The rest of the war with America, which lasted well on into 1815, is of no great naval interest except for the side issues involved. In a series of actions, the American big gun theory was triumphantly demonstrated, and more than once small British squadrons were wiped out. No material result, however, followed in consequence. On the other hand, Washington was attacked in 1814, and the public buildings burned, again without much material result. The real interest of the war lies in side issues. The submarine appeared in this war, but the American authorities refused to give it any official sanction, and attempts made against British ships were by private individuals who had ignored the express orders of the American authorities. None of the experimenters were successful, but this was mainly a matter of luck. A matter of greater interest was the construction of an American war vessel, the _Fulton_. The _Fulton_--which was driven by a steam paddle in the centre of the vessel, and was armoured with wood so thick that none of the shot of the period could get through it, was armed with two 100-pounder guns on pivot mountings and carried a ram shaped bow--can undeniably lay claim to being the precursor of the _Monitor_ or _Merrimac_, and also to being the first steam warship. She took too long to complete, however, to take any part in the war; but had the war continued, few British ships could have survived her attacks, presuming her to have been seaworthy. [Illustration: THE END OF AN OLD WARSHIP.] To resume: 1813 as regards the French was not productive of much in the way of naval operations. The French had by now built so many new ships at Toulon that they were actually superior to the blockading British squadron. But they made no attempt to use this superiority, and nothing resulted except a few small skirmishes. A few insignificant captures were made on the British side. At the beginning of the year 1814, there were ninety-nine ships of the line in commission and 495 lesser vessels. The _personnel_ amounted to 140,000, and the estimates £19,312,000. A number of single ship actions took place between frigates, and in most of these a considerable improvement in French efficiency was noted. Nothing, however, was done with the larger ships, and the war ultimately ended with the deportation of Napoleon to Elba. No sooner was peace declared than the fleet was greatly reduced and a large number of ships sold or broken up. Nineteen ships of the line and ninety-three other vessels were thus disposed of. The _personnel_ for the year 1815 was reduced to 70,000 for the first three months and 90,000 for the remainder of the year. The estimates stood at £17,032,700, of which £2,000,000 was for the payment of debts.