Promoted to vice admiral on 26 July 1869,[4] Wellesley went on to be Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Squadron, hoisting his flag in the armoured frigate HMS Minotaur, in October 1870 but was relieved of that post by a court-martial after an incident in which the armoured frigate HMS Agincourt, which had been under his command at the time, ran aground at Pearl Rock off Gibraltar in July 1871.[2] It was not until the fourth day after the incident that the central battery ironclad HMS Hercules commanded by Captain Lord Gilford, using full engines and hauling on the anchors, managed to pull HMS Agincourt free using two chains.[5] After that Wellesley was made Commander-in-Chief of the North America and West Indies Station again, this time hoisting his flag in the central battery ironclad HMS Bellerophon, in September 1873.[2]