Page:The Development of Navies During the Last Half-Century.djvu/132

 but the difficulty hitherto has been to obtain one which with great power, will combine safety in handling and withstand the great concussion of the enormous powder charges now fired in guns. Experiments in different countries seem to show that this difficulty can be overcome, and that such shells are terribly destructive when exploded inside a ship. Thus the old idea of protecting crews from such effects again came to the front. All these moderate sized guns and their workers must fight behind armour of some sort, and not be left entirely unprotected. There was also a demand for more of such guns to supplement the principal armament. Nothing was to be given up, but a good deal more was asked for.

The naval architect was willing to provide it, but said that all this could not be done under a displacement of 14,000 tons. Thus when a large increase to the navy was sanctioned in 1889, and it was decided to at once lay down ten battle ships, of which eight were to be of the first class, it was perhaps not unnatural that we should endeavour to embody in these all the varied demands for powerful armament, extended protection, great speed, and prolonged endurance at sea, only to be given in mastless ships by a large coal supply. As regards the first item, a feeling that we had exceeded the limit of usefulness in guns of such weight as 110 tons, and the restriction thereby imposed as to number, led to a more moderate calibre being adopted for the principal armament. The 67-ton gun had been tried, and found satisfactory in some ships of the 'Admiral' class, so it was selected for the new vessels. All of them are to have