[44] Holmes' "Marine Engineering," page 74.
[46] "Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects," vol. xxviii., page 141; and vol. xxx., page 278.
[47] Lindsay's "Merchant Shipping," vol. iv., page 434.
[48] "Proceedings of the Institution of Naval Architects," vol. xi., page 152.
[49] Lindsay's "Merchant Shipping," vol. iv., page 435.
[50] Pollock's "Modern Shipbuilding, and the Men Engaged in it," page 199.
[51] "Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers" (1901), page 608.
The work for the Navy by the Scotts began with the building, in 1803, of a sloop-of-war named _The Prince of Wales_; a photograph from the model of this vessel is reproduced on Plate XIV. Since the construction of this ship the firm have carried out several important Admiralty contracts, including the first machinery manufactured in Scotland for a dockyard-built ship, the first steam frigate built in the North, and several later ships, with their engines; the most recent order being for the machinery of the armoured cruiser _Defence_, of 14,600 tons displacement, and 27,000 indicated horse-power, to give a speed of 23 knots.
The progress demonstrated by a contrast between the small sloop-of-war and this latest powerfully-armed and well-protected high-speed cruiser, is a record of research and invention, not only on the part of the naval architect, but also of the chemist, the metallurgist, and the engineer; the triumph is greater than that reviewed in the case of the Merchant Marine. Great speed has been achieved, notwithstanding that the problems to be solved in its attainment have been intensified by the limitations in the size of the ship in order to minimise the target presented to the enemy's fire, and by the necessity of providing for heavy armour, armament, and ammunition in the displacement weight.
When a comparison is made of the Navy ships at the beginning of the nineteenth century with those of a hundred years earlier, it is found that little progress had been made, either in design or in gun-power. The largest vessel in 1700 was of 1809 tons burden, with a hundred guns. A century later, the size had increased only to 2600 tons, with a hundred and twenty guns.[52] But even this was an exceptionally large vessel. The British ships were, as a rule, smaller, and perhaps slower, than the French ships; but then--as now and always--skill in strategy, courage in combat, and devotion to duty were the most powerful factors in action. No fault in these respects could be found with the work of our Navy in the various engagements which terminated in the epoch-marking victory in Trafalgar Bay.