Note 123 — Front matter (continued 5)

The first officer to hoist his flag in the Alexandra was the late Admiral of the Fleet Sir Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, G.C.B. She was afterwards the flagship, also in the Mediterranean, of the late Duke of Edinburgh. Sir Geoffrey Hornby hoisted his flag on board on Monday, the 15th of January 1877, and the Alexandra was his flagship when in the following year, at the most critical moment for Europe of the Russo-Turkish War, Sir Geoffrey, with a division of the Mediterranean Fleet, made the passage of the Dardanelles. Speaking of the close association between the Alexandra and the royal lady who so auspiciously sent the splendid battleship afloat, Sir Geoffrey Hornby's biographer, his daughter, Mrs. Fred. Egerton, says: 'H.R.H. was recognised, so to speak, as the patron saint of the ship. Her birthday, December 1, became the fête day of the ship; a Danish cross, with a garland of oak leaves between the arms of the cross, was adopted as the crest, and a photograph of the Princess, presented by her to the officers, received the place of honour in the wardroom.'