M. The
"Inflexible" weighed soon after 8 A.M. and engaged Ras-el-Tin,
afterwards attacking Forts Pharos and Adda. The "Condor," followed by
the "Beacon," "Bittern" and "Decoy," engaged Fort Marabout soon after 8
A.M. till 11 A.M., when the gunboats were recalled. After the works were
silenced, the ships moved in closer, with a view to dismount the
Egyptian guns. The bombardment ceased at 5 P.M.; but a few rounds were
fired by the "Inflexible" and "Temeraire" on the morning of the 12th at
the right battery in Ras-el-Tin lines.

The bombardment of the forts of Alexandria is interesting as a gauge
of the effect to be expected from the fire of ships under specially
favourable conditions. The Egyptians at different times during the day
brought into action about 33 R.M.L. guns (7-in. to 10-in.), 3 R.B.L.
guns (40 prs.), and 120 S.B. guns (6.5-in. and 10-in.), with a few
mortars. These guns were disposed over a coast-line of about 10 sea
miles, and were in many cases indifferently mounted. The Egyptian
gunners had been little trained, and many of them had never once
practised with rifled ordnance. Of seventy-five hits on the hulls of
the ships only five can with certainty be ascribed to projectiles from
rifled guns, and thirty were unquestionably due to the old
smoothbores, which were not provided with sights. The total loss
inflicted was 6 killed and 27 wounded. The British ships engaged fired
1741 heavy projectiles (7-in. to 16-in.) and 1457 light (7-prs. to
64-prs.), together with 33,493 machine-gun and rifle bullets. The
result was comparatively small. About 8 rifled guns and 19 smoothbores
were dismounted or disabled and 4 and 1 temporarily put out of action
respectively. A considerable portion of this injury was inflicted,
after the works had been silenced, by the deliberate fire of the
ships. As many as twenty-eight rifled guns and 140 smoothbores would
have opened fire on the following day. The Egyptians made quite as
good a stand as could be expected, but were driven from their guns,
which they were unable to use with adequate effect; and the
bombardment of Alexandria confirms previous experience that the fire
of ships cannot really compete with that of well-mounted and
well-handled guns on shore.

In the afternoon of the 12th, fires, which were the work of
incendiaries, began to break out in the best quarters of Alexandria; and
the town was left to murder and pill