Mr. J. H. Waddington claimed that his vessel the _Porpoise_ (1886) was the first practical submarine to be propelled by electricity. The electric motor was worked by 45 accumulators of 660 ampere-hours capacity; the maximum current taken by the motor was 66 amperes, the e.m.f. being 90 volts, giving an electrical h.p. of 7·96. The speed was to be 8 miles an hour. [Illustration: THE “PERAL”: SPAIN’S ONLY SUBMARINE. ] [Sidenote: The Peral.] This vessel was named after its designer Don Isaac Peral, a Spanish lieutenant, on whom, in reward for his labours, the Spanish Government conferred titles of nobility and an indemnity of 500,000 francs. It was constructed at the Arsenal of Caraca, and launched on October 23, 1887. It measured 72 feet from stem to stern, and was 9 feet in beam. The motive power was furnished by two electric motors of 30 h.p. each driving two screws; 600 accumulators supplied the power for all purposes. During its trials in 1889 the _Peral_ was ordered to proceed to sea to blow up an old hull placed at a distance of some two or three miles from shore in Cadiz Bay, running a long distance under water in search of the supposed ironclad. The boat was subsequently reported to have successfully accomplished this feat, and, as a consequence, the Spanish Government would, it was said, order several vessels of this type for the defence of the coasts of the Peninsula. A public subscription was started in Spain. For a time great enthusiasm prevailed, but as Spain made no use of the _Peral_ during the Spanish-American War it may be presumed that the interest in under-water vessels soon died out. On the 28th of June, 1890, a night attack was made by the _Peral_ against the cruiser _Colon_. The latter, in spite of its powerful electrical projectors, failed to pick out the submarine, which advanced within 10 metres of the cruiser to discharge its torpedo. During the year 1898 several accounts appeared in the papers relating to a wonderful submarine which the Spanish Government was said to have purchased. It consisted of a large steel sphere, so solidly constructed that it could resist the pressure of the water no matter at how great a depth. Its exterior diameter was 9 feet 9 inches, and the shell measured 4 inches in thickness. It weighed 10 tons, and contained sufficient air for a crew of three for 48 hours. Electric accumulators drove it at a speed of 4 to 5 knots. It was suggested that the submarine might be connected by an electric cable with a battleship and a cruiser, thus enabling them to steer a safe course through a channel laid with mines. A “cutter” was fixed in the bows to destroy submarine cables of all kinds. [Sidenote: Goubet.]