The Modern Warship 129 



for, and never was such a complete one 

 found as in the torpedo-boat destroyer, 

 which we now call by the simpler name 

 destroyer. 



From a purely steamship point of view 

 the destroyer is easily the most interesting 

 naval unit, since the battleship and cruiser 

 depend on their armour and guns to a 

 greater extent than their speed. On the 

 destroyer everything is sacrificed for speed. 

 It has been my good fortune to inspect 

 some of these craft which have been in 

 hospital for various reasons. In two cases 

 the bows were the damaged portion; one 

 from a head-on collision, the other from 

 running at full speed up a shingle bank. 

 The result in both instances was remark- 

 able and illuminating. Between ' our 

 jolly jack tars " and the sea there is a thin 

 plating of steel, so thin that it looked at 

 first sight as if it might be cut with a 

 strong pair of scissors. 



In reality the plating is much stronger 

 than it looks, but it is naturally susceptible 



