VIII 



STEAM IN THE NAVY 



THE Americans seem to have first 

 realised that there were great possibilities 

 opened up by applying steam to war- 

 ships, and thus vastly increasing their 

 utility. Obviously a warship must be able 

 to be on a given spot at a given time. 

 The late war showed that, if it showed 

 nothing else. The only occasions upon 

 which the German Navy made any sort 

 of show were when, employing their 

 fastest vessels, they were able to pounce 

 upon the British coast, inflict some 

 damage, and be off before our ships could 

 catch them. 



Fulton, of whose Clermont we have 

 already spoken, seems to have been first 

 in the field with a steam warship. 



91 



