22 
THE WORLD’S WAR-SHIPS. 
best specimen of a single turret-ship yet laid down.’ 
Perhaps the principal, if not the only, objection which 
may be urged against her, will be her large size and cost, 
considering that she carries but two heavy guns, and that 
they have not an all-round fire.” 
These guns are two B.L. 45-ton guns. Her coal endurance 1 is 5200 
knots; her maximum speed 15’5 knots. 
The Hero is a similar vessel in every way. 
The other digression concerns barbette ships. It was gradually 
being more and more recognised that as armour increased it was 
impossible to defend the whole ship’s sides, and that one would have 
to be satisfied by protecting the middle of the ship, machinery, &c. 
France gave early expression to this, by laying down barbette ships; 
Italy followed. We should doubtless have done the same had not the 
controversy raised over the turret ships with their only partly defended 
ends prevented us. In July, 1880, however, the first mastless barbette 
ship built for the British Navy was begun, and named the Colling- 
wood. She proved the first of the Admiral class, the others being 
the Rodney, Howe, Camperdown, and Anson. To give them speed 
the length was increased, that of the Camperdown being 325 feet. 
Her beam is 68 feet and her displacement 9500 tons. The turrets, 
which in all barbette ships are open, are pear-shaped in plan, and do 
not revolve. The guns are placed on a revolving table. The armour 
of the sides of the ship extend to about the middle line of the turrets, 
an iron bulkhead connecting the two. The conning tower is placed 
just aft of the fore turret, then come the two funnels, then two steam 
pinnaces (on the upper deck) and then the after turret. A steel deck, 
curved as usual, runs the entire length of the ship. The armament in 
general is four 67-ton B.L. guns in the barbettes, and six 6-inch in 
the secondary battery on the main deck between the turrets. The 
armour consists of 18 inches on the sides; 16 inches on the bulkheads, 
and from 14 inches to 12 inches on the barbettes. The weak point of 
the Admiral class is undoubtedly the slight protection afforded to the 
gun-crews working the guns in the secondary battery, but their high 
speed atones in many persons eyes for this, and also for their low 
freeboard forward. 
Their open turrets at once separate them from ordinary turret-ships, 
as their big guns stand out clear and plain. Four of them at present 
are in the Channel Squadron; and they have acquitted themselves 
well in the late Autumn Manoeuvres. There is a strong resemblance in 
this class to the Conqueror, of which ship some have considered they 
are only an improved type. 
While the Admiral class have been building, another somewhat 
similar ship was proceeded with, the Benbow. She is the same length, 
but was designed for two 110-ton B.L. guns, one in each barbette. 
She also carries a larger central battery, viz., 10 6-inch guns. This 
has entailed her size being increased to 10,600 tons displacement. 
The barbettes, like in the rest of the Admiral class, are placed in the 
i In speaking of coal endurance, I invariably mean at 10 knot speed. 
