The torpedo-boat built by Yarrow is said to be the fastest of its size that has ever been launched, as it has reached a speed of about twenty-eight knots an hour. It is armed with two fixed 14-inch torpedo-tubes in the bows, and one 14-inch training-tube on deck abaft the funnel. It is also supplied with a powerful armament of Hotchkiss and Gatling guns, and a strong electric search-light so arranged as to be worked either from the conning-tower or from the deck. The _King Yüan_ and _Lai Yüan_, built by the Vulcan Company at Stettin, are powerful vessels, effective for either coast defence or distant sea service. Their principal dimensions are: length 269 feet, beam 39 feet 4 inches, depth 25 feet 6 inches, mean draught 16 feet 8 inches, and displacement 2900 tons. They are built entirely of steel, with double bottoms extending two-thirds of the length, and the under-water body is divided by bulkheads into sixty-six water-tight compartments. The armor protection is compound, and consists of a belt six feet wide extending the length of the machinery and boiler space, having a maximum thickness of 9.5 inches at and above the water-line, and a minimum thickness of 5.1 inches. This belt is terminated at either end by thwartship armored bulkheads, 5.1 inches thick. At the forward end of the belt is a circular revolving turret eight inches thick, on top of which is the conning-tower, with an armor protection of six inches. The under-water body is protected by a complete steel protective deck, 1.5 inches thick over the top of, and three inches thick forward and abaft, the belt. A partial cork belt above the protective deck gives additional stability. The engines consist of two sets of three-cylinder compound type, situated in two separate compartments, driving twin screws, and developing 3400 horse-power with forced draft. The boilers, four in number, are placed in two separate compartments. A speed of about sixteen knots was attained. The armament consists of two 21-centimetre (8.27-inch) Krupps mounted in the turret; of two 15-centimetre (5.91-inch) similar guns carried in recessed ports; of two 47-millimetre Hotchkiss rapid-fire guns; of five 37-millimetre revolving cannons; and of four torpedo-discharging tubes—three above-water and one in the bow below the water-line.[59]