Considering the Black Sea fleet first, the entire interest excited by its armor-clads centres in the three new 16-knot ships, the _Catherine II._, _Sinope_, and _Tchesme_. These three ships are belted throughout with 18-inch armor, and are armed with six guns of forty tons and seven of four tons, this battery being fought _en barbette_ in towers plated with armor fourteen inches thick. The _Universal Register_ and the French _Carnet_ agree in assigning to the _Catherine II._ a length of 320 feet and a tonnage of 10,000, and to the other two ships a length of 314 feet and a tonnage of about 8600. They also agree in describing the horse-power of each of the three ships as 9000 indicated, and the speed as 16 knots. The Admiralty Return previously quoted gives them a speed of 15 knots, and equal tonnages of 10,800 tons.[34] I am unable to give the tonnage decisively, but I know that the tonnage originally intended for these ships was 9990, and I am in possession of the details of the corresponding weights. The discrepancies as to steam-power and speed are matters of great moment. I believe that both the _Universal Register_ and the French _Carnet_ are wrong in associating a power of only 9000 horses with a speed of sixteen knots, the fifteen knots given by the Admiralty being the speed expected with 9000 indicated horse-power; but this power is to be obtained with natural draught, while with forced draught the power is to be increased to 11,400, and the speed increased to sixteen knots. The formidable character of these ships needs no comment, although I cannot regard them as nearly equivalent to or as well designed as the somewhat larger _Nile_ and _Trafalgar_ of the British navy. The only other Black Sea armored vessels are the slow and small, but somewhat powerful, circular ships _Novgorod_ and _Vice-admiral Popoff_, of which the latter is surrounded by 18-inch armor, and carries two guns of forty tons. A torpedo-vessel of the 600 ton class, developing 3500 horse-power, and 20 knots speed has been built at Nikolaiev. The Baltic fleet of Russia contains only one finished iron-clad of much importance, the _Peter the Great_, of 9340 tons and 14 knots speed, carrying four guns of 40 tons; but two other ships, the _Emperor Alexander II._ and the _Nicholas I._, of 8400 tons, are now under construction at St. Petersburg. No interest attaches to the _Pojarsky_, the four _Admirals_, and several other old, weak, and slow armor-clads of the Baltic navy. This fleet comprises, however, eight belted cruisers, of which five are important. These are as follows: