Khartoum (film) strong, if eccentric, religious beliefs and following his own judgement, regardless of his orders. Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, the British foreign secretary (Michael Hordern), knowing this, tells Gladstone that by sending Gordon to Khartoum, the British government can ignore all public pressure to send an army there, and absolve themselves of any responsibility over the area if Gordon ignores his orders. Gladstone is mildly shocked at the suggestion, but as it is popular with the public and Queen Victoria, he adopts it for the sake of expediency. Gordon is told that his mission, to evacuate troops and civilians, is
HMS Khartoum (F45) and the sloop in search for "Torricelli" near Perim Island. After interception, "Khartoum" and these warships took part in a surface engagement with the submarine, during which "Torricelli" was sunk and "Shoreham" damaged. However, during the battle, "Khartoum" was hit by return fire which damaged the after torpedo tube mounting. Some five and a half hours later, at 11.50am (local time), a torpedo's compressed air chamber exploded, propelling the warhead through the deck house of number 3 4.7-inch mount. and causing a serious uncontrollable fire from a ruptured oil tank there. This resulted in an explosion of the ship's artillery