ABSTRACT
When Thomas Sulivan left the East African coast in 1878, the navy’s influence and effectiveness in the region were at an all-time high. The addition to the treaty structure of the major concessions of 1873 had been enhanced by the greatly improved potential to enforce the document provided by the London. The period in which the two Captain Sulivans commanded the London represented a new ‘high-water mark’ for the navy. Thomas Sulivan was relieved as commander of the London by Captain Hamilton Earle. Earle had served on the coast in the Persian in 1860 but he lacked both the flair for the job and the insight that both the Sulivans had possessed. Naval activity continued to centre round the London much as it had done under the Sulivans.
