Constructionally she presented several very novel features, which embodied the iron shipbuilding science of the time. Her over-all length was 150 feet, beam 27 feet 6 inches, and with the 340 tons of coal on board she was constructed to carry, she drew 11 feet 9 inches aft and 10 feet 3 inches forward. She is said to have been the first water-ballast vessel, for her hold was divided into separate chambers and each chamber had a false floor, between which and the hull was the space for water-ballast. The water, which was her only ballast, was admitted through taps and was pumped out by her engine. This was just a small steam auxiliary, capable of giving her a speed of four knots in a calm. Her mizzen-mast was of iron and hollow and was used as a funnel for the engine fires, so that when her furnace was going her mizzen rigging appeared to be on fire. Her bows had a sharp wedge-shape with considerable sheer, her stern overhung to an unusual degree, and her counters were very flat so as to lift her stern to the sea. The stern bore an armorial bearing with the motto “Spes mea Christus,” and “_Q.E.D_ of Newcastle.” The cabin was commodious, with a raised roof surrounded with window lights, and had four sleeping compartments, with a stateroom for the captain. A swinging compass was suspended, having a magnet on each side, and one before it, to counteract the attraction of the iron. Her shrouds were of wire rope served over with a strong double screw to each, a method in use to the present time. The main-mast from step to cap was 65 feet, the main yard 52 feet, and the mast, from the keel to the royal truck, was 130 feet. As she steered with ease, sailed well, and exceeded expectations with the screw propeller, confidence was expressed “that the time is not far distant when our ships of the line will be fitted with engines and screws in a somewhat similar manner.” Four years after her launch her engines were removed and she was rigged as a barquentine. She ultimately went to the bottom of the English Channel in 1856.