feet. ins. Length from figure head to taffrail 226 6 Length of keel 151 3 Length of gun-deck 186 0 Extreme beam 52 0 Depth of hold 21 6 Tonnage 2162 tons. Her armament was in 1778-- Lower deck 30 long 32-pounders. Middle deck 30 long 24-pounders. Main deck 32 long 12-pounders. Upper deck 12 short 12-pounders. 104 Guns. In 1793 she had four 32-pr. carronades substituted on upper deck, and six 18-pr. carronades added on the poop, making her total number of guns at this time 110. The six last were subsequently removed, as at Trafalgar she had no guns on the poop. In 1803, two 68-pr. carronades were placed on the forecastle, instead of two 32-pr., when the weight of her broadside fired from 52 guns was 1160 pounds. It may here be mentioned, for the sake of comparison, that the weight of the broadside of the _Monarch_, a modern ironclad, carrying but six guns,[A] is 2515 lbs., or more than twice that of the "VICTORY." [A] Not including one that only fires aft. As it happened, in 1765 England was at peace with all the world, so the "VICTORY" lay quietly at her moorings at Chatham for 13 years, but in 1778, when war with France became imminent, she was commissioned by Captain Sir J. Lindsey on 15th March, and on Admiral Hon. Augustus Keppel being appointed to the command of the Channel Fleet he selected her as his flagship, and she was sent round to Portsmouth, where, on May 16th, she hoisted his flag. On the 7th June Keppel sailed from St. Helen's, with 21 sail of the line, 3 frigates, and 3 sloops, having Sir Robert Harland and Sir Hugh Palliser as his Vice-Admirals. His position was a peculiar and delicate one, as war was not yet declared, though all chance of peace being maintained was at an end, but it was known that large and rich fleets of merchantmen from our East and West Indian possessions were on their way home, and it was unadvisable to allow any French frigates to cruise at large and carry intelligence of their whereabouts to Brest; besides this, Admiral Byron with a small squadron was on the point of sailing to reinforce our fleet on the American coast, and Keppel was expected to cover his path. Under these circumstances, when two French frigates hove in sight on the 17th June, Keppel determined to detain them; one, the _Licorne_, submitted after firing one broadside, but the other, the _Belle-Poule_, attempted to escape, was pursued, and after a long chase, brought to action by the _Arethusa_, Captain Marshall. The two frigates were nearly equal in force, and after one of the most desperate contests on record, the fight terminated by the _Belle-Poule_ drifting amongst the rocks of her own coast, leaving the