RAPID BATTLESHIP BUILDING. 



3i 



the British battleship 'Venerable', which was christened early in No- 

 vember, 1899. This vessel was laid down in the first week of Janu- 

 ary, 1899, and her construction proceeded at such a rate that it was 

 possible to place her in the water in exactly ten months from the day 

 on which her first keel plate was laid. In this case the builders were 

 impelled not so much by a desire to establish a record, as to provide a 

 slip for the commencement of work on another naval contract. 



It is a singular coincidence that the most favorable records estab- 

 lished thus far in the annals of naval ship-building should have been 

 made by three sister vessels, the trio being among the largest battle- 



Fig. 3. The Battleship ' Hatsuse ' ready for Launching. 



ships in the world. The performances of the 'Bulwark' and 'Venerable' 

 have already been noted. That of the 'London' is scarcely less credit- 

 able. This vessel was built at the Portsmouth dockyard and was 

 laid down on December 8, 1898. She was thus under construction a 

 little more than nine months, and during that time over five thousand 

 tons of material were built into her. 



That all the energies of the builders of the United Kingdom are 

 not exerted in behalf of their own nation is attested by the showing 

 made by the Thames Iron Works, Shipbuilding and Engineering Com- 

 pany in the case of the battleship 'Shikishima', completed during the 

 early part of 1899 for the Japanese government. The first plate of this 



