[6] In the summer of 1849, Tryon had the chance of joining a tour of the United States, but declined in favour of study, and to allow him command of a cutter, which was unusual for a junior cadet.

Admiral William Robert Mends later said of Tryon, 'He served with me, when I was commander of the Vengeance, for two years as a midshipman, and a better young officer never existed; ever full of energy and zeal.

Tryon wrote home, explaining the British desire to create a land route to India, and the continuous vying for power in the region between Britain and France.

Royal Albert returned to England, where in July 1858 she acted as part of the escort for Queen Victoria's visit to Cherbourg to meet the Emperor and Empress of France.

His ready resource, active intelligence, sound judgement and good temper, especially qualify him for success in his profession; and I consider it my duty to recommend him strongly to their Lordships as an officer likely to perform any service required of him with ability.

Admiral Sir Robert Smart, Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean, recommended Tryon and his crew should receive salvage for the ship, and the sum of £595 was granted to be divided between them.

Tryon was attached to Octavia, but his duties were to act as transport officer at Annesley Bay, which was to be used as a staging post for troops and supplies for Sir Robert Napier's expedition to Magdala in Abyssinia.

At Gibraltar, Randolph was replaced by Rear Admiral Rowley Lambert, and the whole squadron was ordered to go to Bombay, to attend the Prince of Wales who would shortly be making a tour of India.

As Raleigh was the only ship fast enough to keep up with Serapis and Osborne, Tryon then accompanied the royal progress to Goa, Bepore, and Colombo, where the party disembarked for a tour of Ceylon.

The political tension came to nothing, and the tour was highlighted by escort duty to the Duchess of Edinburgh aboard the Russian Imperial yacht, hunting trips and visits to places of interest.

[34] On 1 October 1878, Tryon was appointed to HMS Monarch of the Mediterranean fleet under Admiral Geoffrey Hornby, joining her at Artaki in the Sea of Marmora on 18 November.

In March 1880 Hornby was replaced as commander of the fleet by Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour, who in the summer sent Monarch and Thunderer to attend the launching of the battleship Italia by the King of Italy at Naples.

This placed Tryon in a delicate position that while he confirmed the views of locals that the French had caused much of the problems and intended to take control of the region, Britain would do nothing to intervene.

Tryon's political and social skills were considered important for the role, which involved negotiations with the Australian colonies for financing a fast cruiser squadron in the region.

Part of the squadron's duties included patrolling the waters between Queensland and the islands of New Guinea to prevent kidnapping and human trafficking of native labourers to supply new plantations.

The South East corner of New Guinea around Port Moresby had only been annexed as a British protectorate the previous year (1884) by Commodore Erskine on behalf of Queen Victoria.

After the Russian scare had subsided, Tryon continued to assist with the development of land fortifications for major towns, emphasising the importance of preparedness in advance of any military situation arising, and of giving the impression of a united defence even if this had not in reality been entirely achieved.

[45] An initial proposal was made by Tryon for a squadron of six Archer-class ships of 1,800 tons armed with 6-in guns capable of 16 knots costing around £105,000 each, accompanied by eight 150-ton torpedo boats priced around £53,000.

A conference of colonial delegates was held in London in 1887 to discuss Australian defence, to which Tryon was not invited despite the large part he had played thus far in negotiations on behalf of the Admiralty and British government.

He took an interest in furthering development of the supply depot and repair dock in Sydney Harbour, and the construction of a new sailors' home to replace an existing one which had become overtaken by demand.

He suffered a broken arm in a fall from a stable attic while visiting his mother in law, Lady Willoughby de Eresby at Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire.

[56] In 1885 a programme of annual naval manoeuvres had begun, where the British navy would divide into opposing fleets and conduct war exercises as near as possible to real conditions which might be experienced.

The fastest ships, Warspite, Iris, Severn, Volage, Cossack and three torpedo boats left via the western entrance, staying as close to the shore as they dared, heading for the Atlantic.

[58][61] Tryon was criticised by officers from the enemy fleet that he had not given due warning to merchant vessels before attacking, nor allowed their crews time to escape as required under international law.

[63] Shortly after the manoeuvres, Tryon wrote a fictional history of the 'Achill' campaign, describing the opening events of the war against a foreign naval power which had just been played out in the exercise, then going on with an account of what happened next.

He was concerned that in the event of war insurance rates for vessels against loss by enemy action would immediately become impossibly high, so that merchant ships would simply stop trading with Britain, even if the numbers being lost were relatively small.

The Chairman of P&O, Sir Thomas Sutherland, wrote arguing that a scheme ought to be considered and prepared in peace time, but no legislation should be passed or anything else done unless an actual war situation arose.

Retired admiral Alfred Chatfield, then a city businessman, observed that the scheme would disproportionately favour smaller and slower ships at the greatest risk of enemy capture, perhaps even making them more profitable and thus discouraging the construction of safer but more expensive replacements.

Tryon arrived from Malta on board the Surprise, having given orders for the dockyard tug Sampson, Phaeton, Edinburgh, Dreadnought, Scout and Humber to come to assist.

For instance, an article in Society Journal Talk in July 1893 (following the accident) said, "Much has been said about George Tryon's charm of manner, and the rest of it, but in truth he was, at any rate when officially engaged, a very brusque and dictatorial man.