The _Thunderer_ was built at the Thames Ironworks and fitted with the "Director"; the _Orion_, a sister ship, was equipped with the "fire-control" apparatus. The _Thunderer_ and _Orion_ are both of the same design and both cost the same amount to build. The _Thunderer_, fitted with the "Director," at a target 10,000 yards distant made eighty per cent. of hits. Such shooting as this was a revelation; nothing like it had ever been dreamed of. It was four or five times better practice than the _Orion_ could make fitted with the "fire-control" system. It was better than any record made at 2,000 yards in the gunlayer's tests. In simple language Sir Percy Scott's invention increased the hitting power of a ship, at long range and in a heavy sea, by four hundred per cent. With its aid a tremendous broadside can be fired from a Dreadnought. The officer in charge of the "Director" has a special "cabin" or "room" in the fore of the ship, from which he can control and fire every gun. He can discover the exact range of the enemy, and the precise elevation for the guns. Every operation is controlled by the "Director"--excepting, of course, loading and cleaning the guns. The _Thunderer_ in 1913 could fire ten shells, each weighing 1,250 lbs., in one broadside. Each shell has a penetrating power of 1 foot at 10,000 yards. The _Iron Duke_, Admiral Jellicoe's flagship in 1914, can do even better than this. CHAPTER X SUPREME ADMIRAL OF THE HOME FLEETS Nineteen hundred and thirteen was a very busy year for Sir John Jellicoe. On May 16th he left England for Germany to attend the wedding festivities of the Emperor's only daughter, Princess Victoria Louise, who was to be married to Prince Ernest of Cumberland. Sir John and Lady Jellicoe were, curiously enough, the first English guests to reach Berlin. The King and Queen of England left Sheerness on the 20th on board the Royal Yacht _Victoria and Albert_, the Duchess of Devonshire accompanying Her Majesty and Sir Frederick Ponsonby and Sir Colin Keppel being Equerries in Waiting to the King. Berlin was _en f'te_ for over a week, and among those present at Princess Victoria's wedding, besides our own Royal Family, were the Czar of Russia, the Grand Duchess of Baden, the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland, the Grand Duke of Hesse and ambassadors from nearly every country in the world. Festivities commenced with a gala dinner given the day the Czar of Russia arrived in Berlin. The following morning there was a luncheon at the British Embassy in honour of King George and Queen Mary, at which the Imperial Chancellor, the Ambassador in Berlin and Sir John and Lady Jellicoe were among the principal guests. That same evening there was a gala performance at the Opera. "Lohengrin" was performed at the special request of Princess Victoria.