Contemporaneously with the _Hercules_ the _Inconstant_ was designed. She was inspired by the United States _Wampanoag_, a type of large, fast, unprotected, heavily-gunned frigate, to which the Americans had always been partial. The _Wampanoag_, as a matter of fact, never reached expectations, whereas the _Inconstant_ was a decided success so far as she went. She marked, so far as the British Navy was concerned, the first appearance of the theory that speed and gun power--in other words, “the offensive”--might be developed advantageously, at the cost of defensive arrangements, a theory which still survives in the “battle-cruisers” of to-day, though of course in a very modified form. None the less, the _Inconstant_ represents the germ idea of our present battle-cruisers, and is supremely important on that account. Particulars of the _Inconstant_ were:-- Displacement--5,780 tons. Length (between perpendiculars)--337⅓ ft. Beam--50¼ft. Draught (mean)--25½ft. Guns--Ten 12½ ton M.L.R., six 6½ ton M.L.R. H.P.--7,360 = 16 knots (trial 16.2). Speed--Sixteen knots (trial 16.2). Built at Pembroke Dockyard. Completed for sea 1868 at a cost of £213,324. She had an iron hull, wood-sheathed and coppered. A coal supply of 750 tons gave a nominal radius of 2780 miles. She was ship-rigged and sailed well. She was followed by a couple of variants on her, the _Raleigh_ and _Shah_, the former 5,200 tons and the latter 6,250 tons. The _Shah_ was originally named the _Blonde_, but rechristened out of compliment to the Shah of Persia, who was visiting England at the time of her launch. At a later stage in her career (1877) the _Shah_, then flagship on the S.W. Coast of America, fought a much-criticised action with the Peruvian turret-ship _Huascar_, a Laird-built monitor, carrying a couple of 12½ ton guns, launched in 1865, and generally of the same type (though smaller) as the British _Hotspur_ and _Rupert_. The _Huascar_ had been seized by the Revolutionists and practically turned into a pirate ship. In attacking her the British Admiral de Horsey gave hostages to fortune, seeing that it was an axiom of those days that an unarmoured ship was helpless against an ironclad monitor. He had, however, no alternative. As things turned out, the _Huascar_ never succeeded in hitting either the _Shah_, or the _Amethyst_ which accompanied her, while the British flagship, having a speed advantage, the efforts of the _Huascar_ to ram her were futile. The _Huascar_ was hit about thirty times, and one man was killed on board her, but the damage done to the turret-ship was practically nil. The engagement is of further special interest as for the first time a torpedo was used from a big ship in action. The range, however, was too great and no hit was secured.