[42] Curiously enough, neither Lord Brassey, nor Mr. King (United States Navy), nor Captain Von Kronenfels seems to have been aware of the origin of this little ship’s design, for it is mentioned by none of them, although all of them have been most ready to do me, in common with others, full justice in such matters. Mr. King, for example, speaking of a ship previously mentioned, says, “The most powerful ship belonging to the Turkish navy is the _Mesoodiyeh_, designed by Sir E. J. Reed, C.B., M.P., built by the Thames Shipbuilding Company, delivered to the Sultan in 1876, and now the flag-ship of the fleet.” He would doubtless have as readily acknowledged the authorship of the _Feth-i-Bulend’s_ design, had he been aware of it. As I was the Chief Constructor of the British Navy when I designed for the Sultan of Turkey this ship and the _Fatikh_ (now the German _König Wilhelm_), I think it right to state that I did so not only with the sanction but by the orders of the Admiralty, and in pursuance of what was then the declared policy of England, viz., that of giving Turkey the benefit of our good offices in efforts to produce a powerful fleet. Beyond a complimentary present of a jewelled snuffbox or two, I received no remuneration for my services to Turkey, and sought none, and desired none.—E. J. R. [43] See Notes, page 141. [44] See Notes, page 142. [45] “The Present Position of European Politics.” [46] $43,425,000. [47] Dilke. [48] Lieut. Colwell, U.S.N., in “Recent Naval Progress.” [49] See Notes for later ships. [50] See Notes, page 227. [51] See Notes, page 185. [52] See Notes, p. 257. [53] Complete. [54] Building at South Boston and West Point. [55] It is probable that the battery of the battle-ship will be two 6-inch, two 10-inch, and two 12-inch guns. [56] Probably. [57] From _Army and Navy Gazette_, February 27, 1886. [58] Lieutenant Colwell, United States Navy. [59] Naval Intelligence, General Information Series No. 5. [60] “Recent Naval Progress.” [61] From the General Information Series No. V., U. S. Naval Intelligence Office. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE Footnotes [13] and [14] have multiple anchors on page 47. Footnote [25] has multiple anchors on page 76. Footnotes [53], [54] and [56] have multiple anchors on page 228. The illustrations on pages 90, 254 and 257 were vertical and have been rotated to the horizontal. Some illustrations have been moved several pages to be closer to the related text. The table on page 184 of the original book was very wide, and has been split into 3 parts. The tables on pages 76, 84, 109, 146 and 221 have been split into 2 parts. Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added, when a predominant preference was found in the original book.