ON NA VAL ARCHITECTURE. 287 



mechanical skill to assert themselves against the power of mere 

 numbers and of brute force, and the nations represented in this 

 assembly are the last in the world that should regret that naval battles 

 may be fought successfully by the few against the many, provided that 

 the few have on their side, in addition to the universal qualities of 

 animal courage and endurance, the rarer possessions of wealth, of 

 science, and of mechanical skill. 



I would add that I do not advocate indeed I have always opposed 

 the protection of men in detail by armour. I would protect them in 

 the mass by protecting their ship, their signalling and steering instru- 

 ments, and their fighting power as a whole ; but I would not attempt 

 to protect each gun and each man. My own ideal of a fighting ship is 

 not the " Inflexible," the " Alexandra," the " Temeraire," or the 

 " Ajax," and " Agamemnon," although I am primarily responsible for 

 their designs, but it is the ships now building in Scotland, the 

 " Nelson" and " Northampton," which represent in my view the best 

 disposition of the offensive and defensive powers. 



In these ships the central part is armoured up to a shot-proof deck 

 four feet out of water. The ends are without side-armour, but have an 

 under-water deck protecting everything that is vital. There is a high 

 battery with numerous heavy guns ; the battery is protected from end-on 

 fire, and the bow and stern guns, which fire in line with the keel, 

 and are the most powerful of any, are protected from broadside fire 

 also. The intermediate guns have in front of them a thin side incapable 

 of being splintered, and each gun's crew is cut off from the next by a 

 splinter-screen or traverse. This broadside of guns can be loaded and 

 laid in a close engagement under the shelter of the bow or stern 

 armour, and may be fired by electricity without exposing the crew. 

 The ships are propelled by two screws ; the propelling machinery is 

 divided into compartments separated from each other by water-tight 

 bulkheads, and there is for a time of peace good sail-power. In a time 

 of war only the lower masts would stand, and the ships could then 

 carry a very large supply of fuel. The cost of each of these ships for 

 hull and engines, exclusive of fittings and rigging, is about ^350,000. 



To turn now to 'the Loan Collection more particularly I would 

 remark that in it there are examples of the beginnings of things which 

 have assumed gigantic proportions. 



