Page:The Development of Navies During the Last Half-Century.djvu/25

 She had previously grounded at the mouth of the St Lawrence, and sustained severe damage, but was got off, and her captain determined to proceed to England. Three days after starting she lost her rudder. This was a severe demand even upon the seamanship of those days, but a jury rudder was rigged up by which the ship was steered the rest of the way home. When Captain Rous afterwards stood for Westminster he was met at the hustings with the usual cry, 'Who are you?' He answered, 'Captain Rous of the "Pique," who brought her across the Atlantic without a rudder.' 'Bravo Rous!' shouted everyone, and 'Bravo Rous' became for a time the common cry in London.

Owing to the economical principles then in vogue, it was not until 1835 that the first line-of-battle ship on the designs of Captain Symonds was launched. This was the 'Vanguard,' of 2610 tons and eighty guns. Her dimensions were, length 190 ft., and breadth 57 ft. She was the broadest ship in the navy. Her principal characteristics were speed and handiness under canvas, with great space between decks. A great improvement effected by Captain Symonds in 1836 was in reducing the different lists of ships' stores, which had gradually accumulated to the number of eighty-seven, owing to there being so many classes of vessels in the navy. It is recorded that when Nelson was off Cadiz he had no less than seven classes of 74-gun ships each requiring different spars, so that if one had been disabled the others could not have supplied her wants.

In 1839 the 'Queen,' a three-decker, and the largest