Page:The Development of Navies During the Last Half-Century.djvu/257

 connecting-rod, and as the use of steam gradually spread in the navy, and it became apparent that for every ton saved in the weight of and space occupied by the machinery valuable increase could be effected in the armament and coal capacity of the ship, it was inevitable that the ingenuity of the first engineering country in the world should be directed to the necessity for improvement in marine motive power. Hence we find in 1840 the 'Cyclops,' 'Gorgon,' and 'Prometheus' had been fitted with direct-acting engines by Messrs Seaward, and the total weight of machinery was in their case reduced by about two-fifths. The 'Gorgon' was the first example of the new type of engine, and finished her trials in October 1837, and direct-acting engines soon came into general use in the Royal Navy, although the particular form introduced by Messrs Seaward was by no means that most generally approved or adopted. Still, to them belongs the credit of having been the first in the field.

The year 1843 was a remarkable one as regards the development of steam propulsion in the Royal Navy, for then it was that the 'Penelope,' the first man-of-war supplied with tubular boilers, and the 'Black Eagle,' the first vessel ordered by the Admiralty to be fitted with oscillating cylinders, were added to the list of Queen’s ships. The importance at that date of these two enormous strides in marine engineering cannot be