The collision and the failed attempt to beach Victoria

Captain Bourke asked three times for permission to reverse before Tryon finally agreed, while Camperdown applied only three-quarters astern as the ships closed. Johnstone gave no clear reason for failing to use full reverse. On the hot afternoon, hatches and other ventilation openings remained open aboard Victoria. Camperdown's ram struck about twelve feet below the waterline and penetrated roughly nine feet into Victoria. Both ships were already backing, so they separated and opened the breach fully. Earlier reversing might have prevented contact or reduced it to a glancing blow. Tryon and navigation officer Thomas Hawkins-Smith initially expected Victoria to survive because the machinery spaces were unaffected, and Tryon ordered the ship toward shore for beaching while sending approaching rescue boats away. Water rose too quickly for a collision mat to be deployed over the hole.