ever, is very cramped, and those who work them have to put up with a
good deal of discomfort.

Like the torpedo boats, destroyers are low in the water; with their
short dumpy funnels, short mast, and inky hue, they have a peculiarly
"wicked" appearance.

A new departure in these boats has been made by the introduction of
"turbine" engines, which are much lighter and take up less room than
engines of the ordinary type. These engines go at such a high rate of
speed that four screw-propellers have to be provided to transmit the
power efficiently. Turbine destroyers have attained a speed of 35 and a
half knots, or nearly 41 miles per hour. One more type of vessel
remains to be mentioned, which is receiving a good deal of attention at
present. These are the "submarines," or boats designed to navigate
under water. Their use, however, is largely discounted by the fact that
it is impossible to see to any distance under water--in fact, a
well-known submarine expert has said that the navigation of a submarine,
even under the best conditions, presents exactly the same difficulties
as that of an ordinary ship sailing in a fog. Hence a submarine must
frequently rise to the surface to ascertain the distance traversed, and
see that the proper course has been kept, and until some satisfactory
means of avoiding this has been discovered, submarines will probably
remain of comparatively little value for purposes of war.

The submarines made for the Navy are, 63 feet long, by 11 and 3 quarters
feet broad. When running "awash"--that is, with a small part of their
upper works above water, they are driven by a gasoline engine at a speed
of over 10 miles an hour. Sufficient gasoline is carried to take them
over 400 miles at this speed. When submerged, the speed is naturally
glower; the gasoline engines are stopped, all openings are closed, and
electric storage batteries are put in operation. These drive the boat
at the rate of eight miles an hour, but for a run of four hours only,
after which the batteries require recharging. For this reason
submarines always require to act in concert with what has been called a
"mother ship."

The most important types of vessels composing the British Navy have now
been described. There are many others--sloops, gunboats, transports,
despatch-boats, coal ships, hospital-ships, etcetera, which need not be
more than mentioned. What warships will be like in the future it is
impossible to forecast,