This stirred the Admiralty to activity and the _Warrior_ was ordered. The launch of this vessel on the Thames was regarded as an event of national importance, and in spite of the cold day at the end of December 1860 on which she took the water, the attendance was exceedingly large, even the tops of the tall chimneys of the neighbourhood having been let out for the day to enthusiastic sightseers. She was frozen down to the ways so firmly that it was with the utmost difficulty that she could be got into the water at all. Tugs, hydraulic presses, the hammering by hundreds of men on the ways, and the firing of cannon from her deck to start her by concussion were all tried separately and then together, and at last the ship glided slowly into the water. The beauty of her lines was remarkable as she floated in her light trim, and afterwards, when she was properly equipped and in sea-going trim, she was one of the most beautiful ships the country ever possessed. She was iron built throughout, frame and plating being alike of the metal. She was 420 feet over all, 58 feet in breadth, and 41 feet 6 inches in depth from spar deck to keel. She was of 6177 tons builders’ measurement. Her engines, which were of 1250 nominal horse-power, weighed about 950 tons, but her bunkers only held 950 tons, or enough coal for six days’ steaming. She was divided into twenty-seven water-tight compartments at the bows and stern, and as the whole of her sides were so armoured as to afford protection to the vital parts of the ship, it was stated that even if the fore and stern parts of the ship were shot away, the centre would remain as a floating battery. [Illustration: THE “WATERWITCH.”]