second World War.


British Fleet


Battleships

* HMS ''Alexandra'' * HMS ''Superb'' * HMS ''Sultan'' * HMS ''Temeraire'' * HMS ''Inflexible'' * HMS ''Monarch'' * HMS ''Invincible'' * HMS ''Penelope''


Torpedo boat

*


Despatch boat

*


Gunvessels

* * * * *


Egyptian forts

*
Citadel of Qaitbay The Citadel of Qaitbay (or the Fort of Qaitbay; ar, قلعة قايتباي) is a 15th-century defensive fortress located on the Mediterranean sea coast, in Alexandria, Egypt. It was built from 1477 to 1479 AD (882–884 AH) by Sultan Al-Ash ...
* Fort Silsileh * Fort Adda * Fort Ras El Tin *
Fort Marabout A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
* Fort Agami * Marza El Kana * Citadel of El Max * Fort Kamaria * Fort Omuk Kebebe * Fort Saleh Aga


See also

*
List of conflicts in the Near East This is a list of conflicts in the Near East arranged; first, chronologically from the epipaleolithic until the end of the late modern period ( – c. AD 1945); second, geographically by sub-regions (starting from east to west; then, south to n ...


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * * {{Authority control
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
Military history of Alexandria
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
1882 in Egypt 19th-century military history of the United Kingdom July 1882 events 19th century in Alexandria