SIZE AND FIGHTING QUALITIES OF BRITISH BATTLESHIPS OF DIFFERENT PERIODS.
| Name. | Date of Completion. | Displacement. | Side Armour. | Speed. | Total Weight of Shot in One Round. | Collective Energy at Muzzle of One Round. |
| tons | in. | knots | lb. | foot-tons | ||
| Warrior | 1861 | 9,210 | 4-1/2-in. wrought iron | 14-1/2 | 3800 | 61,476 |
| Hercules | 1868 | 8,680 | 9-in. to 6-in. wrought iron | 14 | 5400 | 70,200 |
| Alexandra | 1877 | 9,490 | 12-in. to 6-in. wrought iron | 15 | 5426 | 71,400 |
| Inflexible | 1881 | 11,880 | 24-in. to 16-in. wrought iron | 13 | 6936 | 123,120 |
| Benbow | 1888 | 10,600 | 18-in. compound | 16.75 | 4600 | 135,560 |
| Royal Sovereign | 1892 | 14,150 | 18-in. and 5-in. compound | 17.5 | 5800 | 159,610 |
| Barfleur | 1894 | 10,500 | 12-in. compound | 18.5 | 2450 | 67,670 |
| Canopus | 1900 | 12,950 | 6-in. hardened steel | 18.25 | 4600 | 178,720 |
| Prince of Wales | 1902 | 15,000 | 9-in. super-hardened steel | 18.25 | 4600 | 194,400 |
| King Edward VII. | 1904 | 16,350 | 9-in. super-hardened steel | 18.50 | 5920 | 270,040 |
| Lord Nelson | 1905 | 16,500 | 10-in. super-hardened steel | 18.50 | 7960 | 413,900 |
As to the machinery made by the Scotts for these battleships, the Barfleur had three-cylinder, triple-expansion twin-screw engines, to run at 108 revolutions, and to develop 13,000 indicated horse-power. On her trials the power was 13,163 indicated horse-power. There are eight single-ended, return-tube, cylindrical boilers, working at 155 lb. pressure. Other details are given in the Table on page 53.
The engines of the Canopus are illustrated on page 49 by a drawing taken from a Paper read at the Institution of Civil Engineers, by Sir John Durston and Admiral H. J. Oram.[64] This was the first type of British battleship fitted with water-tube boilers. She was followed soon after by the Prince of Wales.[65]
The Argyll, which was built and engined by the Scotts, and the Defence, which is being built in one of the Royal Dockyards, and is having its machinery constructed by the Scotts, signalise progress in cruiser design. The hardening of armour, increasing its resistance, permits of a reduction in weight for a given measure of protection, so that it has been possible to effectively defend the modern cruiser, while at the same time giving an enormously increased gun-power and a speed far in excess of that possible ten years ago. The Argyll is a vessel of 10,850 tons displacement, being 450 ft. long, 68 ft. 6 in. beam, and having a draught of 25 ft.; while the Defence is a vessel of 14,600 tons displacement, having a length of 490 ft., a beam of 74 ft. 6 in., and a draught of 26 ft. In both ships the greater part of the broadside, from 5 ft. below the water-line to the upper deck, is armoured, and a very large proportion of the area thus clad has 6-in. hardened plates.