934 REPORT—1890. 
and so important haye been made that they amount to a complete revclution. I 
believe it would be more correct to say several complete revolutions. It is at least 
certain that the changes which were made within the period of ten years following 
1854, were far more important and wide-spreading in their character than were all 
the improvements made during the whole of the great wars of the last and the 
commencement of the present century. 
Indeed, it has always struck me as most remarkable that during the long 
period of the Napoleonic and earlier wars, when the mind of this country must 
have been to so large an extent fixed on everything connected with our naval 
and military services, so little real progress was made. 
Our ships, no doubt, were the best of their class, although, I believe, we were 
indebted for many of our most renowned models to vessels captured from ovr 
neighbours. They were fitted for sea with all the resources and skill of the first 
seamen of the world, and when at sea were handled in a manner to command 
universal admiration. But their armaments were of the rude nature I have 
described, and so far as I can see possessed little, if any, advantage over those 
of nearly a couple of centuries earlier. It is not improbable that the great success 
which attended our arms at sea may have contributed to this stagnation. 
The men who with such arms achieved such triumphs, may well be forgiven for 
believing that further improvement was unnecessary, and it must be remembered 
that the practice of engaging at very close quarters minimised to a great extent 
the most striking deficiencies of the guns and their mountings. 
I need scarcely, however, remind you that were two vessels of the old type to 
meet, one armed with her ancient armament, the other with modern guns, it would 
be vain for the former to attempt toclose. She would be annihilated long before 
she approached sufficiently near to her antagonist to permit her guns to be used 
with any effect. 
It would be quite impossible, within reasonable limits of time, to attempt to 
give anything like an historical account of the changes which have taken place in 
our ships of war during the last thirty-five years, and the long battle between 
plates and guns will be fresh in the memory of most of us. The modifications 
which the victory of one or the other impressed on our nayal constructions are 
sufficiently indicated by the rapid changes of type in our battle-ships, and by the 
number of armour-clads once considered so formidable, but seldom now mentioned 
except to adorn the tale of their inutility. The subject also requires very special 
knowledge, and to be properly handled must be dealt with by some master of the 
art, such as our Director of Naval Construction. 
Let me now compare with the vessels of the past those of the present day, and 
for my purpose I shall select for comparison as first-rates the Victoria and the 
Trafalgar. The Victoria has a length of 340 feet, a breadth of 70 feet; she 
has a displacement of about 10,500 tons, an indicated horse-power of 14,244, and 
she attained a speed on the measured mile of 17} knots; she has a thickness of 
18 inches of compound armour on her turrets, a similar thickness protects the redoubt, 
and her battery-deck is defended with 3-inch plates. Her armament consists 
of two 16}-inch 110-ton guns, one 10-inch 30-ton gun, twelve 6-inch 5-ton guns, 
twelve 6-pounder and nine 3-pounder quick-firing guns, two machine-guns, and six 
torpedo-guns. 
The Trafalgar has a length of 345 feet, or very nearly double the length of the 
Victory, a displacement of 12,000 tons, an indicated horse-power of 12,820, and 
a speed on the measured mile of a little over 174 knots. Her armament consists 
of four 68-ton guns, six 47-inch quick-firing guns, six G6-pounder, and nine 
3-pounder quick-firing guns, six machine and six torpedo guns. 
Comparing the armament of the Victoria with that of the Victory we find, to 
quote the words of Lord Armstrong—which when evaluating the progress we 
have made will bear repetition—that while the heaviest gun on board the Victory 
was a little over 3 tons, the heaviest on board the Victoria is a little over 
110tons. The largest charge used on board the Victory was 10 lbs., the largest on 
board the Victoria close on 1,000 lbs.; the heaviest shot used in the Vectory was 
68 lbs., in the Victoria it is 1,800 lbs, The weight of metal discharged from the 
