Khartoum March 1884, troops loyal to the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad started a siege of Khartoum, against defenders led by British General Charles George Gordon. The siege ended in a massacre of the Anglo-Egyptian garrison when on 26 January 1885 the heavily-damaged city fell to the Mahdists. On 2 September 1898, Omdurman was the scene of the bloody Battle of Omdurman, during which British forces under Herbert Kitchener defeated the Mahdist forces defending the city. In 1973, the city was the site of an anomalous hostage crisis in which members of Black September held 10 hostages at the Saudi Arabian embassy, five
HMS Archer (1885) party to protect the British Consul-General after a confrontation between him and Japanese troops. She served on the Australia Station from 7 September 1900 until 5 December 1903. She was decommissioned in 1905 and sold in April 1905 for £4,800 to Forrester, Swansea for scrap. HMS Archer (1885) HMS "Archer" was an torpedo cruiser of the British Royal Navy which built by the Glasgow shipbuilder J & G Thomson between 1885 and 1888. She served on overseas stations, including operations off Africa, China and Australia. She was sold for scrap in 1905. "Archer" was laid down at J & G