With a view to satisfying the “masted turret-ship” ideal, an absurd brig rig was fitted to the _Inflexible_. With this it was possible for the ship to drift before the wind, haystack-fashion, but the rig was so much of the “placebo” order that it was designed to be taken down and thrown overboard in case of action! At a later date it was removed altogether and a military rig substituted. The _Inflexible_ was crammed with novelties. Like the _Devastation_ she was the “_Dreadnought_” of her time. Chief among her innovations were the adoption of submerged torpedo tubes (of which she had two), the mounting of Nordenfeldts as a definite anti-torpedo-boat armament, and an ingenious anti-rolling arrangement, whereby water was admitted amidships to counteract the roll. This was very partially successful; but in 1910 the idea re-appeared in a slightly altered form and is now used in certain big Atlantic liners. An ingenious feature of the _Inflexible_ concerned the big guns. In the _Devastation_ and _Dreadnought_ types these could be run in and loaded inside the turret. With the much larger guns of the _Inflexible_ this was impossible, without a very considerable increase of the size of the turrets. Outside loading without protection was recognised as unsuitable and practically impossible. A special glacis was, therefore, designed, which admitted of outside loading under cover, and at the same time ensured that, in the event of premature discharge, the projectile would emerge above the water-line and not below it. This device is of special interest as the “last word” of those muzzle-loading guns to which the British Navy adhered so long as it possibly could. Had it been thought of earlier, the British Navy might perhaps have adhered to muzzle-loaders even longer than it did. As things were, the _Inflexible_ device came too late to stay the tide which had already begun to set strongly in the breechloader direction. Details of the _Inflexible_ were:-- Displacement--11,880 tons. Length (between perpendiculars)--320ft. Beam--75ft. Maximum Draught--26⅓ft. Armour--Belt amidships 24--16-inch, beyond that a protective deck only; 22--14-inch bulkhead, all iron; and 17-inch compound armour turrets. Armaments--Four 81-ton guns (to which eight 4-inch breechloaders were added later on). Two submerged tubes and two above-water launching appliances for torpedoes. Horse-power--8,010 (I.H.P.). Speed--13.8 knots. Coal--1,300 tons = nominal 10-knot radius of 5,200 miles. Built at Portsmouth Dockyard. Engined by Elder. Completed 1881. [Illustration: DUILIO. DREADNOUGHT. INFLEXIBLE. EARLY TURRET-SHIPS OF THE BARNABY ERA.]