The _Imperieuse_ was built at Portsmouth Dockyard and engined by Maudslay. The _Warspite_, built at Chatham, was engined by Penn. Both were completed in 1886 at a total cost of about £630,000 each. They were copper sheathed, and (like the _Inflexible_) originally were to carry a heavy brig-rig. This was removed at an early stage, and a single military mast between the funnels substituted. The _Imperieuse’s_ masts were subsequently put in the _Northampton_ (which see). Both proved faster than anticipated; but the coming of the quick-firer placed them in the semi-obsolete category almost as soon as they were completed. The type was never repeated. Till recently the _Imperieuse_ still existed as a depot ship for destroyers; the _Warspite_ has long since gone to the scrap heap. Years after their conception a modernised version of them was to some extent reproduced in the _Black Prince_ class. In their own day, however, they appeared and that was all. The “battleship of the future” ideal of those days had to some extent been foreshadowed in the _Benbow_, with her couple of 110-ton guns. The monster gun was “the vogue” and no way of carrying it on existing displacements allowed of more than two such pieces being mounted. The idea of the moment became the mounting of guns capable of delivering deadly blows, and (corollary therewith) protection to ensure that that deadly blow could be delivered with relative impunity. Since the secondary gun had now come in, auxiliary guns and a secondary battery were a _sine quâ non_; but the ideal ship was to be one incapable of vital injury from such weapons. On lines such as these the _Victoria_ class was designed. The call was for an improved _Benbow_. The armament was to be no less and, if possible, more; while better protection was an essential feature. Details of the _Victoria_ type, of which only two were built, are as follows:-- Displacement--10,470 tons (approximately that of the _Benbow_). Length (between perpendiculars)--340ft. Beam--70ft. Draught (maximum)--27¼ft. Armament--Two 110-ton guns (in a single turret), one 9.2 (aft), twelve 6-inch; twenty-one anti-torpedo guns, and six torpedo tubes (14-inch). Armour (compound)--18-inch to 16-inch belt amidships, redoubt and bulkheads, 18-inch turret, 2-inch in battery. Armour deck, and heavily armoured conning tower. Horse-power--14,000 = 16.75 knots. Coal--1,200 tons = 7,000 miles at 10 knots. The _Victoria_ was built at Elswick and engined by Humphrys; launched in 1887 and completed for sea in 1889. The _Sanspareil_, engined by the same firm, but built at Blackwall (Thames Ironworks) was launched a year later, but completed about the same time. The design of these ships closely approximated to the _Conqueror_, of which they were merely enlarged editions with a heavily increased battery. [Illustration: RUPERT. CONQUEROR. VICTORIA. DREADNOUGHT. TRAFALGAR.