The French were the last to adopt it. Instead, they used the flat deck below the belt in addition to the one on top of it. This was made use of so late as the _République_ and _Liberté_ class. While ideally better for resisting projectiles which might penetrate the belt, it was impossible of really practical application amidships on account of the difficulty of keeping the engines entirely below it. [Illustration: PROTECTED CRUISER. ROYAL SOVEREIGN. RENOWN. SUFFREN (FRENCH) SYSTEMS OF WATER-LINE PROTECTION.] The _Renown_ was the first ship to carry all her secondary guns in casemates. She was fitted as a flagship, and first served on the North American Station. When Admiral Fisher went from there to the Mediterranean he took the _Renown_ with him as flagship, presumably with the idea that speed was better than power in a flagship. The _Renown’s_ fighting power was small even then, but she was well fitted for the social side of flagship work--so nicely, indeed, that the flash-plates of the big guns had been taken up so as not to interfere with ladies’ shoes in dances! After leaving the Mediterranean the _Renown_ was still further converted into a “battleship yacht,” the six-inch guns being removed. She was painted white, and used to convey the then Prince of Wales to India. Thereafter she practically disappeared from the effective list and eventually became a training ship for stokers. The _Renown_ was followed by the ships of the Spencer programme, nine battleships of the _Majestic_ class, which were spread over the 1893–94 Estimates, and those of the next year. The _Majestics_ were in substance amplified _Renowns_, their special and particular feature being that in place of the two amidships belt of varying thickness a single belt of 16ft. wide of a uniform 9in. thickness was substituted. In the _Majestics_, the 13.5, which had been for so long the standard gun for first-class battleships, disappeared in favour of a new type of 12-inch, a Mark VIII. of 35 calibres. The two types compare as follows:-- =====+=======+=======+===========+================================= | | | |Maximum Penetration against K.C. Bore.|Length.|Weight.|Projectile.| (capped projectiles). Inch.| Cals. | Tons. | lbs. | at 5000 yds. | at 3000 yds. | | | | in. | in. -----+-------+-------+-----------+-----------------+--------------- 13.5 | 30 | 67 | 1250 | 9 | 12 | | | | | 12 | 35 | 46 | 850 | 11½ | 14½ =====+=======+=======+===========+=================+=============== The new gun was, therefore, superior in everything except weight of projectile, and that was not considered much in those days. To-day, of course, it has quite a special meaning.