First-class cruisers include such well-known ships as the _Blake_ and the _Blenheim_, each about 9,000 tons with 20,000 horse-power and twenty-two knots speed. The _Powerful_ and _Terrible_, also belonging to this class, are among the finest ships in the navy, each 14,200 tons, 25,000 horse-power, twenty-two knots speed, and having crews of 894 men. Additions to the British navy are not made arbitrarily, but with due regard to the enlarged and improved naval armaments of other countries, and with the determination to keep well ahead of all foreign rivals. Accordingly we find that an order was given by the Admiralty in 1897 for the construction of four additional battle-ships and four large cruisers of great speed, the former to be of the _Majestic_ type, but with heavier guns, more efficient armour and higher speed, at the same time of slightly less draft, so that if necessary they can pass through the Suez Canal. The cost of a first-class battle-ship, including armament, is about £700,000 sterling or about $3,500,000. A first-class cruiser of the ordinary type costs £450,000, but the _Powerful_ and _Terrible_, when ready for sea, are said to have cost £740,000 each. The latest type of torpedo destroyer costs £60,000. The largest projectiles used in the service (as in the _Benbow_) are 16¼ inches diameter, weigh 1,820 lbs., and are fired with a charge of 960 lbs. of powder. The average annual expenditure for construction and repairs is between four and five millions, but in 1896 it reached £7,500,000 sterling. [Illustration: THE “RENOWN,” FIRST-CLASS BATTLE-SHIP, 1895. Flag-ship of Vice-Admiral Sir John A. Fisher, K. O. R., in Command of the British North Atlantic Squadron, 1898.] An interesting feature of the Diamond Jubilee review at Spithead, as on former occasions, was the presence of representatives of the mercantile marine in the garb of armed cruisers. By arrangements between the Admiralty and the Cunard, the P. & O., the White Star, and the Canadian Pacific Steamship companies, £48,620 were paid last year in the form of subventions, the vessels so held at the disposal of the Government being the _Campania_, _Lucania_, _Teutonic_, _Majestic_, _Himalaya_, _Australia_, _Victoria_, _Arcadia_, _Empress of India_, _Empress of Japan_, and _Empress of China_. [Illustration: “TEUTONIC,” ARMED CRUISER, IN 1897.]