privates the same pay as in the army. The gunners and assistant gunners
were chosen from among the crew for the best shooting, for it was justly
held that victory in a naval battle rested mostly on the shooting
qualities of the man behind the gun.

The other battleship was rated first class and her dimensions were as
follows: Length, six hundred and thirty feet, breadth of beam ninety
feet, draught of water thirty feet. Armament: sixteen twelve-inch
caliber guns in single turrets and placed in the following manner:
forward on the lower gun deck, five guns; one on the center line of the
ship near the bow and two on each side further back. Five guns aft on
the lower gun deck; one on the center line of the ship near the stern
and two on each side in the same way as in the first part of the ship.
Three guns forward on the upper gun deck, one on the center line of the
ship and one on each side nearer amidships; three guns aft on the upper
gun deck in the relative positions. All the guns were placed so that
twelve guns could be brought to bear on an enemy ship. The lower gun
deck was twelve feet above the water line and the upper gun deck two,
and they were constructed and equipped as those on the second class.

The first class battleships carried one hundred and two more men than
the second class, consisting of six gunners, six assistant gunners,
eighteen corporals and seventy privates. No additional force was
required for the Engineer department of the ship. I inquired of the
Chief Engineer what make of engine they used and he replied that it was
the Hammond & Co. Rotary Engine and added: "We are indebted for this
engine to a countryman of yours named Leonard Hammond, who perfected it
so that at present it is in universal use and has revolutionized the
industries of the world by its saving of fuel and the low price at which
it call be manufactured, so that it has consigned every other make of