“In 1854, at the commencement of the Crimean War,” said the _Times_ in an article on the building of warships in private establishments, “when Admiral Napier found himself powerless in the Baltic for want of gunboats, it became imperative to have 120 of them, with 60 horse-power engines on board, ready for next spring, and at first the means for turning out so large an amount of work in so short a time puzzled the Admiralty. But Mr. Penn pointed out, and himself put into practice, an easy solution of the mechanical difficulty. By calling to his assistance the best workshops in the country, in duplicating parts, and by a full use of the admirable resources of his own establishments at Greenwich and Deptford, he was able to fit up with the requisite engine-power ninety-seven gunboats. This performance is a memorable illustration of what the private workshops of this free country can accomplish when war with its unexpected requirements comes upon us.... Altogether during the Crimean War 121 vessels were fitted with engines for our Government by Mr. Penn.” Two paddle-wheel gunboats, _Nix_ and _Salamander_, were launched in 1851 by Messrs. Robinson and Russell for the Prussian Government, which exchanged them during the Crimean War for a frigate called the _Thetis_, and they were renamed _Recruit_ and _Weser_. They were double-ended and could steam in either direction without turning. The paddle-frigate _Dantzig_, built by the same firm for the same foreign Government, had the peculiarity of being able to carry guns on her sponsons. The last wooden battleship built for the Navy was the _Victoria_, 121 guns, launched in 1859, commissioned in 1864, and discarded in 1867. She was engined by Maudslay with horizontal return connecting-rod engines indicating 4400 horse-power and giving her a speed of 12 knots. The _Bann_ and _Brune_ were built by Scott Russell as improvements on the _Salamander_, and were on the longitudinal system with wave-lines, and they had internal bulkheads separating the engine and boiler rooms from the bunkers. The success of the floating batteries at the Crimea was held by the French to justify the construction of a sea-going ironclad, and the _Gloire_ resulted. Experiments in America had shown the possibility of the plan, but the French naval architect, Dupuy de Lôme, considered that it would be sufficient to plate existing vessels. The _Gloire_ was a big wooden ship cut down and iron-plated.