H.M.S. Northumberland, 10,780 tons, was one of a trio of remarkable five-masted battleships launched in the 1860's and the longest single-screw warships ever built. Commissioned for service in the Channel Fleet, she was placed in Reserve in 1890 and after serving as a training ship, she was eventually hulked and later towed to Dakar in 1928; H.M.S. Canada, 2,380 tons, was a 10-gun screw corvette built at Portsmouth in 1881 and sold for breaking on 1887; H.M.S. Tenedos, 1,760 tons, was a 6-gun screw sloop built at Devonport in 1870, re-rated as a corvette in 1875 and sold out of the service in 1887.

Admiral W.G.E. Ruck-Keene, M.V.O. (1867--1935) joined the Royal Navy in 1880, was made Captain in 1906 and retired in 1920